Involving students in learning a small amount of programming language can enable the teacher to illustrate many of the important concepts of electronic information systems. It introduces them to experiential learning situations involving system design and operation, information handling and the man-machine interface. This paper describes how the authoring language PILOT has been used with arts and humanities undergraduates to increase their understanding of the power and potential of information technology, and to involve them in information problems that relate to their other humanities studies.