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Obstacles to becoming an information designer are that the authoring software needed for IMI is expensive and you may not have the time to learn it. No problem, there is a cottage industry of authoring consultants who can help you convert paper-based training into computer-based training. You don't need to master yet another software application. MultiTrain International in Long Beach is one such consultant (E-mail: mtdebbie@aol.com) I found a one-day course with MultiTrain to be a mind-expanding experience.

Converting classroom training to computer-based training (CBT) is not a simple matter of taking print materials and digitizing them. There are new dimensions related to content, context, sequence, motifs, and the delivery media. Content is no longer linear. Instead there are many entry points. Information may be context-sensitive or context-independent and still searchable by the end-user as a reference file. There are image maps. Navigation tools must be included to allow users to control access, which is no longer limited to the teacher or trainer.

Those of you who are ready to move into the fourth dimension and to create and communicate with the new media might want to do one or two things this month:

1. Read Interactivity by Design: Creating & Communicating with New Media by Ray Kristof & Amy Satran, Adobe Press, 1995. It will show you how to go beyond the lecture mode (talking head) and presentation software (basically a linear slide show with optional sound) to the software tools available for designing IMI. Broad competencies are needed for tool selection: multimedia authoring tools, online publishing tools, electronic document software and presentation software. The book condenses how the medium of delivery shapes the design and the difference between public medium via public networks and private medium such CD. I especially liked the graphics and the sections on storyboards.
2. Look at the offerings of Seminars in Usable Design for 1997 and possibly select one to attend. By law librarian standards the registration fees are a bit pricey. But if my experience is any indication, they are worth it. I took two visual literacy courses from one of the seminar leaders at UCLA Extension in this price range. The courses were fantastic educational investments. A three day conference is about the cost of an AALL conference.

William Horton is the seminar leader I hold in high regard. He is an expert in communicating business and technical information and specializes in the "task of how to get information from one human brain to another." The two seminars he leads in Usable Design for 1997 are:

Electronic Documents Designing Effective Help Files, Web Pages, CBT, and More and Visual Literacy: Graphics for Electronic Documents, Web Pages, Help Files, CBT, and User Interfaces.

The other seminar topics look good too, although I have am unfamiliar with the seminar leaders:

• Communicating through the Web: Designing Information that People can Find and Use on the Net
• Downsizing Your Documentation: Online and Off,
• Targeting Information Precisely: Making User Data Accessible During Development,
• 100 Online Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

To register call 303 234-0123 or visit the Web site http://www.-usabledesign.com.

Whether you function primarily as a presenter, teacher, trainer or all three, the above two items will assist you to Hide the Guide and to:

• Target user information more precisely.
• Learn to express complex ideas via simple graphics.
• Begin creating and writing electronic documents
• Communicate in a broader spectrum than the written and spoken word.

For those of you who are not familiar with the Personality on the Stage, the Sage on the Stage, or the Guide on the Side, a matrix follows, contrasting these roles with each other and Hide the Guide. The matrix oversimplifies but highlights how each plays an important role in the many aspects of instructional design, development and delivery.