Added more images from the iancr77 collection;

• Tutor from Akademias, a framework program for revision and questions on various subjects,
• Compas Advanced Projections, a plotter utility for the British Thornton CAD suite (image incomplete),
• Fitness Suite by Earlgate Computers,
• Order! Order! by CLASS, a literacy program,
• Yarns by CLASS, a Teletext emulator,
• BTEC Record Keeper from R S Ball,
• Energy Crisis from R S Ball,
• Economics Multiple Choice from R S Ball, a collection of multiple choice quizzes on Economics,
• Supply and Demand, Economics programs from Beecon Educational Software,
• National Income Models, from Beecon.

Also included the ORAC Cross-assembler software to the Oddments section. I know nothing about this software but include it for anyone who does.

Added more images from the iancr77 collection;

• Outcome, a literacy program from CLASS,
• Writer, the editing/creation program for Outcome above,
• Spain after Franco, a Spanish vocabulary title from Camsoft,
• Class Management Exercise, a Business Simulation from Sapphire Systems,
• Multiple Choice Test Maker from RS Ball,
• Computers Information Awareness, from Pitmansoft,

Added the documentation for the Print utility in the Oddments section

Added more images from the iancr77 collection;

• 5 Star Awards for the Amateur Athletics Association,
• Neath College Restaurant Booking System - from BARF Software,
• Westminster Economic Model - an Economics title from an unknown source,
• Circuit - an electronic design package from Capital Media,
• Print - a utility for sending a file to a printer added to Oddments,
• Chemistry Software 1 - from Pitmansoft, a collection of A-Level Chemistry programs,
• Discounted Cash Flow - R S Ball publication, a business title.

Also added Keyboard Programs by Alan Nixon, a collection of Special Needs and/or Early Years programs

Added more images from the iancr77 collection;

• Cycles in Nature - from Cygnet Software,
• Enform - the Econet compatible version of the Notts CC Inform database,
• Inform 3 - version 3 of the Notts CC Inform database,
• German - from Camsoft,
• Momentum and Impacts - a two disc A-Level maths title from John Wiley,
• Linear Motion - a two disc maths title from John Wiley,
• Friction - a two disc maths title from John Wiley,
• A number of Acornsoft Business Suite titles (really business software but used sometimes post-16);
  • Accounts Payable
  • Accounts Receivable
  • Invoicing
  • Mailing
  • Order Processing
  • Purchasing
  • Stock Control
• A  Viewdata Terminal Emulator from PRESTEL Education

Also updated the Cambridgeshire Software House page to include a reference to Expedition to Saqqara. Sorry, no download is available for this title.

Added more images from the iancr77 collection;

• A series of MEgaCyCAL titles; these are almost identical to SciCAL programs - were these the same publisher?
  • Ampli - looking at single-ended and operational amplifiers,
  • AtoD - investigating the various methods of A to D conversion,
  • D-Logic - investigations into common logic functions,
  • Data Conversion - looks at numerical conversion methods for data in digital electronic systems
  • DC - investigations into circuits using resistance and meters,
  • Digital Devices - A collection of programs taking a virtual look at digital devices,
  • DtoA - investigating the various methods of D to A conversion,
  • FRESP - looking at the frequency response of filters and amplifiers,
  • OpAmp - investigations into the properties of operational amplifiers,
  • Waves - investigations into oscillations, longitudinal and transverse propagation of waves.

Things have been busy here since the last post. All the discs from the iancr77 donation have been examined and any discs of software missing from the Archive have been digitally imaged. The result is that about 200 new packages have been preserved and are ready to be added to the Archive.

