NEWS FROM ACORN COMPUTERS : RELEASE DATE 3RD DECEMBER 1993 

Acorn and Longman Logotron launch PIMS - Primary Information Management 
======================================================================= 
System - at BETT '94 
==================== 

Acorn Computers and Longman Logotron are launching PIMS, a new information 
management system expressly designed to address the complete administrative 
needs of primary schools, at Olympia's forthcoming educational technology 
exhibition,  BETT '94. 

The result of extensive surveys and user trials, PIMS has been developed for 
the Acorn Archimedes platform in response to the growing needs of primary 
administrators for a fully integrated system which manages and links all 
information relating to pupils and staff, budgeting and accounts, 
maintenance, insurance and inventory. 

Custom-designed specifically for primaries, PIMS stores individual records 
relationally, not hierarchically. The flexibility this provides means 
information can be retrieved quickly and easily, then incorporated directly 
into reports such as pupil assessment sheets, class lists and registers 
using PIMS' built-in reporting software. 

PIMS also brings all the considerable advantages of operating within Acorn's 
RISC OS environment. These include the ability to run concurrently with 
other applications, enabling easy extraction, transfer and presentation of 
information; a fast and responsive desktop environment resulting from 
Acorn's powerful 32-bit RISC processors, and not least, because Acorn 
computers are used in classrooms throughout the country, an operating 
environment which is already familiar to the majority of primaries. 

Moreover, migration to PIMS for those primaries currently using SIMS, the 
information management system originally developed for secondary schools, is 
quick and simple. All SIMS data can be transferred directly to the Acorn 
system, and, if necessary, schools can extract information and continue to 
present it in SIMS format if required.                         

PIMS is available for sale from January 12th onwards from a number of Acorn 
Education dealers either separately or as part of a new Primary 
Administration Package. The package, which has been carefully designed by 
Acorn and Longman Logotron to satisfy a number of requirements identified 
during market research and trials, includes everything a primary school will 
need: 

An Acorn A4000 or A5000 computer,  Acorn SVGA Multiscan monitor, printer, 
PIMS software & 12 months' hotline support, start-up consumables and 
training,  delivery, installation and 12 months' on-site maintenance. 

With prices from around #17 a week*, the package is designed to deliver the 
power and performance that go hand-in-hand with flexibility and ease of use, 
as well as the necessary initial and ongoing support to get primary schools 
up and running from day one - all at a price primaries can afford. 

Peter Talbot, Acorn's General Manager for UK Education, comments: "Education 
is currently experiencing a time of considerable change. The management of 
schools is altering; traditional local authority roles are disappearing; new 
legislation means more and more schools are now assuming responsibility for 
their own budgets. In the light of these and other developments, that newer 
technology, designed to address these changing demands, will be needed to 
replace older, now outdated systems. 

"This period of change presents head teachers with an ideal opportunity to 
take a fresh look at what's available. As far as primary information 
management systems are concerned, PIMS has to be the No. 1 choice!"       

PIMS requires an Acorn Archimedes computer running RISC OS 3.1 or later and 
at least 4 MB RAM. Those requiring further information on PIMS should 
contact  Acorn's free Education Hotline on 0800 400800 and ask for the Acorn 
Primary Admin Pack. 

Ends 

* Costs based on an A4000 configuration under Acorn's flexible rental 
scheme, Acorn Options. 

_______________________________________________________________________________ 

aglo...@acorn.co.uk, moderator of comp.sys.acorn.announce. Submissions to 
announce-requ...@acorn.co.uk, other related mail to announ...@acorn.co.uk.