Collecting Your Thoughts!
by Gary Woods

The biggest deal about collecting stuff is keeping track of it. So, whether you collect Coins, Stamps, Antiques, Autographs, Books, Guns, Knives, Toys, Casino Chips or Currency you should check out the Carlisle Development Corporation site at http://www.carlisledevelopment.com. They have what they call the Collector's Assistant product line. In addition to elegant interfaces that pack an extraordinary amount of functionality into a single screen, these programs offer easy-to-master data-entry, editing, and reporting facilities plus a generous helping of tutorials, context-sensitive help, and other aids.

Most Collector's Assistant packages are configured for one type of collectible, such as U.S. coins, antique coins, paper currency, or books. With the Coin Collector's Assistant Plus, you get the core Collector's Assistant module with U.S. coin database that contains photographs, Coin World values, plus up to 40 data fields for all known U.S., Hawaiian Monarchy and Colonial Coinage.

In only a few clicks, you can copy a complete coin record from the database to your collection. The program then helps you edit individual data items by letting you choose values from drop-down lists. Like all Collector's Assistant programs, Coin Collector's Assistant Plus may be outfitted with extra plug-in modules and additional databases.

The program boasts a multitude of other features, including extensive options for customizing interfaces and forms, the ability to import, export, and backup a collection, and automatic value recalculation when ever you change a coin's grade. For $84.95 this is a lot of program

If you have any suggestions or questions for me please drop me a note at garyandlaury@santabarbaraproperties.com or see my column on the Internet at http://www.santabarbaraproperties.com or call me at (805) 729-0910