Quotemaster Plus: database for quotes
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb045232 |
| Pages | 200-200 |
| Date | 01 March 1993 |
| Published date | 01 March 1993 |
| Author | Leonard M. Avarbuch |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Software Review
Quotemaster Plus:
database for quotes
Leonard
M.
Avarbuch
Quotemaster Plus
is
a computer-based database of
quotations that offers speed and ease of use, running on
Macintosh computers. This review was done on a Mac Plus
computer
with
25 Mb of memory and a 60 Mb hard
disk.
The package sells for $89 and additional quotation
databases are available for $25 each. The vendor is
PennComp,
4031
Villanova
Street,
Houston, TX 77005,
USA. Tel: (713)669 0965.
Can you think of the last speech you heard that didn't start
with or contain a quote? It seems that nothing livens up a
speech or a report like an inspired or humorous quotation. Of
course there are reference works
like
Bartlett's Familiar Quo-
tations which contain thousands of quotes. Unfortunately,
such books can be difficult or time-consuming to use. The
Quotemaster Plus package is designed to provide a better al-
ternative.
Quotemaster Plus, which has been available for over two
years in IBM/PC format, was completely redesigned for the
Mac version that is the subject of this review. The primary
quotation database that comes with
the
package contains over
3000 quotes on 800 topics by 950 authors. This database is
cross-referenced for convenience and is especially designed
for use in business and communication.
Quotemaster Plus can be expanded to meet the user's indi-
vidual needs by adding favourite personal
quotes.
The vendor
also makes four added quotation databases available. The
themes of
the
four databases are
humour,
success, motivation
and contemporary. Each contains over 500 quotes.
Windows aid the searching process
When Quotemaster Plus is started, users are presented with a
screen which allows searching for quotations by subject. To
narrow their search, users can type specific dates and author
names into windows, or else click on an Author button and
choose from
a
displayed list of all the authors who are quoted.
Once the parameters of the search are set, the user clicks on
the Search button and, in
a
few
seconds,
is
presented with
a
hit
list of quotes which can be scrolled as desired.
Hierarchy searching is also used
An alternative method of searching for quotes presents
a
hier-
archical primary pick-list of subjects. When the user
clicks
on
one of the displayed subjects, the package displays a secon-
dary pick-list which elaborates on the primary subject choice.
When one of the subjects on the secondary list is clicked, a
third list appears. Finally, when a subject on the third list is
clicked, a hit list of quotes is displayed.
Clumsy text manipulation
Once a quote has been selected, a clumsy procedure must be
followed before the text can be moved to the user's word-
processor or to the Mac clipboard. The user has to go into a
text mode, then cut or copy, and then return to the search
mode. Hopefully PennComp will improve this procedure in
the future.
Inadequate manual
The manual that comes with Quotemaster Plus is worse than
poor. It is inexcusable. The manual does cover the package
installation process fairly well, but instructions for operating
the package are inadequate. Descriptions of operating steps
are very spotty and instructions for certain areas, such as the
Era text windows, are completely omitted.
Macintosh Plus users will notice that the manual gives in-
structions for using
a
standard or extended keyboard but not the
Plus keyboard. Finally, the manual is completely devoid of any
diagrams to explain the sparse instructions that are given.
Lengthy installation
Since Quotemaster Plus and its primary database occupy over
2 Mb of memory on the Mac, the package comes on two disks
which contain compressed files. Installation and file decom-
pression take place automatically but the process is lengthy,
taking between ten and twenty minutes.
Could become an indispensable aid
The idea behind Quotemaster Plus is a very good one. Given
its
two year history on the
IBM PC
the package must have had
some success. Once the user learns to operate Quotemaster
Plus,
it could become an indispensable aid to those who want
to add quotes to speeches or reports.
200 The Electronic Library, Vol.
11,
No. 3, June 1993
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