My computer dictionary. (book reviews) Steve Gray.

My Computer Dictionary, By Jean Rice and Marien Haley. T.S. Denison & Co., 9601 Newton Ave. S., Minneapolis, MN 55431. 32 pages, paperback $3.1981.

As the title indicates, this is a children's dictionary of computer terms, with several illustrations per page. Although most books with similar titles are for young children, this one is for children who can read. The 47 illustrations include photographs, drawings, flowcharts and brief programs.

The illustrations are all quite good, including photographs of computers, peripherals of media, and drawings of a joystick, light pen, keyboard, etc., although photographs could have been used in place of many of the drawings.

Most of the definitions are simple, straightforward and good. Address is defined as "a number or name that tells where to find a place in a computer's memory. It is like a house address that tells where to find the house." A bug is "a mistake in a computer program. The bug must be corrected before the computer can use the program property."

Some definitions are a little misleading, although by very little. An acoustic coupler is said to "change information into signals," and a microprocessor is described as being "about the size of a band-aid."

However, all things considered, this dictionary is a useful tool for helping the student understand computer texts that have no glossary, or an inadequate one. The definitions are all quite reasonable, and aren't written, as in some other dictionaries, with words that must sometimes be looked up themselves.

This book is also useful to the average person who has heard some of these words and wants to know what they mean without getting a long, technical description. School libraries should also find it a help.

Review Grade: C