Marvin Bowers, President of ILS

Information and Learning Systems

Reprinted with Permission

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askSam: Mr. Bowers, what is your role as President of ILS?

MARVIN BOWERS: My mission is to design information and learning systems for developing nations.

askSam: Which of our products(s) do you use and what applications have you found for askSam?

MARVIN BOWERS: We primarily use the DOS 5.12 version of askSam, since most of our users are using low cost laptop PC computers in developing nations.  They would love to use Win 95 but many of the Win 95 programs need a num.of 24mb of RAM to work right.   ILS does most of its' bibliographic work using a powerful bibliographic program ILS has designed using askSam DOS ver. 5.1.  We output the data from askSam into ascii, then import into LotusWordPro (Word processor / desktop pub. tool)   By using WordPro, we get the information to look better in term of graphics and layout.   We then "print" the data to Adobe Acrobat so that we can output it to HTML for the web.  Out final product uses Adobe Acrobat on the CD-ROM.   Adobe Acrobat is the only publishing tool we know of that requires no royalty and works on any platform -- Win 3.1, Win 95, NT, OS2, Unix and MAC.  Adobe is also the only tool we have found that keeps all of the look and feel of the original document -- either scanned (with full OCR) or from the printer output file.    

askSam: How has askSam made your job any easier, faster or more efficient?  

MARVIN BOWERS:  askSam is the core program for all of our data searching -- i.e. address info and bibliographic data etc.  It is the most powerful tool we have ever used for both structured and unstructured free-form text files.  Our problem with other tools is still the 254 character limitations for all of the structured databases.

Most all of our data has detailed abstracts for country, people, language and related bibliographic data.  For us, the key question is -- do you want a "data" tool (with it's limited 254 field limitation), or a "knowledge" or "wisdom" tool that can truly sort and analyze data. Though some tools offer fast access to indexed data, ask if they handle the manipulation of sentences, paragraphs, etc. too?

Any database selected can handle "data" , but askSam for DOS and Windows is the ONLY tool I have ever read about and/or used that can really handle knowledge and wisdom as a true database warehouse with searching AND sorting capabilities across any and ALL files.

askSam: Can you tell me about the customer support you have received as a user!  

MARVIN BOWERS:  It doesn't get much better than what askSam provides.  The support is always very prompt, thorough and very courteous.  In fact -- would you believe -- the very first tech support person hired by askSam Systems, ended up marrying our daughter some four years ago.

askSam:  Would you recommend askSam and why?  

MARVIN BOWERS: Yes!!!  Due to the reasons outlining how askSam has made my job easier, faster and more efficient.

askSam: What applications do you plan for askSam in the future?  

MARVIN BOWERS:  During the next 12 months, we hope to publish 4 to 6 titles on CD-ROM relating to "Nation Building" tools for volunteers working at the grass-roots level in developing nations.  Most of the initial design work is done in askSam.  

Title #1 -- Peoples of the World 1997 -- will contain a one page "Executive Summary People PROfile" for over 6,000 minority peoples of the world with a country population greater than 100 people.  Each summary PROfile contains data on 50 key people indicators divided into a number of topics: Country data, People data, Population data, Language data etc.  Each PROfile also contains graphics -- including the countries flag, seal and a region map highlighting the county's location within a region map (i.e. Kenya, within Africa S. of Sahara).

Title #2 -- Countries of the World 1997 -- will contain a one page Country PROfile for over 180 nations, a complete set of country clipart of 700 plus map files in a pcx format, the 1996 CIA Country Fact Book on 200+ nations, and all of the "Background Notes" reports by the US State Dept. and numerous links to key Web sites relating to maps, country data and international organizations.

Title #3 -- Literacy 1997 -- will contain over 100 literacy primers for the 100 major language of the world and a detailed handbook on how to develop your own literacy primer.  It will also contain key articles, annotated bibliography and links to key literacy Web sites. This practical tool is designed for any volunteer working on literacy in developing nations or any minority people anywhere in the world.

Title #4 -- Shell Books 1997 -- a step by step process on how to develop a series of graded books for new readers anywhere in the world.  Over 1 billion adults in the world do not know how to read.  Their biggest problem is not just learning how to read, but finding graded materials that are relevant to their adult learning needs (i.e. not just books relating to Dick and Jane running up and down hills with buckets of water -- !!).  The goal of this CD-ROM is to introduce a revolutionary new system and process that has been developed by FIL (Foundation for Indigenous Languages) that uses a series of publishing tools and templates that allow anyone to write, design and publish low cost books with just notebook and printer.

Title #5 -- Distance Leaning 1997 -- will contain sample courses and detailed information on continuing education / distance learning courses for 70 key colleges, universities and seminaries in the USA using correspondence courses, cassette tapes, videos and/or CD-ROM's. It will also contain a detailed annotated database / directory of college, universities and seminaries in developing nations.  This CD is designed to network schools in the developing nations with those in the west and explore practical ways of sharing resources and partnering -- so as to enrich curriculum design and content for both worlds. It will also contain detailed information on Web sites, bibliographies, agency directories and key curriculum design agencies and consultants.

Title #6 -- Integrated Balanced Development 1997 -- This will be a detailed annotated directory of agencies, curriculum materials, and publishers who focus on Sustainable Village Development globally.  The focus will be on tools for short term workers for relief and development workers -- i.e. Peace Corps, Oxfam, World Vision, etc.  It will also contain down loads of key internet Web data for those in developing nations who do not even have a phone service in their state / province or city let alone a local internet provider. The Web data will have the best of WHO, World Bank stats, Atlanta Disease Control Center briefing reports on endemic diseases, and key Appropriate Technology sites and actual documents.  

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Marvin Bowers, President

ILS (Information Learning Systems)

Colorado Springs CO

Email: 73677.561@CompuServe.COM

Email: MarvBowers@xc.org