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One of the lures of computing is the saving of time and money. It's rare that either or both of these two goals are met (although productivity gains are commonplace) but we strive nonetheless.

Joe Eisner's Bottom Line column in the Winter 1990 (Volume 4, number 4) issue focused on the calculation of true hourly costs of labor. This topic is also discussed in Philip Rosenberg's Cost Finding for Public Libraries (ALA 1985), as well as Dougherty and Heinritz's Systems Analysis of Library Operations 2nd edition (Scarecrow Press).

A spreadsheet program like Lotus 1–2–3 is perfect for computing an interrelated matrix of numbers, such as a salary schedule. It provides planners with the flexibility to conduct “what if …” analyses. In addition, its “lookup” function allows the planner to enter an employee's range and step and extract the relevant salary.

In these heady days of spreadsheet programs, word processors, and database management software, we are confronted with a simple problem of software specialization: how to get that nice 10‐column chart of next year's book budget from the Lotus 1–2–3 program into the budget report being written on Microsoft Word?

Squeezing many columns of data into the physical limitations of the normal 8½″ × 11″ or 8½″ × 14″ piece of paper has been a problem for as long as I have been dealing with numbers. My staff and I have spent countless hours trying to get just one more column of numbers into that limited space. The concept of rounding is probably as grounded in this problem as it is in the necessity for precision.

I'm a fairly visual person in that I can grasp the meaning of something faster when I see it than when I hear it. Since pictures stay with me longer than does print, I am intrigued by the new GUI software (meaning Graphical User Interface and pronounced “gooey”), such as Windows, and its applications. GUI software for such non‐Windows applications as Lotus 1–2–3, Releases 2.3 and 3.1, and Quattro Pro Version 3 tout their WYS‐IWYG (What You See Is What You Get and pronounced “wizzy‐wig”) graphical environment. Of course, all Macintosh fans will cry “copycat” because they've been dealing with GUI for years.

A financial reporting system tends to follow its own laws of evolution. First, a basic line item expenditure system is created with only major categories reported. Typical examples are: Salaries & Wages, Benefits, Books, Periodicals, AV/Nonprint Materials, Online Services, Programs, Administrative/Professional Services, Supplies, Equipment, Building Maintenance, Equipment Maintenance, Vehicle Operation, Utilities, and Automation.

Buying everyone on staff their own microcomputer usually doesn't make economic sense. While heavy computer users should certainly have their own hardware and software, many financial and managerial computer tasks are cyclical. Once a task like entering the month's expenditures is completed, the computer may not be used again by that particular staff member until the next month. Someone else may then want to analyze those figures and develop a special report. Or, a head of reference may need the machine.

I've finally seen a demonstration of a Management Information System for a library that works. I've been searching for a working example of an integrated system that includes data from a circulation/OPAC system, an external accounting package, an external human resources file, branch statistics, and community demographic files. And, by integrated, I mean accessible from a single workstation via a single program.

Acquiring a major new piece of equipment is usually exciting. You have great expectations of all the new things you can accomplish. But the experienced computer person also expects some difficulties, especially when that new piece of equipment is a printer. In my experience — confirmed by articles in the computer press — perhaps 90 percent of the most common problems in microcomputing involve the printer. The problems range from poor ribbons to the incompatibility of your favorite piece of software with your new WhizBang 1300 Print Machine. Consequently, it's nice to be able to say that I've been delighted with my new Hewlett‐Packard LaserJet III printer. It was a cinch to install, the print quality is as good as its press notices, and it's quiet. Generally speaking, my software has even been able to make use of all its features.