Search results

Librarians using dBase II will be familiar with its retrieval problems, particularly from complex fields. dBase II has two commands for searching: locate acts sequentially on the main file and so can take a long time, depending on the size of the file. FIND requires that an inverted index file be set up, which it then searches quickly.

Many of us are aware of the yawns of waiting for dBase to look sequentially through a 10,000‐record database for a term or terms hidden in a title or descriptor field. I have tried to persuade dBase III to perform a little more smartly with some degree of success. Users will know that dBase retrieves almost instantaneously from indexed fields but it is not logical to index long, ‘multi‐value’ fields like titles or abstracts. What we have done, however, is to extract keywords from these fields or other descriptive parts of the document and build up a parallel keyword file consisting of two fields — keyword and accession number, which provide a link field with the main database. Thus, each entry in the main database may have a number (in our case up to 7) of corresponding entries in the keyword file, which is itself indexed for fast retrieval.

The use of a database management system, dBase II, in the computerisation of the reserve book file at Paisley College is described. Reasons are given for the choice of this particular task for automation. The various stages in the development of the database are discussed in detail including database creation, indexing, printing and maintenance, with attention being drawn to the use of many of the basic dBase II commands. Basic use of dBase II has improved the efficiency of the collection and more complex applications are under consideration.

To provide a broad overview of the history of the journal Program: electronic library and information systems and its contents over its first 40 years.

Analysis of content from the original published material, as well as from abstracting and indexing publications and from minutes of Editorial Board meetings.

The publication has grown from modest beginnings as a newsletter for UK university librarians to a respected refereed journal with a wide international readership.

An analysis of the content of articles published on computer systems in libraries and information units over the last 40 years.

EDITORIAL It's unfortunate that my first words as editor of VINE have to be the bad news that it is no longer to be available free of charge. In the accompanying note I have gone into detail about why this is so, and all I want to do here is to say that I hope the £10 a year won't deter too many people from reading VINE.