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WHAT A DATA BASE IS Computer software (or applications) generally falls under one of several broad categories such as spreadsheets, accounting, or word processing. The Volunteer Network is a data base, that is, an information management system. It's easy to understand how a data base works by comparing it to a conventional "paper" filing system. This application has different files, each containing similar records. For example, in the "Personal Information" file, a record is like a fact sheet on one particular volunteer. Each record contains several fields, such as "Name", "Hours Worked", "Emergency Contact" and so on, in which information is entered just as you would "fill in the blanks" on a paper form. So far, so good. You can do that much already with a "paper" filing system. The real power of the application is in its ability to give you the information you need - when you need it, and in whatever form you want to see it, and to process that information any way you need it. It's like having a team of highly-trained clerks who know exactly what you need to keep track of, exactly where to find it, and exactly how to tally it up and type it out. But it never complains, never forgets, never makes a mistake - and it works extremely fast. BEFORE YOU START ENTERING DATA This manual will provide you with the expertise necessary for day-to-day use of the system. It assumes that you at least understand such fundamentals as how your monitor and printer work. You don't have to read the entire manual to get started, as long as you start at the first and take it a step at a time. In fact, we encourage you use the hands-on approach to learning, i.e., entering and working with "make- believe" data. Before you start entering real data, however, you should at least browse through this manual from cover-to- cover, particularly the file descriptions at the end. You should also meet with those in your organization who will be involved with the system and discuss certain important considerations, such as: - Timetable: which files need to be brought up-to-date first? How soon? How, and how quickly, do you want to phase out old procedures? - Policy: who will have access to the system? What kind of auditing and reporting will you need? How will your office procedures and "paper flow" be affected by the system? - Data Consistency: Do you want your data to be in upper case only? What standard terminology and abbreviations will you use? Remember that a computer is not smart enough to know that "NY" and "New York City" may be the same. These considerations need not be so grave and time-consuming to prevent you from getting started reasonably fast. You simply can't foresee every detail when it comes to computers. With good communication and a common-sense approach, however, you will work out an optimal routine as time goes on. CONCEPTS AND TERMINOLOGY When we talk about storing data, bear in mind that what is really happening is that electronic impulses are being recorded magnetically on a surface similar to magnetic tape. A database "writes" and "reads" these impulses in a very organized way. To recap, this organization or hierarchy is as follows: Files contain records, records contain fields. Fields are like blank lines. Any information entered into a field is in the form of characters. A character may be a letter, number, symbol, even a space. Computers normally use two types of storage media - diskettes and hard disks. When you buy computer software like The Volunteer Network, the program itself comes on a diskette, but the software will be transferred to a hard disk to operate. A "MENU-DRIVEN" SYSTEM Although some of the concepts in this manual may seem complicated at first, remember that it's a lot easier to assemble a bicycle than to read the instructions. Most of the procedures and techniques will become second-nature to you in just a short time. This manual makes no attempt to explain every conceivable way you can use the system, or every conceivable situation you might encounter. To do so would require volumes of text and weeks of tedious study on your part when you could be learning a lot faster by hands-on experience. So try out what you learn, experiment, and when you make a mistake, try to determine what you did wrong. The application is menu-driven, meaning that finding your way around is largely a matter of choosing from a list of options and typing in the number of the option you want to use. Your progress in learning the system will be a lot quicker if you remember two rules: (1) Pay attention to what's on the screen! (2) If something doesn't work, try it slowly and carefully a second time before you scream for help. WHAT HARDWARE YOU NEED Like all software you buy, The Volunteer Network requires that you have certain hardware components in order to run properly. These are: -- An IBM-PC or 100% Compatible Computer -- PC-DOS or MS-DOS Release 3.0 or higher -- Although it has worked with as little as 384KB RAM, we really prefer a minimum of 512KB RAM, and recommend 640KB RAM -- A hard disk unit with at least 5 megabytes free space (to handle both the program and your data) -- A dot-matrix or 132-column daisy-wheel printer -- Either a color or monochrome monitor -- A CONFIG.SYS File with FILES=30 and BUFFERS=30 INSTALLING THE SYSTEM In order to use The Volunteer Network, you must first transfer it to your hard disk. To do this, when you have started up your system and have a "C>" prompt, insert the diskette marked "The Volunteer Network" -- "Disk Number One", and then type in: A:INSTALL (and press enter) The follow the directions on the screen. So you know, what the installation program does is create a directory called "VOLMGR" on your hard disk and store the program and data files to that directory. STARTING UP THE SYSTEM Before you can use any program, its operating system and start-up instructions must be loaded into the computer's memory. Unlike diskette or hard disk storage, memory is a temporary work space and is only functional when the computer's power is on. To start using the system, turn on the computer and let it warm up until the "C>" prompt appears. At this point, if a "main menu" has been set up on your computer, enter the option that selects The Volunteer Network. Otherwise, type in the phrase "VOLNET" (without the quotes) and press enter. Within a few moments the system's logo screen will appear. You will now find yourself at the system's main menu selection screen. IF YOU HAVE JUST INSTALLED THE SYSTEM, there are a few things you need to do before starting to use the entire system. All of these are at the "System Utilities" menu, which you can access by entering the number next to that option and then pressing the enter key. Then, do the following: 1) Select Option "1", and enter the printer codes which your printer uses for "Compressed" and "Pica" (Normal) printing. These are number codes, and can be found in your printer's manual or by asking the person that installed your hardware. 