4 
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MUSTARD 
(Museum and University STorage And Retrieval of Data) 
FIR 
FIR, a specialized batch processing computer system which 
stores and retrieves information of fish collections and liter¬ 
ature, began capturing data in March at the National Museum of 
Natural Science of Canada. The hardware consists of a DCT-50Q 
teletype, a PDP-8/L minicomputer with 4 K of memory and a mag¬ 
tape in the museum, which communicate over a phone line to a 
Univac 1108 computer. Input and output are on the DCT-500. 
Data to and from the 1108 is batched on the mag-tape unit. The 
1108 updates or queries the master file and prepares output for 
the PDP-8/L. 
Input of collection data on the DCT-500 results in output 
on the same device of new or corrected catalogue sheets and cards 
which serve as species index cards and bottle labels. Literature 
data can be input and results in author and subject cards produc¬ 
tion. The master file is queried via the same route and results 
in lists, counts, or, if desired, copies of forms. FIR offers a 
reasonably complete, although unrefined, ichthyological informa¬ 
tion retrieval system. 
Plans are being made for a generalized time-sharing system 
for Canadian museums•--Don E. McAllister, National Museum of 
Natural Sciences, Ottawa, Ontario, K1A 0M8, Canada. 
RECENT LITERATURE 
Colquhoun, D. Lectures on Biostatistics/An Introduction to 
Statistics with Applications in Biology and Medicine. 
Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1971s xviii + 425. 
Davies, R. G. Computer Programming in Quantitative Biology. 
Academic Press, London, 1971: xi + 492. 
Gates, D. M. 
biology. 
Flora North America: A data bank for systematic 
Bioscience, 21, 1971: 507. 