The 'Oddments' section of the website has been re-organised into separate sections to make using this section more logical. A number of additions to the 'Oddments' section have been made. These include;

• MACEmail - an Econet-based email system,
• The Opus Disc Utilities,
• Teaching Computer Control - a number of procedures to use in your own programs which use the Analogue and User Ports of the BBC micro,
• Microvitec Touchtec 501 system disc
• Beasty Servo Control programs,
• Watford Diagnostics Disc - to check the performance of your BBC micro,
• A VELA Analysis package to work with the VELA interface box,
• Using Wordwise Plus - the disc of software to complement the book of the same name,
• Wordwise Plus Programming Ideas - from Norwich Computer Services to provide help with using Wordwise Plus

Latest additions from the iancr77 archive include;

• from Garland Computing;
  • Muscles - teaching/revision notes,
  • Joints - teaching/revision notes,
  • Dieting,
  • Teeth and Dental Care - from the General Dental Council,
  • Transpiration - one I used to use back in the day but never realised it was a Garland title.
     
• from MacMillan Education
  • German - games to help understand German,
  • French - programs to help understand French

Continuing to work through the archive of the iancr77 collection of discs, the latest additions include;

• A number of titles from Longman, unfortunately without documentation;
  • A-Level Electric Pack
  • Biochemistry Pack
  • Heredity Pack
  • MicroDiet
  • A-Level General Physics Pack,
  • Ecology Pack

Continuing to work through the archive of the iancr77 collection of discs, the latest additions include;

• A-Level Economics Multiple Choice Questions 1 - from RS Ball
• A-Level Economics Multiple Choice Questions 2 - from RS Ball
• Physics Pack 1 - from Longman; this is part of the Warwick Science Simulations series,

In addition the provisional manual for the CommunITel Viewdata System has been added to the dedicated Communitel page.

Continuing with the archiving of the iancr77 collection of discs, the latest additions include;

• Study Skills - a text-based program giving advice on study skills,
• French Mistress - from Kosmos Software, a new disc version added to the download,
• Millikan - from GSN Educational Software; a simulation of Millikan's experiment.
• Graph/Stats - from RS Ball, a statistical graph/chart program for sets of data.

Continuing with the archiving of the iancr77 collection of discs, the latest additions include;

• Sums - a set of four discs of programs covering topics suitable for A-Level mathematics,
• Various utilities and programming discs added to the Oddments section of the website,
• The Times Network System system disc added to the Oddments section,
• Percy - a computerised prospectus for college courses.

The Archive has been very fortunate to receive a huge donation from iancr77 from the StarDot forum of about 300 floppy discs of educational material. The discs originate from Neath College in Port Talbot, Wales. Unhappily the discs appear to have been stored in a damp environment. The labels on many show ink runs due to damp and their disc surfaces are covered in fungus or a film of dirt.

Thankfully the collection of discs includes a number of copies of some titles so that in most cases all the files and data are able to be extracted using both copies. Some discs, though, were too far gone to be rescued (when the magnetic coating flakes away nothing can be done).

Unfortunately the discs came without documentation and this is essential to many titles. If anyone has any of the documentation and can email pdfs or scans these would be very gratefully received, thanks.

Despite the poor storage conditions of the past a very large number of titles have been recovered and are being added to the archive continuously. The latest additions include;

• Yorkshire and Humberside Association of Further and Higher Education Project programs for staff and student training,
• Gas Board - from ICL, a simulation of the use of computers in a gas board,
• Cloze - from LTS, a cloze passage generator and on screen player,
• Kitchen Raiders - from John Lyons, a game based on multiple choice quizzes on cookery,
• PRESTEL Demo Disc,
• MicroViewdata fro Tecmedia, an offline viewdata program,
• Electrolysis (COM59) - from AVP,

Further titles from the Scottish Microelectronics Development Programme have been archived;

• Context - a simple text editor
• Datafile - a flatfile database
• Eating for Health - a look at your diet
• Findword - solve word squares using a concept keyboard for input
• Food for the Family - a shopping simulation
• Keyboard Skills - a series of simple games to help improve keyboard skills
• Music - create and play tunes,
• Mystery - work out what the mystery thing is from the given clues,
• Operation Konlee - a space adventure game

A further MAPE special edition booklet to complement the Micro-Scope magazine was added;

• Multimedia,

Activity has included some software titles from the Scottish Microelectronics Development Programme;

• Art and Design - a drawing package for use with a concept keyboard.
• Bank - a simulation of common banking activities.
• Clocks - practice telling the time using the concept keyboard.
• Coins - use coins to answer money questions; concept keyboard controlled.
• Colourword - a simple junior word processor controlled by a concept keyboard.