2) Select Option "2", and enter your organization's title as you want it to appear on all reports. Then, if you want to track the dollar value of volunteer work done for your group, and have an standard hourly wage you want to use most of the time, then enter in that wage amount. 3) If you are using a color monitor, select Option "6" and respond with a "Y" when asked if you are using a color monitor. However, you will need to exit from the system (Option "0" at any menu) and restart it before the package will display its screens in color. Once finished, you can return to the main menu screen by entering the number and next to that selection and then pressing the enter key. Notice that on the main menu screen there are two areas of choice. The first is to enter a "0" and press the enter key, which will let you quit using the package at any time. Next there are choices that specify other menu screens that are available to you, such as the one for "Mailing Labels", the one for "Regular Volunteers" or the one for "Summary Reports". Pick the information area you want to work in, and then key in the number next to your choice and press enter. This action will take you to your information file's "function" menu where you can add, edit or delete data, or print a report, or run a special function like a skills search or transferring a volunteer from active to inactive. YOUR VOLUNTEER INFORMATION The primary information area of your system is the "volunteers" area, divided into the "Regular Volunteers" and "Inactive Volunteers" areas, where various pieces of data are kept about each of your volunteers. The information kept in each of these three areas is the same. The term "Regular" refers to those volunteers who regularly volunteer their time for your organization. In addition, there is another area of the system entitled "Inactive Volunteers", which contains those volunteers who you want to have on file, but who are not currently actively involved with your group. The system gives you the ability to automatically transfer volunteers to this "inactive" area, and then return them to their original area whenever you deem it appropriate. Throughout these areas, when you are entering data in any file other than the Personal Information section, the system will first ask you to enter in either the person's name or code. Remember that you can enter either the name or the code to find the information you need. These areas all have the following information files: 1) Personal Information - This is always the first file which you will add to the system when a new volunteer joins your group, or when you first install the package and enter all of your volunteers. It is here that you establish the volunteer's "code" which will be used throughout the system. Although you can always search by a person's name for information, the code is used to update work hours and assignments so you must establish a system of codes and enter one for each volunteer. In addition, in this file you will enter other basic information such as address, emergency contacts, previous hours worked, medical data, availability and so on. This is the first file you should work in when adding a new volunteer to the system, or if you have just purchased and installed the package. Throughout all other areas besides this file, the system will first ask you to enter in either the person's name or code whenever you attempt to enter data. The reason is twofold. First, by telling it either piece of information it will verify that the volunteer is on file, because if you enter a name and the system displays a blank code, then the person was never placed in the Personal Information file. Secondly, it will save you typing time by bringing in automatically certain necessary information on each entry. For example, if I were making a work entry for a volunteer on a scheduled assignment, entering their name would give me their code, group, status, assignment area, and position. So all I have to do then is type in the date and hours. 2) Skill Bank - Where you will enter in Business, Volunteer and Other skills which the volunteer possesses. Enter this information after you have first entered the volunteer in the "Personal Information" file. 3) Experience Bank - Where you will enter in Service, Group, Education, Business and Other experiences which the volunteer has, experiences which you think may be valuable to the group at a later date. Enter this information after you have first entered the volunteer in the "Personal Information" file. 4) Training/Class Records - A record of any training courses (or general classes related to volunteer work) which the volunteer has completed, along with any certification information. Make a separate entry for each class they complete. 5) Award Records - A record of each award that the volunteer receives. Make a separate entry for each award. In addition, this is where you build your "Awards Table" by indicating the name of each of your awards and the number of hours required to attain the award. That information is used each time you make a "work entry" to figure out if a volunteer has now qualified for an award, and then noting it on their "Personal Information" file. 6) Scheduled Assignments - This file refers to an assignment in a given area which the volunteer is continually involved with. For example, if Jane Smith is always working on the information desk at a hospital on Tuesdays from 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM, that is a regular assignment. Make a separate entry for each assignment. If you want to track where you have "gaps", assignments with no volunteers, make entries for those assignments and key in something like "OPEN" in the Name field and maybe "99999" in the Code field, so all your open assignments will be under the same code and name, and can be easily tracked. 7) Scheduled Work Entries - Each time a volunteer works at a scheduled assignment, you will need to make an entry in this file showing that work. Along with the hours, you can also track a dollar value of that work by either using the default hourly wage you entered in the "Organization Information" area of the System Utilities when you installed the package, or by typing in your own hourly wage. This will then automatically calculate the dollar value of the work. Once entered, this entry will then go to that volunteer's personal information file, update the person's year-to-date and total hours, and figure out if they have qualified for an award, based on the required hours you specified in the "Awards Table". 