What kind and what amount of information do people need ?

[Peter Meyer <pbmeyer@louisville.edu>]

Part of the problem mis not just the volume of data or the type of data available on-line or in print, but how the information is clarified.

The problem is how the data and other information is indexed. In order to get access to potentially relevant information, people have too great a need to know the vocuabulary of the EPA and the environmental movement.

New users of search engines or indexes need the vocabulary to search effectively, and that language is not well known outside professional communities. Most users also are unaware of how much their search language affects their results. (As more and more people become web users, this may decline as a problem -- IF people learn to use search engines on-line.)

Development of a "street" vocuabulary to ease this access problem should be a priority.