New Herbarium Catalog Software for Macintosh HyperCard

[CELEW at CONNCOLL.BITNET]

                            Herbarium Curator Toolkit
              - Herbarium Catalog Software for Macintosh HyperCard -

ABSTRACT:
     The Herbarium Curator Toolkit is a software package designed to increase
the educational value of herbaria.  As the name suggests, it is a collection of
software tools for the management and effective use of herbaria.  It can store a
While there is other database software available for this purpose, HCT has two
major advantages: (1) It was created specifically to catalog herbaria and is
therefore not simply generic database software adapted to herbarium use. (2) It
uses the graphics-based user-interface of the Macintosh, making it efficient
and easy to use.
     It is hoped that HCT will assist the formation of large multi-herbarium
databases.  HCT can export data from a single herbarium, in a format readable by
other database software.  Thus, it can be used to catalog a single herbarium,
while contributing data to other projects.
     I developed the software for the George R. Cooley Herbarium at Colgate
University (GRCH) during the summer of 1992.  I finished the documentation
recently, and now HCT is ready for its first release.


CAPABILITIES:
     HCT is not a traditional text-based database program.  It has several
methods for navigating through a catalog, using buttons, pull-down menus, and
"HyperText."  This point-and-click navigation is easy to master, and very
powerful.  In addition, versatile sorting, searching, and printing features are
provided. HCT can export data to tab-delimited text, which can be read by other
database software.  Also, it can be configured to only allow certain users to
edit the catalog, using password-security.
     The next release, scheduled for the summer of 1993, will have many new
features, including the ability to link PICT or JPEG images to specimens in the
catalog.  Also, the next version will be able to import data from other database
formats.  Since there are several enhancements that can be made, HCT is a
project I will continue to support.


REQUIREMENTS:
               Macintosh capable of running HyperCard 2.1
               HyperCard 2.1
               2 MB of RAM to run HyperCard, or 3 MB if you use System 7
               1 additional MB of RAM per 10,000 specimens
               A hard disk is needed for all but the smallest herbaria


THE SOFTWARE PACKAGE:
     The HCT package is a collection of five HyperCard stacks and one text file.
These files all interact with each other, and are therefore necessary for HCT to
function properly.  This package is distributed in two forms.  One contains
collection data, and one is a template for other collections.  In addition, I am
distributing elaborate documentation with this release.

               HCT 1.0:  A copy of HCT containing no data.  This is a template
                         copy, for building a new catalog.

               HCT example:  A copy of HCT containing the first 189 specimens
                             in the George R. Cooley Herbarium, at Colgate
                             University.  This is intended to be a preview to
                             HCT.

               HCT manual:  This is an extremely useful 26-page manual, in
                            PageMaker 4.0 format.  If there is sufficient
                            interest, I can probably translate it to PICT
                            or PostScript format.  Also, I may replace the
                            300 dpi graphics with 72 dpi graphics, to cut down
                            on the size of the manual file.


FILE SIZES:

                   Uncompressed   Self-extracting archive    BinHexed
     HCT 1.0           525 K              200 K               340 K
     HCT example       671 K              250 K               272 K
     HCT manual       1504 K              552 K               749 K


DISTRIBUTION:
     This software is provided without charge to herbaria used for educational
purposes.  If you are interested, please contact me.  Also, I will be happy to
answer any questions about the software or its data format.  I can mail copies
via BITNET or the Internet.  I can send printed copies of the manual and
disk copies of the software through postal mail.  I will also consider uploading
the software to an FTP site, if there is interest.


                               Carl Lewis
                      Box 3680, Connecticut College
                          New London, CT 06320

Phone:        (203) 439-3763
BITNET:       celew at conncoll                    clewis at colgateu
Internet:     celew at mvax.cc.conncoll.edu        clewis at center.colgate.edu