Looks  like you got an in depth analysis on 4D from and expert!
Yeah, what he said!
        I'm no computer expert, but I was able to take 4D from initial
installation to a usable system in about 4 months. Unfortunately,
I didn't get a chance to plan the whole system beforehand, so it kind of
grew as we needed new parts for it. But it works very well now. I'm
constantly amazed at how versitile it is and hgow easy it is to make
it jump through the hoops we need.
        When I first started the project in June of 1993, the data base
was on an old CPM PC, with all kinds of arcane codes in it that had
to be looked up in order to interpret the data. I converted the
CPM files to ASCII and thence to a Macintosh text only file and then
poured them into 4D to create the skeleton of the data base. Then
I fleshed in in around that skeleton of Accession numbers and very
information, adding fields and files as needed.
        I now have eight basic files to track accession number,
catalog number, human skeleton inventory, Alaska Native villages,
village corporations and regional corporations, loans and
repatriation cases. I also have several other bookkeeping and
specific research files.
        So far we have enetered 40,000 records since about August,
with a staff varying between one and four part time data entry
people.
        Overall, I'm extremely pleased with the program, but it
does require an on-site person to constantly design and maintain
the system. It won't work nearly as well if you have to depend on
contract or loaner experets to do your design work.
        In terms of usability, 4D is simplicity itself. Last
week I started a high school student on it on a research project.
She was zipping around, doing sorts and searches by noon. So
it's very easy for the user to pick up and very easy to design
such that critical data areas can be lkept secure from authorized
(that's UN-authorized) access (such as site location, sensitive
ethnograpohic descriptions, etc.
        If you have any specific questions for a rather naive
designer and user, you can contact me direct at
        [log in to unmask]
        Mike Lewis
        University of Alaska Fairbanks