Search Helper was selected as a system for introducing the Carnegie‐Mellon University community to do‐it‐yourself database searching. Use of Search Helper was offered without charge to CMU students and faculty. User satisfaction and reaction to the service were monitored with a simple survey. Preliminary results of the survey are reported along with critical evaluations of the system's capabilities and performance. Search Helper proved extremely popular with library users. Specific suggestions for enhancing the effectiveness of this gateway software package focus upon the type of documentation and error messages available to users.