Abstract: An information processing apparatus, contains a disc (12) storing a database with a set of records, each record containing a same set of fields, each record capable of containing record specific content in the fields. A disc drive (10) reads data from the disc (12) a fragment (F) at a time. Each fragment (F) contains a plurality of data blocks that are stored substantially contiguously on the disc (12). The disc drive (10) can be switched between a read mode and a power saving mode, wherein at least part of the disc drive (10) is disabled to cut power consumption. A user interface device renders a view of the database with selected records and fields from a user selectable one of a plurality of respective subsets of the set of records and/or fields of the records. The user interface (14, 16, 18) is programmed to command the disc drive (10) to switch to the read mode to retrieve fields from records from the selected subset from the disc (12).