Book Reviews : Dynamics of dBASE III Aiali Reizer,Steven Chinn,and Andrew J. Townsend Publisher: Dow Jones-Irwin,Homewood,IL Year of Publication: 1986 Materials: 317 pages,softcover Price: $19.95 Machine Specificity: MS-DOS and CP/M Intended Audience: New dBASE III users Usefulness: Low Clarity: Low Difficulty: Variable Understanding dBASE III Alan Simpson Publisher: Sybex,Berkeley,CA Year of Publication: 1985 Materials: 300 pages,softcover Price: $22.95 Machine Specificity: MS-DOS and CP/M Intended Audience: New dBASE III users Usefulness: High Clarity: High Difficulty: Low Everyman's Data Base Primer: Featuring dBASE III Robert A. Byers Publisher: Ashton-Tate Publishing Group,Culver City,CA Year of Publication: 1984 Materials: 370 pages,softcover Price: $19.95 Machine Specificity: MS-DOS and CP/M Intended Audience: Persons new to databases,in general Usefulness: High Clarity: High Difficulty: Very low

Abstract

In recent years, many publishers have made a booming business of publishing supplemental books on major software products. There are two primary reasons why these books have been popular. First, some people "bootleg" software and, in effect, need manuals from which to work. Second, the manuals that accompany microcomputer software packages are often abysmal. For example, the manual for WORDSTAR is clear only to experienced manual decoders. Ideally, a supplementary book should re-explain and expand upon the manual and provide examples of the use of the software program.