Hi ---
 
>To obtain really valuable data users must be able to do a real
>query of at least a portion of the data and be given a
>relational-like environment in which to operate.  Queries for
>objects should be able to produce attribution data, history of
>use data and bibliographical info.
>
>I believe we have some ways to go still.
 
        We do still have a ways to go, but maybe not
quite as far as you may think.  Although many on-line
catalogs are basically flat files, many do have a wealth
of information and are formatted in appealing ways.  The
University of California Museum of Paleontology has some
prototype type catalogs (sounds rather redundant, doesn't it?)
that do provide publications and has a somewhat appealing
layout.
 
        Even more spectacular (and by a large margin) are some
of the SQL interfaces using Mosaic.  A marvelous example is on-line
at Australian National University (url=http://rubens.anu.edu/prints_form.html).
It is a query mechanism for an image database.
 
Cheers,
 
Robert Guralnick   | Museum of Paleontology   | University of California
Berkeley, CA 94720 | [log in to unmask] | (510) 642-9696