Reviews two software products--INSTANTCOM and PC WRITE--that work well in tandem and possess the following capabilities: make logon easy and memory-independent; allow prewritten search statements to be uploaded; allow downloading of results; permit easy editing and other data management options. Examples done on the IBM PC/AT are provided. (EJS)

This review of public domain software (written by individuals who release programs for free copying and distribution) focuses on disk utility programs which deal with the manipulation of files on disks (finding, moving, changing, viewing, organizing, storing). Sources for identifying programs and three addresses for software distribution are…

Reviews Fast Interlibrary Loans and Statistics (FILLS), a library-specific microcomputer software package designed to enable processing of interlibrary loans in less than 50 percent of manual time. Examples of American Library Association Interlibrary Loan Form, outstanding loan report, periodical requests report, library reports (requests,…

Review of computer software offering text editing/processing capabilities highlights work habits, elements of computer style and composition, buffers, the CRT, line- and screen-oriented text editors, video attributes, "swapping,""cache" memory, "disk emulators," text editing versus text processing, and UNIX operating…

Describes use of a database management system (dBASE II, produced by Ashton-Tate), noting best features and disadvantages. Highlights include data entry, multiple access points available, training requirements, use of dBASE for a bibliographic application, auxiliary software, and dBASE updates. Sample searches, auxiliary programs, and requirements…

Describes method of generating Electronic Yellow Pages mailing labels using DIALOG commands which involve downloading to disk and interposing a BASIC language program between disk and printer. Downloading problems (accession numbers, "tic" which DIALOG provides, line noise), two versions of program (full, compressed), and output examples…

Describes serials management at Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science library via a microcomputer, a file manager called PFS, and a relational database management system called dBase II. Check-in procedures, programing with dBase II, "static" and "active" databases, and claim procedures are discussed. Check-in forms are…