8) Committee/Group Assignments - This file refers to an assignment which involves working with a committee or group which has regular meetings and projects. Make a separate entry for each committee assignment. As before, if you want to track where you have "gaps", assignments with no volunteers, make entries for those assignments and key in something like "OPEN" in the Name field and maybe "99999" in the Code field, so all your open assignments will be under the same code and name, and can be easily tracked. 9) Committee Work Entries - Each time a volunteer works at a committee meeting or function, you will need to make an entry in this file showing that work. Along with the hours, you can also track a dollar value for the system by either using the default hourly wage you entered in the "Organization Information" area of the System Utilities when you installed the package, or by typing in your own hourly wage. This will then automatically calculate the dollar value of the work. Once entered, this entry will then go to that volunteer's personal information file, update the person's year-to-date and total hours, and figure out if they have qualified for an award, based on the required hours you specified in the "Awards Table". In this area, you will have the option to have the system automatically log entries for all members on a given day. For example, if the "Christmas Festival" committee has ten members and meets on a Tuesday for three hours, you can simply give the system the committee name, the date and the hours and it will find all the active members and note that they worked three hours on that date. 10) Unscheduled Work Entries - There will be unscheduled work assignments, assignments that are one-time, or not part of your normal work schedules which should be kept separate, that a volunteer devotes their efforts to, and you will need to make an entry in this file showing that work. Along with the hours, you can also track a dollar value for the system by either using the default hourly wage you entered in the "Organization Information" area of the System Utilities when you installed the package, or by typing in your own hourly wage. This will then automatically calculate the dollar value of the work. Once entered, this entry will then go to that volunteer's personal information file, update the person's year-to-date and total hours, and figure out if they have qualified for an award, based on the required hours you specified in the "Awards Table". 11) Areas of Need - This is where you will log information regarding any "needs" which occur that your organization can help resolve. This file contains a record of the person, area, or group needing assistance, a description of what's needed, and the skills and/or experiences necessary to satisfy that need. You then have the capability to run a "Needs Analysis" which will search through your skill and experience banks looking for individuals that could help in that area. WORKING WITH AN INFORMATION FILE When you are at the main menu selection screen, and you then decide to work with a particular file, like the "Personal Information" (Option "1") file, you will then find yourself at another menu with some or all of the following function choices: 0) Exit From the System 1) Review Current Information 2) Add New Records of Information 3) Edit Current Information 4) File Maintenance 5) Print A Report By the way, there may be other options on the screen depending on what file you're working with, and what functions are available within that area. The options allow you to access the following functions within that file: 1) Adding Information - Where you add new records by keying in the information. 2) Reviewing Information - Where you can search for information using any number of criteria, and view the information either record-by-record or through a screen listing. 3) Editing Information - Where you can change, or "edit", any field within an existing record. 4) File Maintenance - Where you physically remove an entire record from your file. 5) Printing A Report - This allows you to list information on paper in various formats with subtotals and totals, report title, and column headings. Decide which option you want, type that number and then press the enter key. For example, if you want to "review" information, press the "1" key and then press "Enter". REVIEW CURRENT INFORMATION In order to look at a record (or group of records), change the information in it, add new information to it, or delete it altogether, you must first conduct a search of the file to find that record by telling the program your search criteria. Think of "search criteria" as your definition of the records you want to find. You may simply be looking for one volunteer with a certain . Or you may be looking for a group of volunteers which fall under a very narrowly-defined criteria such as all those with hours that are greater than 500. The concept of how to search for records is probably the most difficult to master in the program, not because it's hard to do, but because there are so many ways in using it. The more you study and use these methods, the quicker your searches will be, so take your time and experiment as much as you need to. To illustrate how to use this "search" routine, we are going to use the example above where we are searching for volunteers with hours that are greater than 500. To display these records of information, or "view" the information, press "1" on your keyboard while at the Personal Information main menu. You will see on the screen the first record in the file, in this case the first volunteer in name order. Before we talk further about viewing your information, we first need to discuss the three different types of "fields" in your files, in other words the three "types" of information" you keep on the system. They are: (1) "Character" Fields (2) "Numeric" Fields (3) "Date" Fields "Character" fields refers to an information area, such as "Address", in which you may enter characters or numbers or symbols (ie. $ or %). Now, if you or I heard that something was a "character" field, we would think that it meant only the letters "A" through "Z", the alphabet, could be keyed in that field. But computers work a little differently. A "Character" (or "Alphanumeric" as its known to programmers) field means you can type anything you want. As a result, a address can be entered not just as "ABCD" but also as "AB234" or even "AB#345%" if you wanted. Other examples where you may combine numbers, characters and symbols in a "character" field include a name or phone number. And you may even have a "character" field of "Zip Code" that contains just numbers. "Numeric" fields are a little more straight-forward. They contain only numbers, and cannot contain any characters or symbols, other than a "." used as a decimal place. In addition, these fields contain numbers that are used in calculations. That's why "Amount" is a "numeric" field, and "Zip Code" is not. Because "Amount" is totaled and/or manipulated in many ways in several different reports. On the other hand, "Zip