MAPE special edition booklets to complement the Micro-Scope magazine were added;

• Special Education,
• Christmas 1990,
• Technology,
• LOGO - including the GO LOGO insert; GO is the magazine of the Valiant Turtle Users Group,
• Picture Builder/News Bulletin,

Thanks to a kind loan from Stevei2791 from the StarDot forums the following titles have been added;

• Midland School Bank - a simulation of running a school bank.
• MicroStory - a story writing toolkit from ESM.
• AQA Unit Accreditation 6B - an amateur program which creates Unit Accreditation proposals and prints them out.
• Design 7 Plus - an interesting title from M/B Software; this allows the design of MODE7 screens and their conversion to a BASIC program.
• Balance Your Diet - a title from Cambridge Micro Software.
• Aztec/Masterword - two games of logic and deduction from ESM.

In addition a number of MAPE special edition booklets to complement the Micro-Scope magazine are being added.

The latest additions to the archive include Micro-Scope magazines issues 42 - 50.

Issues 1 & 2 and 11 to 24 are still missing from the archive. If anyone has those issue and can provide scans or loans this would be greatly appreciated.

Also added another title from HS Software, CarryAdd, which offers practice at simple addition and subtraction. This title is courtesy of billcarr2005 of the StarDot forums, who cracked the disk protection. The Archive has also been contacted by David Snipp, the author of this title, and a meeting has been planned once the Covod-19 lockdown is lifted.

Thanks due to billcarr2005 of StarDot Forums for sending a copy of the disk version of Look Sharp! This has been added to the software download.

The next update includes a number of missing titles sent to the archive by the Mekon from the StarDot forums.

• Look Sharp! - a Widgit Software title published by Mirrorsoft. Converted to disk by the archive. These are matching games for young children.
• Numerical Methods - an advanced level mathematics title from Nelson.
• Graphic Calculus 1: Differentiation - a Glentop title looking graphically at the gradient of a graph and differentiation.
• Graphic Calculus 2: Integration - a Glentop title looking graphically at integration and differentiation.

The latest update includes titles from Dial Software Ltd. of Bristol.

• Bells - a bell-ringing simulation and French vocabulary tester.
• Dial Software Disc A - a compilation of mathematics and spelling software for young children.
• Dial Software Disc D - a compilation of a range of programs.
• Dial Software Disc E - a compilation of a range of mathematics and chemistry programs.
• Dial Software Disc G - a compilation of a range of educational quiz games.
• Dial Software Disc H - a compilation of language programs.
• Numberhang - a collection of mathematical games.

The final packages from the Tom Moffatt loan selection are in the latest update. This includes the following titles;

• Living with Computers Pack 1 - from Acornsoft. This updates the software from that title previously archived.
• Target Scotland - a set of geography programs for Scottish students.
• Numbers and Computation - an amateur compilation of programs demonstrating the computational facilities of a computer along with other supporting programs and Wordwise Plus notes for a Computer Appreciation course.
• CEEFAX Emulator - a fully featured simulation of the CEEFAX service.

Continuing to add packages from the Tom Moffatt loan selection, the latest update includes the following titles;

• Mail Order - an amateur program which is a fairly comprehensive simulation of running a mail order business.
• Weather - from SMDP. A program that displays graphs and charts of weather data input by the user.
• Computer Studies 1 - an amateur compilation of games and simulations for Girvan Academy.
• Computer Studies from ICL. A set of three programs to do with Computer Studies.
• Police National Computer - an amateur title which is a simulation of using the Police National Computer.
• Living with Computers Software Pack 2 - from Acornsoft.

This update makes 2000 individual programs now online- quite a milestone!

