Searching for software

ABSTRACT

It happens every so often - a faculty member or graduate student turns up at the Computing Center with a question like this: “Do you know of any software which analyzes heat loss in buildings?” Or, “Have you heard of a program called SLAM? It's mentioned in an engineering book I'm reading, but there isn't any reference to the source.” Or, “Do you have EISPACK? GEARPACK?”

The problem you face is not the problem of finding whether programs of the given name or function exist on your system, or of locating the documentation. You already know that you don't have a program analyzing heat loss, or a mysterious entity called SLAM, or anything with a name like EISPACK or GEARPACK. EISPACK, for example, is available at other Universities, but you have never heard of it at this particular moment. What do you do next?

You need a 'documentation system' for outside software, to help you answer the questions

- Does any software with the given name or description exist?

- Who has it, who wrote it, who distributes it?

- Can it be acquired for free or purchased at reasonable cost?

And lastly, if the answers to the above are favorable,

- Should you acquire it? Is there sufficient interest among users to justify the project of implementing it on your system?

Index Terms

• General and reference

  • Cross-computing tools and techniques

    • Evaluation

• Social and professional topics

  • Professional topics

    • Management of computing and information systems

      • Software management

        • Software selection and adaptation