Code" is just displayed or printed for informational purposes. You won't find many reports anywhere that literally add up two zip codes and print the total. "Date" fields are even more basic. They contain calendar dates, which are entered with numbers in Month-Day-Year (MM/DD/YY) fashion when you key them in. So, if the field "Start Date" is a "Date" field, and the person started on February 1st of 1986, then "02/01/86" would be the start date. Now that you have a basic understanding of the types of information fields you will be dealing with, let's get back to searching for and "viewing" the information about your organization. If you have not yet entered any records of information, you cannot do any "searches" for information, and a message will be displayed alerting you of this fact. At this point you can press any key to Enter to the file's menu screen and try this function again later. If there are records of information in this file, then you will notice that the first record of information that is on your disk has also been displayed. At the bottom of the screen are the viewing options ("commands") that are available to you: (D)isplay - To create a report with column listings of information (in formats that you set up), based on what information you tell the system to search for. (F)ind - To find records of information by the "key field" (such as the Name in the Personal Information file) -- this is the quickest way to find a specific record. (S)earch - To find and show records of information searching on fields other than the key field. (N)ext - Move on to the next record of information in the file which matches your selection criteria. (L)ast - Move on to the last record of information in the file which matches your selection criteria. (R)eturn - Returns you to the file's menu screen. As it says above, at any time you can return to the file's menu screen by pressing the "R" key. Let's examine how to use each of the remaining options. (F)ind Records: Press the "F" key. You will see that a message is at the bottom of the screen asking you to key in the information you are seeking. For example in the "Personal" file, as in most of the files, you will be asked to enter in either the code or name, while in the "Needs" file you will have to enter in the need number. By the way, you do not have to enter all the information. For example, entering in a name of "Br" will simply bring up the first volunteer whose name starts with "Br". Enter in the information, and press Enter when you are finished. In a moment the first entry with the information you entered will be displayed. If there is another record of information with the same "key field" that you wish to see, like another volunteer with a name that starts with "Br", then press the "N" key to see the next record with that name. Or, press the "L" key to view the last record you say with that name. Otherwise you can search for another record of information by pressing "F" again, use any of the other "Review" commands, or return to the file's menu by pressing the "R" key. (S)earch For Records: Press the "S" key. The screen will first display the fields of information which are contained in each record, with a number by each one. The computer is asking you what field number you want to search on. Since our example involves us looking for volunters with certain TOTAL HOURS, we would type the number next to the total hours field and then press enter. Next the computer will ask us to enter the "operand". What is an operand? Remember that a computer is basically a very sophisticated mathematical machine. In the basic math classes that you had in school when you saw 2+2 = ?, you were seeing an operand....the "equal" sign! An operand tells the computer if what you are looking for should be an exact match (equal) or perhaps, as in our case greater than (the > sign). There are several different operand symbols to choose from, including: The "=" symbol, meaning that a field's information is identical to a set of characters or numbers. For example, a search with this criteria might be a name that was EXACTLY "Smith, Mary" or hours that were exactly 1000. The "<>" symbol, meaning that a field's information is not equal to a set of characters or numbers. For example, a search with this criteria might be hours <> 100. The ">" symbol, meaning that a field's information is greater than a set of characters or numbers. For example, a search with this criteria might be hours > 500. The "<" symbol, meaning that a field's information is less than a set of characters or numbers. For example, a search with this criteria might be hours < 500. The ">=" symbol, meaning that a field's information is greater than or equal to a set of characters or numbers. For example, a search with this criteria might be hours >= 500. The "<=" symbol, meaning that a field's information is less than or equal to a set of characters or numbers. For example, a search with this criteria might be hours <= 500. In this case, we would type in the ">" symbol, for "greater than" 500, and then press the Enter key. Third, the computer will ask you what you are searching for. Well, in our example we have already told the program that we are looking for a certain TOTAL HOURS characteristic, and that it should be GREATER THAN something. The computer's question here is: Greater than what? The answer is 500, since we want volunteers with hours greater than 500. So, in this case you would type in the number 500 and press enter. After you have done this, you will find yourself back where we started, displaying the fields of information which are contained in each record, with a number by each one. The reason for this is that the system will allow you to specify more than one characteristic to look for. Suppose I wanted to see any volunteers with hours greater than 500 that were in the group of "Students". That is two separate and distinct characteristics, or two "search criteria". So we would have to go through the process twice. In fact, you can enter in up to three characteristics for each search that you do. But, if we are finished, as in this case, we just need to type in a "0" and press the Enter key. In a few seconds (or perhaps a little more if there are a good number of entries, the system will find and display the first record of information that meets your search criteria. If the system did not find any records that meet your criteria, then the message "No Records Match Your Search Criteria" will be displayed. Once the first record has been displayed, you can press the "N" key (Next) to view the next record which meets your search criteria. At any time, you can also press the "L" key (Last) to view the last record you saw which met your search criteria. When there are no more, the message "No More Records In The File" will be displayed, from which you can press any key to return to the "view" options. (D)isplay