Continuing to add packages from the Tom Moffatt loan selection, the following titles have been included;

• Compas CAD System - a CAD package and CNC controller from British Thornton, the slide rule company. The download includes several discs with different versions of the software and includes the ROM and sample drawings.
• CNC Lathe Programming Course - from ConcretEd, a two part computer assisted learning course.
• DEMONs COMAL Programming Guide - a teaching aid for learning COMAL programming. This is the first title archived that is written entirely in COMAL.
• Standard Science 1 - a compilation of commercial and amateur programs by the Ayr Division of Strathclyde Education Authority.

Continuing to add packages from the Tom Moffatt loan selection, the following titles have been included;

• Plane Designer - this is a second version of the BBCSoft Plane Designer package, released by the parent software company.
• Frame Designer - An amateur package for designing frames to go around technical drawings on a Plotmate A4/M plotter.
• Point of Sale - a simulation of a Point of Sale till.
• SIMCAD - a simple disk-based CAD package for the BBC micro fron OWL Microsystems.
• Bike Insurance - from SMDP, a simulation of applying for motorbike insurance.
• Home Banking Demonstration - a demonstration of the Viewdata home banking application.

Early January has been a busy time at the Archive. Some of the outstanding copies of Micro-Scope have been scanned and added to the archive. They include issues 39 (Summer 1993) to 41 (Spring 1994).

Thanks to Tom Moffat, who contacted the Archive recently and offered to loan a mass of missing titles he had rescued from a skip at his school when they were being thrown away due to the progress of IBM PC clones in the early 1990s. It will be a major job to archive these titles.

First off the mark is the addition of the documentation for the AVP titles , Physics (CYG010) - Measurement - Interestingly the disk was numbered CYG004 in the catalogue, (This documentation was badly 'corroded' due to sticky ink peeling onto the opposing page and needed significant 'tidying up'.), and Trigonometry (COM115). Documentation was also added for the Find Database from HUMMEC along with the original master disks.

The following titles were also added;

• DCIRC from Pavic Publications which is a simple electronic circuit designer.
• Teletext Pack, an early title from Beebug, which is designed to allow easy creation of MODE7 displays.
• Tech Tracker from British Nuclear Fuels plc, a time travel adventure in which the player must rescue scientists.
• Power Plan from British Nuclear Fuels, which gives the chance to run a virtual nuclear reactor.
• Design and Technology Part 1 by BBCSoft a set of technology programs along with accompanying audio tapes.
• Design and Technology Part 2 by BBCSoft a set of CAD, Business and Computing simulations and games.
• Several titles from Linear Graphics Limited; these titles are designed to work with the Plotmate pen plotter;
  • LinChart, a bar/pie chart program to work with a Plotmate plotter.
  • Graph Fit, a program to fit experimental data to the correct graph.
  • LinSign, a utility to produce banners with large letters.
• Lib-CAD from OWL Microsystems, a simple CAD program that works with a plotter.

There are still many titles from this loan left to add to the archive.

Latest updates include the following AVP titles;

• Graph Sketching - draws graphs of exemplar or user-defined equations.
• Kinetic Theory (COM160) - virtual experiments investigating aspects of kinetic theory.
• Logic Gates - design and test circuits made from logic gates.
• Timing Package - a collection of timing programs using either the keyboard or switches.
• Statistical Tools - a set of programs to perform statistical analysis of experimental data.
• Engine and Transmission - animated explanations of how an engine and gearbox work.

Welcome to the year 2021!

Issue 38 of the MAPE members' magazine Micro-Scope has been added.

Whilst cataloguing some of the vast number of floppy disk images held by the Archive a missing title from Sherston Software was discovered. This was Jolly Jack Tar, an animated series of lessons and quizzes aimed at teaching music theory to young children. This was a copy of the original disk and had been 'hacked' to remove the quite sophisticated protection used by this title.

Updates also include the following AVP titles;

• Four Stroke Internal Combustion Engine (COM170),
• Electricity 1 - a series of questions about simple electric circuits,