Our Thanks

            BS+JW of LSC for that whole bunch of th’em miraculous inflation fighters; also t JD of CF, FW of ISU, BS of UNCC, SM of CAT, and KS of SM for their contributions.  Anybody got a spare disk drive?

Flash

            The folks at EL had me do a review of Betty and Marie Costa’s  A Micro handbook for small libraries and media centers (Libraries Unlimited, 1983) and it’s pretty top drawer.  So top drawer in fact that instead of doing micro library automation workshops I think I’ll tell em jst to read the book.  No wait, that will cut the already minimum income:  I’ll make reading the thing a prerequisite for attending.  Seriously, it serves as an excellent introduction to micros and libraries.

            A Micro handbook is for the spring chickens: you know them folks who think a disk drive is a new brake system for a Chrysler.  It introduces the software/hardware concept well; covers general purpose stuff with finesse, and then goes into library/micro user services.  The extensive list of resources was usefull (wait for the WLN Santa Clause issue for more), and frankly, it’s a bargain at twice the price.  In the words of Uncle Frank: “buy one today.”

Me an my furry little bear

            Sometime in July (see how going back to work puts yours truly in a fog) I went to this really classy joint (surprised they let me in?) to give a session for FLB sales force.  I cranked up my little turtle (see track 02) and my AVIM board (see track 04) and made them stand on end.

            In between, DR of FLB did a half hour on the Koala Pad.  For those of you who have missed the nice four color ads appearing everywhere, this little sucker is a funky $125 graphics tablet.  You get a Micro Illustrator disk that changes your little piece of fruit (or IBM PC; Vic 20 or 64; or Atari 400/800) into a real time drawing board.  Built in shapes, lines, circles, rays or free form with any of the 16 colors (Apple that is) for a background and change pen color at will.

            I told the FLB boys “Forget the check for today – get me one of them Koala;s.”  Now you can understand why Micro Libraries is going broke, but by gracious we’re having one hell of a good time drawing pictures as the boat sinks.  Only one slight drawback: there is no routine built in to dump the pictures from the screen to paper.  I’ve been working on doing it with my Grappler/Epson combo, but this is an oversight they should work on.

            Supposed to be additional software to use with the pad: wrote the folks and no reply yet.  Till then I’ll just have to be satisfied with Koala replacing my game paddles.  It also works with some joystick games.  More when the further stuff arrives.  Available from FLB or computer stores everywhere.

Burt and his SAT stuff

            A long summer concern has been wading through six SAT packages the FLB folks sent over for evaluation.  The worst day in my life was the day I took the GRE, and every spring I cringe when the munchkins in my building start psyching themselves up for those god awfull achievement tests.  Why do we devise such tortures for our children?

            Enough social concern.  The package I liked best was Antonyms from American Learning Systems.  Since then I have also received the second release Analogies.  The rest of the test formats are to be released soon.  Both titles are two disk jobs and more like the real thing than any of the other packages.  They both offer a “learning” and a “test” mode, and the learning mode could be used in HS language arts classes to D&P vocabulary.  Can’t wait for the rest of the releases.  For more info contact Burt Munk and Co., 666 Dundee Road, Northbrook, IL  60062.  312-564-0855.  Don’t bother to tell them you saw it in (WLN:Not the bibliographic utility).

Magic Bus

            Last issue there was a handwritten note telling you to blow your local Apple dealer away by asking for a price on Apple Order Number A2B0024.  That’s the number for the long awaited for School Bus, or the network system for the fruit (or should we say “disk sharing” like the brochure does?)

            Every once and awhile elitists even make mistakes, and somehow this product flier got put in a packet.  Even though I am going to catch a lot of heat (what the heck (WLN:Not the bibliographic utility) is broke already: the only thing a lawsuit  would get would be my old HS gym shorts) I am passing on some of the details from this release (dated 1/83).

            One to thirty disk driveless “student” stations connected to an “instructor” station with one to eight drives.  Shared printing, file password protection and some other goodies you’ll just have to wait and see.  Finally hard disk will not be the only option for an “online catalog”.  The bus will allow for hooking up several remotes to the catalog and save the hd bucks.  Also, don’t tell them you saw it first in (WLN:Not the bibliographic utility.)

How I Spent My Summer Vacation

            My daddy took us on vacation again to Ferryville.  It is down the bluff from Gays Mills.  We saw my Uncle Harvey and my Aunt Katherine.  We had a good time.  Mommy came back with second degree burns because she wouldn’t listen to my Aunt Katherine when she told her to put a shirt on.  In five days and five nights my daddy, my mommy, my aunt and uncle drank 21 cases of beer.  That does not count the beer my daddy had uptown.  He said it was 35 cents for a glass, but how come he blew fifty bucks?  They did not feel real good in the morning.  They kept saying “why is the sun so bright?”  I tried to explain, but they did not understand.  Mommy got real mad when daddy brought the computer.  I can’t tell what she said, because I am not supposed to say those words.  Daddy said he wasn’t going anywhere without the computer. Ha Ha, mommy  got her way though.  She took the power cord out of the sack.  When daddy got there and found out what she did it was not cool.  Too bad the nearest computer store was fifty miles away.  Daddy sulked all the time.  Mommy said that is why he drank so much.  She doesn’t know

            Thought you were going to get a real heavy treatise on relevant summertime microcomputing activities, didn’t ya?  Well, enough fun.