Records: Suppose there were about 20 volunteers that had hours which were greater than 500? Well, you might want to avoid looking at each entry and instead see a list of those volunteers. That is what the "Display" function does. You can look at whole groups of records at one time. You may not want to see every field in every record -- only the ones that are important to you at the time. For example, you might just wish to see the Name, Group, and Total Hours for your vounteers that have amounts of greater than 500. When these fields are displayed on your screen, they are in the form of a record-by-record list, similar to a formatted report. There is only one line per record, so you can easily see which fields are in which record. Your choice of the fields you want to see in your "list" is called a "display format". You create your own display formats as you are working with the system. It's important to understand here that if you create a display format which is the same as one you created earlier, you are only using the format again - you won't necessarily see the same records as you did before. Why is this? Because whenever you do a display, you must also do a "search". You might use different search criteria every time, so even though the "list" might look the same, the information in it will be different. When you select this option by pressing the "D" key, the system will first ask you what to search for, just as you did in the previous section. Then, when you are finished, it will want to know what fields you want displayed (or printed) in the report. To select the fields, just type the number next to the field you want and press enter. Remember that the order in which you select the numbers is the order in which the fields will appear (going from left to right) on the report. When you have picked out the report fields that you want, type in a "0" and then press enter. By the way, you can select up to 9 fields in the report, provided that you don't exceed the width of the screen or paper. If you do, the system will tell you so when it tries to print the report with a message that say "DISPLAY STRING IS TOO LONG". The system will next ask if you wish to view this listing on your monitor or have it printed out. If you want to see it on the screen, press the "S" key. And then the system will prompt you to enter in a report "title" to appear at the top of the page or screen. You will then be asked to enter in the "Sort" expression, to tell the computer how you want your information sorted when it is displayed. The format for this is exactly the same as when you entered in your "Display" expression. In other words, just pick the number (or numbers) next to the fields you want your report sorted on. For example, if you wanted the volunteers sorted by hours, and then by name within each number of hours, you would select "Total Hours" as the first sort field and then "Name" as the second. You can have up to three sort fields. At this point the first page of the listing will appear on your monitor, or the printer will start printing. If there is more information to see then you will see a message at the bottom of the screen asking you to "Press Any Key To Continue". If the system did not find any records that meet your criteria, then the message "No Records Match Your Search Criteria" will be displayed. Otherwise the first page of your listing will be displayed. When you press any key, the next page of your listing will be shown. Otherwise the message "Press Any Key To Continue" will appear, and you will be back at the "Review" screen. ADD NEW INFORMATION When working with a file, it will be helpful to think of a record as a "form" that you fill out as needed, and can go back and make corrections on at any time. Whenever you fill out a new form you must "save" your work, that is, put the new form in the file. This option, as its name clearly implies, is for entering a completely new record into a file, such as a new printer that you have just installed. When you first start using the system all of your records will be "new", so you will be using this option most of the time. After you've saved a record, the program will display a new "blank form". If you have more records to add, simply keep typing them in, saving them, and so on. As we mentioned earlier, it's important that you be consistent in the way that you enter information. Otherwise, you may have difficulty finding it later on and getting accurate reports. For example, some of the fields in your files are categorical or descriptive, so you should standardize your terminology as much as possible. Likewise, information may be entered in either upper or lower case, so decide on your own rules for capitalizing. Use the shift key where necessary, but you may wish to use the "Caps Lock" key if you want all capital letters. When adding records, you don't have to fill out every field in the record. In fact, some files by nature require that information be entered at different times - certain fields, for example, refer to events which may not have occurred yet. (Remember that you can always go back later and update the record as needed.) If you want to add new records of information to your file, then press "2" on your keyboard while at the file's main menu. The screen will display the fields of information which are contained in each record. Refer to the "File Descriptions" section of this manual if you're not sure what these fields refer to. Notice that the cursor is at the first line of information. This is also the "key field" of the file, and must be entered for each new record. Type in the information for this field. If you make a mistake, or wish to change something, the "--- >" and "<---" keys will let you go back and forth on the line. When you're finished with that field, press the Return key. At this point, in many of the files within The Volunteer Network, the system will automatically retrieve information from other sources to eliminate your having to re-key that information. For example, if you are entering in hours worked, the system will first ask for you to enter the Volunteer Code, which you should do and press return. Then the system will automatically retrieve information for the NAME, GROUP, AREA, and POSITION fields and display them for you. This applies to many files within the system, but there are some (like the Personal Information File) where pressing return after entering the "key field" information will just place you at the next line, and not retrieve any information. In that case, just ignore the last paragraph and then follow the instructions below. Notice that the cursor is back at the first field, so just press return to move to the next field of information. If the information is incorrect or the field is blank, type in the information and press Return to move on. You can leave any field blank, or leave the displayed