Basic course in computer practice
The basic course in computer practice is the first and most successful paperback series on information processing topics . It was designed and published by Rudolf Hambusch . It appears as part of the rororo Computer series by Rowohlt-Taschenbuchverlag . Individual titles in the series have been translated into Dutch (published by Het Spectrum , Utrecht), English (published by McCarta Ltd., London) and Bulgarian (published by ANTHEA, Vama).
background
After the introduction of the IBM PC , the boom in application software for personal computers began around the mid- 1980s . The book market also benefited from this, as there was a great need to learn and the software manuals were often found incomprehensible or confusing by users . The computer books were then initially as a hardcover - or paperback editions in book format for the medium to high -priced manufactured. In the lower price segment of the paperback segment, there was as yet no specialist literature on PC software. Didactically well structured books for the school and training sector were completely missing.
concept
The book series was designed from the outset as a textbook series for teaching and for self-taught people . Therefore, the following aspects have also been emphasized:
- motivation
- Entry without prior knowledge
- lesson-like structure
- practical and easy to understand examples
- immediate sense of achievement
- Success control
- Exercises
In most cases, the principle of one software = one book applied. In this, the basics of the application should be conveyed in a beginner-friendly way on approx. 256 pages with explanatory pictures and screenshots . Further topics and the claim to completeness have always been excluded. In the beginning, the series was divided into the following areas, for each of which the individual book titles were planned.
Curiously, this classification led to the fact that the book for the first versions of Windows was initially classified as the standard software user interface in the user programs category and only later as the operating system from version 3.01 onwards. This division was later relaxed and then completely abandoned.
Authors
When Rudolf Hambusch developed this concept, he was in charge of the continuing education project for teachers in the information processing industry at what was then the Institute for School and Further Education of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia . Through the resulting contacts, he was able to attract a large number of experienced professional educators and specialists from advanced training projects at universities and in business as authors .
The group that worked on this book series consisted of almost 50 authors at one point. In an unusual way, they usually jointly decided on new suggested titles for the series. A new book title has therefore only been planned if it could stand up to the critical arguments of the other authors.
Most successful title
Due to the concentration on individual software products, the success of the respective titles in the series also reflects the development of the software market in a unique way. Here are the top ten of the series:
| Title / software | Authors | First edition | Total circulation |
|---|---|---|---|
| MS-DOS | Peter Freese | 1987 | 441,000 |
| MS Word | Joachim Röhl, Johannes Verhuven | 1988 | 205,000 |
| dBASE | Peter Freese, Friedrich Müllmerstadt | 1988 | 171,000 |
| Turbo Pascal | Gregor Kuhlmann | 1987 | 123,000 |
| Multiplan | Georg Besser, Peter Höver, Ernst Tiemeyer | 1987 | 110,000 |
| Computer knowledge | Gregor Kuhlmann, Alexander Parkmann, Joachim Röhl, Johannes Verhuven | 1991 | 100,000 |
| Programming language C | Helmut Erlenkötter, Volker Reher | 1990 | 91,000 |
| dBASE IV | Peter Freese, Friedrich Müllmerstadt | 1991 | 68,000 |
| basic | Alexander Parkmann, Joachim Röhl, Johannes Verhuven | 1987 | 67,000 |
| Turbo Pascal for advanced users | Gregor Kuhlmann | 1988 | 66,000 |
Source: German library database
In total, the series with 135 book titles has a total circulation of just over 4 million copies (as of 2014).