The present study is designed to investigate the effects of advisement and informal cooperative learning when students used a multimedia database. Participants were 159 undergraduate students (54 males; 105 females) enrolled in a computer literacy course at a large university in the southwestern United States. The majority of participants were either sophomores or juniors and represented a broad spectrum of majors. The materials used in this study are: (1) multimedia database; (2) task sheet; (3) study guide/notes; and informal cooperative learning guidelines. This study included four treatment groups: (1) Individual--Advisement; (2) Individual--No Advisement; (3) Informal Cooperative Dyad--Advisement; and (4) Informal Cooperative Dyad--No Advisement. A 15-item, short answer paper and pencil posttest worth a total of 20 points was used to measure performance. Results of this study indicated that participants provided with advisement performed significantly better on the posttest than those receiving no advisement. The results of this study have implications for the design and implementation of instruction using multimedia databases. Providing advisement to support students as they identify and interpret relevant resources contained in multimedia databases will enhance the effectiveness of these tools for learning. (Contains 1 table.)