Software Reviews : BIFS: BASICS IN FORECASTING Reviewed by Richard G. Rogers and Gary Schmitz,University of Colorado at Boulder and the Colorado Public Utilities Commission Publisher: Conduit,University of Iowa,Oakdale Campus,Iowa City,IA 52242 (telephone: [phone]) Year of Publication: 1986 Materials: A 40-page user's guide and software on two diskettes (one protected original and one back-up) Price: $75 Machine Specificity: IBM PC,XT,PCJR,or compatible System Requirements: DOS 2.10,192K,one disk drive,and color- graphics card Effectiveness: Good User-Friendliness: Excellent Documentation: Excellent

Abstract

BASICS IN FORECASTING (BIFS) is a menu-driven package designed to introduce secondary and college students to demographic and economic forecasting. BIFS is easy to use even for the computer novice, and the manual provides excellent documentation for each of the four economic and two demographic models. Additionally, the manual complements class materials with clear discussions of each model and includes data appendixes so that students may generate specific-state forecasts.