MICRO's major underpinnings and algorithms were based on the Set-Theoretic Data Structure (STDS) model developed by D. L. Childs of the University of Michigan's CONCOMP (Conversational Use of Computers) Project.
Dr. Malcolm S. Cohen was Director of the LMIS Project and was the principal innovator and designer of the original MICRO Retrieval System.
Although the underlying STDS model is based on set theory, the MICRO user interface is similar to those subsequently used in relational database management systems.
[1] MICRO permits users with little programming experience to define, enter, interrogate, manipulate, and update collections of data in a relatively unstructured and unconstrained environment.
[5] An interactive system, MICRO is powerful in terms of the complexity of requests which can be made by users without prior programming language experience.