information, by pressing Return without entering anything. If you have already moved on to another field, and need to go back to change something, the "up" arrow key will move you back one field, and the "down" arrow key will move you forward one field at any time. When you have finished entering the information for this new record, the system will ask you if you want to (S)ave, (A)bandon or (C)hange your information. If you are satisfied with your entry as it is, then press the "S" key. If you need to make some changes or add information to the entry, then press the "C" key. You will find yourself back at the first field of information and can go through each field once again, making changes or additions as needed. If you decide you do not want to save this entry at all, then press the "A" key, which will then let you add other entries or return to the file's main menu. EDIT (OR DELETE) CURRENT INFORMATION In case you're unclear on what it means to "edit a record", here it is: - to change or erase information within an existing record (one that you "added" previously). Perhaps you misspelled a name or put in an incorrect date. - to add new information to an existing record - information that you didn't have or forgot to type in when you first "added" the record. To change the information you already have on file, or "edit" the information, press "3" on your keyboard while at the file's main menu. The screen will display the fields of information which are contained in each record. Refer to the "File Descriptions" section of this manual if you're not sure what these fields refer to. Notice that the first record of information that is on your disk has also been displayed. At the bottom of the screen are the viewing options ("commands") that are available to you: (E)dit - Will let you change any information within the record except for the first field. (M)ark - Marks the record for deletion from the file. (U)nmark - Removes the deletion marking. (N)ext - Move on to the next record of information which matches your selection criteria. (L)ast - Move back to the last record of information which matches your selection criteria. (P)osition - Starts the process to find a record you want to edit. (R)eturn - Returns you to the module's menu screen. As it says above, at any time you can return to the module's menu screen by pressing the "R" key. Let's examine how to use each of the remaining options. Before you edit a record, you must first search for and find that particular record that you wish to change using the same routines as you did in the "Review Information" section. To do this, first press the "P" key and the command options for finding records will appear on the screen ( (F)ind, (S)earch, (N)ext, and (L)ast). When you find the record you want to edit, press "R", which will put you back at the edit menu with the found record displayed. Press the "E" key. Move through the fields on your screen and make any desired changes. When you are finished, if you are at the last field of information, just hit the Return key. Otherwise hold down the "CTRL" key and press the "W" key. If you have another edit to do within the same search (ie. all records where AREA = "EMERGENCY"), then press the "N" key (for next record) and when the next record you want appears, press the "E" key (for edit) and repeat the process. To erase a record from the file, search for it just as if you wanted it for editing purposes. Then, when you have the record you want to erase, press "R" to return to the Edit functions screen. Then press the "M" key to mark the record for deletion. You will notice that the message "MARKED FOR DELETION" appears at the top of the screen. If you press the "M" key by mistake, pressing the "U" key will "Unmark" the record so it will not be deleted. To actually erase the records you have marked, you will go back to the file's main menu, select the "File Maintenance" option, and then select the "Remove Records Marked For Deletion" option on the Maintenance menu screen. If you are finished with this search, but wish to search for other records to edit, press the "P" key and start the search process once again. When you are done editing records, press the "R" key to return to the file's main menu. FILE MAINTENANCE File Maintenance should be done on a regular basis, and particularly after a number of records have been "marked for deletion". This routine will not only let you delete the records of information that have been "marked" after first making a "backup" copy, but will also "reindex" (reorder) your records, or restore the backup copy of the data. To do this, press "4" on your keyboard. A menu screen will appear that gives you the three file maintenance options or allows you to return to the file's main menu by pressing "0". As before, press the number next to the option you want. Regardless of which option you selected, the screen will display a message explaining what is about to happen and ask the question: "Do You Wish To Continue?". You should type in "Yes" and press Return if you want to continue this process. Typing in anything else will automatically return you to the file's main menu. As we said above, while the record deletion routine is being run, the program will also create a backup file with the suffix .BAK which is a replica of the file as it was prior to running the routine. This is done as a safety precaution. However, this does not take the place of backing up your data on the hard disk onto diskettes, as discussed in a later section. When the system has finished this process, you will be returned to the file's main menu. PRINT A REPORT The whole idea behind having reports is that information in your files can be processed and printed in ways which are unavailable using the "Search" or "Display" options. When you are working with the system, you can get a printed copy of anything on your display using the "Shift" and "PrtSc" keys. Formatted reports provide several features such as titles, headings, subtotals, and totals. Additionally, information may be "sorted" in any way prior to printing the report. For our purposes, the term "report" refers to not only the familiar listing with column headings, totals, etc., but such things as mailing labels. As such, there are many different reports available to you in the The Volunteer Network system. These reports have been designed to cover the needs of each information area. To print a report, press the appropriate number on your keyboard while at the file's main menu. A menu will appear offering you the available report choices. Each of these choices reflects a different way of "sorting", or ordering your information and printing it out. You will find a synopsis of each of these reports in the "Report Descriptions" section of this manual. We recommend you refer to that section when deciding what report to print, and to review it once if you are just starting