Software Reviews : BANK STREET SCHOOL FILER,U.S. DATABASES DISK,NORTH AMERICA DATABASE DISK Reviewed by Rene Peritz,Slippery Rock University Publisher: Sunburst Communications,Inc.,39 Washington Avenue,Pleasantville,NY 10570 (telephone: U.S.,800-431-1934;Canada,914-769-5080 Year of Publication: 1986 Materials: Three loose-leaf guides containing: 1. THE BANK STREET FILER: a quick reference and quick start check,a general teacher's guide,a reference manual,and five disks (tutorial,classroom tools,school data,and one program disk with duplicate) 2. THE UNITED STATES DATABASE DISK: a teacher's guide and one disk with duplicate 3. THE NORTH AMERICA DATABASE DISK: a teacher's guide and one disk with duplicate Price: FILER,$99.00;U.S. DATABASE,$59;NORTH AMERICA DATABASE,ifi9 Availability: Apple II+,Ile and IIc (64K version) and Apple IIe and IIc ( 128K version) Effectiveness: Good as a training tool User-Friendliness: Good to Excellent Documentation: Excellent-even if repetitive at times

Abstract

The FILER and its auxiliary programs are meant for a variety of audiences, from high school to junior college students and from administrators to librarians, who would benefit from a basic data-management program and would need to manipulate files with or without supplementary word processing. The tutorial moves the user easily from one phase of the program to another, but is no substitute for the accompanying manual. An average student would require guidance from an experienced instructor to master the occasionally confusing directions. The excellent documentation is redundant at times, but helps minimize the need to memorize commands or access the program's on-screen help sections.