Smitty’s Corner

            Hey bung bummers, you want parms published? You better start sending them in.   Doctor DOS (no relation to the Sunday night late night saviour on Channel 11, who we watch religously) has been losing sleep trying to crack BSW and a few goodies.  Unfortunately he has  gone off to college and has had to cut down his daily sixteen hour stints.  You want em? Send them in.

Up On the Soapbox

            Educational computing has been taking a rap lately.  Personal Computing did this big thing early on in the summer wailing about the bummer fruit has become.  This bothers me to no end, but I have been predicting the backlash for awhile.  Why?  Because the almighty profit is too easy to make on dumb school administrators/teachers/boards.  America spends so much time keeping up with the Kremplers that it never asks if the Kremplers know what they are doing.  The  fascination of doing things just for the sake of doing them is not rampant just in education, but in bongo bucks land the old schoolhouse rates high.  “Ya gotta have computers or the kids are going

to be mindless creatures from the deep” is the current sales pitch: unfortunately it is very effective.  Look where all the title money has gone.  I know lots of districts that have riffed staff yet spent big bucks on computers.  Money is not the answer.

            Our congressperson  came out in the paper with big headlines on “education”.  In her special “report” she supposedly recommends that computer programming be made a graduation requirement.  Let that flow over the brains cells a moment: in order to graduate from high school students must demonstrate programming proficiency.  Maybe it’s time to move to El Salvador.  Anybody got a line on a job in the Fauklands?

            A microcomputer is a tool, and I still get hung up over dropping the qualifier “micro” in talking about the small stuff.  I don’t work with computers; I work with microcomputers.  There’s a hell of a difference: but corporate America tells us different.

            A microcomputer has a great deal of usefulness in schools. Albeit it is more sophisticated than the rest of the lot, but I still see it as another piece of AV equipment.  The micro can do some things well.  Let’s use it where it works and let the knuckleheads in the universities develop new applications.  Personally I don’t care if you can wrap it in plastic, connect it to a 12 volt  battery and let it count all the fish in a south sea island lagoon.

            I also see programming as a “lost” art.  We kaboodled everybody into programming because we couldn’t do anything else two (and more years) ago.  Now there is so much good software that programming isn’t needed.  I always get the rhetorical “chicken or the egg” routine on this: but I think there will be one tenth the programmers in ten years that there are today even though there will be a thousand fold more microcomputers.

            The bottom line is real simple.  Don’t make promises that you can’t live up to and don’t tell you colleagues that all their problems will drift away once they start using a micro to manage their library.  Current hassles do disappear: unfortunately they are replaced by new ones. I just happen to like dealing  with the new ones a lot better.  I can live with giving my users better information, or easier access to information, and a greater number of resources to choose from while cutting the clerical crap considerably.  It’s just that I realize I am going to have to rekey stuff on occasion; I have to develop new stress management techniques to deal with the damn labels rolling off onto the printer roller and the stupid light pen not wanting to read anything because the computer has been on for eight hours in 95% humidity.

            No hype, no gripe.

Templates anyone?

            Wish I had something to report, but at the present we are hung up in the higher levels of corporate America. Film at 10.

Swap Shop

            Open from 9-11 weekdays.

Track 06: Next Issue

            I think I found my “communication” package.

            Some neat programming books (How ironic?)

65535

            We all know it’s a small world.  I’d hate to key it in.

Statement of Responsibility

            The Wired Librarian’s Newletter (WLN:Not the bibliographic utility) is produced by and the sole responsibility of Micro Libraries.  For our old readers, we’ve dropped the “Northern Illinois”.  It was too cumbersome, people hard a hard time spelling it, and we’re almost through the old stationary.  Change is healthy.  All opinions expressed are those of Eric S. Anderson, and product names are of course registered, but we figured you knew that anyway.

            I didn’t bother with a balance this month, but be assured it is very red.  There is no subscription fee, although contributions are greatly appreciated.  If you have an extra book of Ronnie Reagan inflation fighters laying around (they normally come in books of 20/$4 but rolls are cool to) we sure could use them.  No information in (WLN:Not the bibliographic utility) is submitted for publication for any of you who happen to hold positions with publishing concerns.

Micro Libraries is available to do software/print reviews if you need us. Contact ESA for details.

            LD of SRC, where are the discount coupons? I met Jessica’s sister.  Send quick.

Dedicated to Robert Elliot Purser

            Inquiries have been received concerning multiple copies of WLN.  Be advised that it is much cheaper for me if you Xerox it yourself and give it to whomever you care.

                                                                                                                 ESA

An Index to the Online Issues

1983 - When there were four microcomputers at the ALA show

December 1984

1985 - wow we've got hard drives !!!