to use the system. Decide which option you want, then press the number next to it. In some cases you have the option to only retrieve selected records from the file to print on the report. For example, if you are printing a "VOLUNTEER HOURS BY AREA" report, the system will ask what range of dates you want. Enter the information that the system wants. Next, the system will prompt you to make sure that your printer is turned on and that the paper is aligned. Then press the "Y" key to print the report. When the report is finished, the system will return you to this report menu. SUMMARY REPORTS In addition to the regular reports available from each information file, this is an entire section which produces "Summary" reports, listings containing only statistical totals. For example, you can get a detailed listing of the works entries by area for the month of March, but this would list every single entry in addition to the totals. A summary report by area will show a single entry for each area with the number of volunteers, total number of hours in that area, and the total dollar value. To access these summary reports first go to the Summary Report menu. Then select the summary report area (like Personal Information or Scheduled Work Entries) you want to work with. Next, select the actual report you want printed. In many cases, like some of the regular reports, you have the ability to enter in selection criteria on some summary reports. MAILING LABELS There is also an entire section of The Volunteer Network which produces mailing labels, based on who you need labels for, or any selection criteria if you want to pick out only certain volunteers. To access these label selections, first go to the Mailing Label menu. Then select the set of labels (like Assignment Labels or All Volunteer Labels) you want to work with. In addition, like some of the reports, you have the ability to enter in your own selection criteria for these labels. DO A SKILLS SEARCH In the Skills file, you have the ability with this function to search quickly for people with a specific skill. To do this press "6" from the main menu of the file, which is marked "Do A Skills Search". You will then have the option to search for Business, Volunteer, or Other skills. In addition, you can elect to enter a skill and then have the system search through every field for that skill, by selecting the "Search All Skill Areas" option. To select the type of search you want, press the number next to it. The system will then prompt you to key in the skill you are looking for and press return. At this point make sure your printer is turned on and the paper is properly aligned. In a few moments, the system will begin to print out the volunteers who have the skill you're looking for. DO AN EXPERIENCE SEARCH In the Experience file, you have the ability with this function to search quickly for people with particular experience. To do this press "6" from the main menu of the file, which is marked "Do An Experience Search". You will then have the option to search for In-Service, Special, Group, Continuing Education, Business, or Volunteer experience. In addition, you can elect to enter experience and then have the system search through all areas for that experience, by selecting the "Search All Experience Areas" option. To select the type of search you want, press the number next to it. The system will then prompt you to key in the experience you are looking for and press return. At this point make sure your printer is turned on and the paper is properly aligned. In a few moments, the system will begin to print out the volunteers who have the experience you're looking for. ENTERING VOLUNTEER HOURS When you enter in a volunteer's hours, through the "Add New Records of Information" option in the hours' files, you will notice that the system will hesitate for a few seconds when you tell the system to "save" the entry. The reason is that whenever you add new hours entries, the system finds that volunteer's master record and then updates the year-to-date and total hours fields with the new hours. This process works the same when you go back and change (or "edit") an entry. ENTER YOUR PRINTER INFORMATION If you are using a different printer on your system than you were previous to this time, or if you are just starting to use the system, you will need to tell the system of this change so that your reports will print out properly. To change the printer configuration on your system, press the "1" key from the "System Utilities" menu. The system will now display the current printer configuration, and ask you to key in the new one. The system will ask for the "PICA" (Normal) and "COMPRESSED" ASCII codes for your printer, which are found in the printer's user manual. For example, with a Epson-type printer the code for "Normal" is "18" (without the quotes) and for "Compressed" is "15". Key in each item, pressing return after each one. At the end, the system will ask "All Correct?". If it is, enter a "Y" and press return. If not, the system will let you go back and reenter the information. ENTER YOUR ORGANIZATION INFORMATION There are two types of information which the system needs from you in this area: (1) your organization's name, and (2) the default hourly wage (if you have one) that is assigned to volunteers to track their dollar value to the organization The organization name from this section is printed at the top of all reports. The hourly wage is used whenever you enter a volunteer's work records, which include their hours. This figure may overwritten with another wage when you enter hours, or you can just leave it blank if you elect not to track the dollar value of volunteer's work. This information can be changed as often as you like, whenever you like. To enter the information, go the "System Utilities" section, and then select option number "2". You will be presented with a line to key in the information, pressing return when you are finished. AN IMPORTANT NOTE: The system prints out exactly what you have entered in exactly the position you place it, so you need to center your heading on the line much as you would center a heading at the top of a typewritten page. After you've pressed return, the system will ask "All Correct?". If it is, enter a "Y" and press return. If not, the system will let you go back and reenter the information. TRANSFERRING DATA TO A TEXT FILE Sometimes you may find it advantageous to transfer data from one of the files into an "ASCII" or "Text" file which can then be used with some word processing and spreadsheet programs, or used in conjunction some other program that can read a text file. To create a text file, press "3" while at the "System Utilities" menu. You will next be given a choice of what kind of data you would like transferred. Enter the number next to your selection and press return. For example, if you wanted to transfer Personal