

        S C I E N C E   T I M E S            Tuesday, September 18, 1990

           The New York Times


        PERIPHERALS
        
        By L.R. Shannon


        Audiophiles,  like  other  collectors,  are  always going to get
        organized.   Tomorrow.   Meanwhile  the records, disks and tapes
        pile up.  Album Trax can turn an accumulation into a collection.

        Album   Trax  is  a  database  written  specifically  for  music
        collections.  It presents you with a form on the in screen which
        you type the title of the album, the artist, the category (rock,
        classical,  jazz or whatever), year, label and format.  Then you
        enter  the  individual  songs  and their playing times, up to 48
        songs per record.  There's also room for comments.

        Once  you've  typed  in the collection, or a part of it, you can
        search  and  sort  it  by any of the categories -- everything by
        Frank Sinatra, for example, or all the versions of Ada.

        If  you want a printed copy of your collection, you can print it
        out  on  either 8.5-by-11-inch sheets or for 2-by-4-inch Rolodex
        cards.   With the full-size print out, the program automatically
        totals the playing times.

        All this is accomplished with the help of menus, windows and, if
        you  have  one,  a  mouse.   It  works with virtually any MS-DOS
        computer and monitor.

        A  thorough  test of Album Trax would involve entering the names
        of  hundreds  of  records,  which I haven't done.  But since the
        program  is  shareware, you can get a copy from another owner, a
        user  group  or a computer bulletin board and legally try it out
        for  practically  nothing.   If you like it, you pay for it.  Or
        you  can  get  a  registered copy directly by mailing a check or
        money  order  for  $25  to  Saugatuck  Software  Inc., Box 2238,
        Westport, Conn. 06880.  Connecticut residents must add 8 percent
        sales tax.

