Robert Guralnick wrote:
 
>         As for the question.  I find the phrasing to be interesting.
> I would argue that the only important thing that a database must be
> nowadays is relational.
 
Perhaps...  But keep your eye on on developments in the Object Oriented
world...  My money says this is where modern databases are going to end
up...
 
> [stuff deleted]
> Lots of people are working on Internet retrieval tools and the
> such that incorporate databases.  So, for example, the World Wide Web
> now has an interface that allows anyone with the proper client to
> conduct searches on an SQL compliant database.  That is, SQL databases
> have been subsumed by the Web.  Same thing goes with the distributed
> database functionality.  Databases will be linked with each other
> through tools outside the database itself.
 
This may be overstating things a little (but not much) but it is certainly
the directions Museums should go to get maximun coverage and most
cost-effective use our of their information base.  Where else can you
get a graphics front end, gratis, that works on all the major computer
platforms with a demonstrated potential user base of millions?
 
>         However, it is still important to have a database that is easy to
> manipulate and that has a good framework.
 
And this why relational databases are so effective and so popular.
With them it is so easy to arrange and conceptualize data, even if it
proves to be very complex when you start disecting the data components
and their relationships.
 
> Even if the manner of
> "presentation" of the database does not matter, the database information
> content is extremeley important.  A relational database is a way to
> maximize information content and felxibility while minimizing the
> amount of space used.
 
Be carful of this statement - the indexes required to make some
relational databases work at good speeds are often huge.
 
>         The last point, one that I kind of almost make, but never
> explicitly say is: Structuring and organizing information in a database
> is fundamentally different from how the information in the database is
> used.  That is, the way that information is extracted from the database
> can be numerous, and can far removed from the database itself.  The
> strucuture of the database is integral and the most important thing.
 
This is a most important point.  Having created your relational data
structure, with all its implied internal consistency, you can look at
it any way you want and get as much or as little information as you want.
 
So - so add to Robert's important message, if you are sitting on a pile
of museum data, stick it into a relational database, gateway it to the
Internet via a World Wide Web server (or gopher server) and wait for
some truly amazing statistics that demonstrate beyond doubt to the
bureaucrats and bean counters who make our lives miserable that the
project you are engaged in is the most important thing on the planet.
 
cheers
 
-- jim
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Jim Croft           [Herbarium CBG]               internet: [log in to unmask]
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