Information entries, you would press the "1" key. You have the option to transfer the data directly to a floppy disk if you choose. If you select this option you will need to have a formatted diskette handy, which the system will prompt you to insert into the disk drive (Drive "A") when it is ready. The system will next ask you what you want to call the text file you are creating. The format for the name is anything you want, although what you're sending the information to will have a say in the format. Pick a name of your choosing that can be up to eight (8) characters in length, and then put up to three characters as a suffix. We recommend using .TXT as your suffix. An example of a file name would be "REGPERS.TXT" or "CONTRIB.TXT". At this point, the program may tell you that a text file with that file's name already exists, and then ask you if you want to erase the old text file and replace it with the new one you are about to create. The purpose for this message is to make sure that you don't accidently erase a text file that is still valuable to you before having a chance to copy it or use it. After this, the system will ask you what records you want transferred, in other words, what your selection criteria is. This criteria is entered exactly as you entered "Searches" back in the "Display Records" section of this manual. Next, the system will create a text file based on your selection and store it on your disk. When this is finished, you will be returned to the main menu screen. TRANSFERRING MAIL DATA TO A TEXT FILE Sometimes you may find it advantageous to transfer mailing data (name, address, etc.) from one of the files into an "ASCII" or "Text" file which can then be used with your word processing programs. To create such a text file, press "4" while at the "System Utilities" menu. You will next be given a choice of what kind of data you would like transferred. Enter the number next to your selection and press return. For example, if you wanted to transfer Personal Information entries, you would press the "1" key. You have the option to transfer the data directly to a floppy disk if you choose. If you select this option you will need to have a formatted diskette handy, which the system will prompt you to insert into the disk drive (Drive "A") when it is ready. The system will next ask you what you want to call the text file you are creating. The format for the name is anything you want, although what you're sending the information to will have a say in the format. Pick a name of your choosing that can be up to eight (8) characters in length, and then put up to three characters as a suffix. We recommend using .TXT as your suffix. An example of a file name would be "REGPERS.TXT" or "CONTRIB.TXT". At this point, the program may tell you that a text file with that file's name already exists, and then ask you if you want to erase the old text file and replace it with the new one you are about to create. The purpose for this message is to make sure that you don't accidently erase a text file that is still valuable to you before having a chance to copy it or use it. After this, the system will ask you what records you want transferred, in other words what you selection criteria is. This criteria is entered exactly as you entered "Searches" back in the "Display Records" section of this manual. Next, the system will create a text file based on your selection and store it on your disk. The records are transferred in the following format: 1) GREETING NAME (20 CHARACTERS) 2) LABEL NAME (30 CHARACTERS) 3) ADDRESS (30 CHARACTERS) 4) CITY (20 CHARACTERS) 5) STATE (10 CHARACTERS) 6) ZIP CODE (10 CHARACTERS) When this is finished, you will be returned to the main menu screen. INDICATING A COLOR OR MONOCHROME MONITOR One of the features of The Volunteer Network is that it will display colors if it knows you have a color monitor, and that you want the system in color. To do so, select option "6" from the "System Utilities" menu. Then answer the question of color with a "Y" or an "N" and press return. However, your change will not take effect until you restart the system. As with other features, you can change this as often as you like. END OF THE FISCAL YEAR ROUTINE At the end of your fiscal year you will need to "zero out" your year-to-date information in the volunteer's hours and contributor donations sections. To do so, select option "7" from the "System Utilities" menu. Then answer "Y" and press enter when the system gives you a warding on the screen as to what it is about to do. Remember that you only want to do this once a year, and should make a backup copy of the data first. BACKING UP YOUR DATA FILES Making backup, or "safety" copies of your data files is an important habit that should not be neglected. It may turn out that your backup copies may never be needed, but the same can be said for insurance. How often you backup your files will depend on how often you make changes or additions to them. If you only make about "an hour's worth" of changes to a file each week, you may decide that backing up the file once a week is enough, since, if the file is damaged or destroyed, it would only take an hour to re-key the changes you made since you last backed up the file. Of course, when you are first using a file, you probably will be making many additions to it each day, so you should back it up frequently - perhaps every few hours, or at least at the end of the day. If you want to be absolutely safe, you should always have two backups of every file, because theoretically a bolt of lightning hitting your power line could destroy your primary and backup files while they are both in the computer during the backup process. To make a backup copy, our primary suggestion is to follow the established backup procedures for your organization or for your computer. If you do not have any, then follow these steps. You will need anywhere from 1 to 20 formatted diskettes, depending on how much data there is at that time. To do this process, select option "9" from the "Other Functions" menu. Then when the system prompts you, insert a formatted diskette into the disk drive and press any key. If the system fills up a disk, it will tell you to remove the diskette and insert a new one. When the process is finished, you will be returned to the "Other Functions: menu screen. You do not literally need new diskettes each time you back up your files, and can reuse the old backup diskettes or any other diskette that has been re-formatted or cleared of any other programs or data. EXITING FROM THE SYSTEM When you are finished working with any file, pressing "0" will return you to that area's menu screen. When you are at one of these screens, selecting option "0" will allow you to exit completely from the system. At this point the "C>" prompt will appear on the screen, at which time you can shut off the computer or run another software system.