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Personal information managers are programs that help users organize their activities. They are recommended for heavy computer users and for people who need structure in their lives. The programs are based around four models - spreadsheet, word processor, database and outliner - and should be chosen according to which model is the most familiar to the employee. Other criteria include the program's learning curve and functionality. Four personal information managers are reviewed.

askSam Systems Inc's $295 askSam is based on the word processing model of personal information management systems. It does an excellent job with random data. Each record in askSam can handle 20 lines of text and every word of text can be used as a search criterion. askSam is somewhat difficult to master due to the flexibility offered by its database files. Import and export facilities are excellent, despite some quirks when importing comma-delimited files. askSam is a good personal information manager that does a excellent job storing, retrieving and manipulating unstructured text