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Show -+ Computer expanded use of Herbarium College herbarium were collected elevation? “The greatest thing since an herbarium a self-teaching program. River, near Morgan- or how do you compare _all the plants collected at a certain time of year at a certain is a computer retriever system,” said Stephen L. Clark, assistant professor of Botany, who had an idea that sparked a round of events and involved a number of people until completion. idea The collection of dried and preserved plant specimens serves as a reference room, much as a library. There are over 15,000 specimens, representative of northern Utah and Utah in general. The plants have been gathered by faculty and students beginning in the late 19th century but its use has been limited. “Before the computer it was absolutely impossible to make comparisons. For the first time it is possible to take all 15,000 plants and lift from the group any information and compare with the others. This expands use of the herbarium considerably.” Professor Clark first got the idea after a summer’s study at BYU, the only other university in Utah who has a computer for an herbarium. Coming back to Weber, he Robert ‘Capener | and J. Neil Jensen interest discussed the idea with Dr. =e He has tried to get the genetics programmed into the computer along with a set of possible answers. If the student makes a correct choice the computer reatfirms. If the answer is incorrect the computer helps. It’s from the Weber Stephen Clark self-contained computer for use in teaching genetics. Robert L. Capener, professor of Physics, and Dr. J. Neil Jensen, associate professor of Zoology. Both men have a deep interest in, and knowledge of, the computer. Dr. Jensen wrote a small program for the computer With this reinforcement and conviction of the feasibility of such a program, Professor Clark set out to talk with Charles Crittenden, associate professor of data processing, to learn to speak “computer language.” After a number of conversations Professor Clark realized the need for further knowledge and enrolled in several of Professor Crittenden’s classes. He became so fascinated with the language that he decided to use “computer language” for his doctorate language requirement. without which the program would have “died on the vine.” Also, Dr. Garth L. Welch, dean of School of Natural Sciences, was lending his support. A student work study is presently typing the information into the computer and building the master file. “As we add to the collection we can also add to the computer. We can get into comparative graphics and charts and . statistical analysis,” said Professor Clark. Professor Clark sees wetland flora as the area where the WSC herbarium could make the most significant contribution. “We could build that collection and become a place where people from all over the United States send for wetland flora | specimens.” Armed with all this information, he went to Bob Miner, systems analyst at the computer center, and speaking “the language,” relayed to him what was needed in the way of a computer program herbarium. ms How do you discover what plants in the Weber State for the Mr. Miner wrote the program, loaded the information on the computer and sorted information, producing labels or listings of that data. He generated labels for each specimen. It took several months to write the program. Behind the scenes, private funds were provided through the College Development Office for the purchase of a computer terminal and other hardware, Bob Miner + to see if it would work and Dr. Capener “made every piece of equipment and himself available,” said Professor Clark. A motivating force on campus in computer science, Dr. Capener realizes the language of science is now computer language. “Computers are the only area Charles Sriliendon information re where the price of things continues to go down. Competitive technology changes are so rapid - obsolete almost at the time of purchase. A $10,000 computer is more powerful now than a million dollar machine in the 50’s,” said Dr. Capener. He received a two-year grant, largest in the US. in its category, to upgrade teaching to meet current technology. Dr. Jensen also obtained a grant to buy a small Sherree Luke and Dr. Garth Welch photos by Mike Schoenfeld Page 5 |
