The research departments have been using several programs
          for collection management, the most prevalent one being
          RBase by Microrim.  However, the guiding philosophy over the
          past decade has been that off-the-shelf, generic database
          software is the best to use because there is a large support
          structure from the major companies who will be providing
          better upgrades in the future.  Customizing these programs
          for individual use is relatively simple.  The more
          specialized programs cannot hope to keep up with
          technological advances over time competing with the large
          number of programers hired by the major software companies.
          If looking for a collection management program, I would
          highly recommend one of the many compatible X-tree programs
          on the market, like DBase, RBase, Advanced Revelation,
          FoxPro, Paradox, etc.  Collections that have tried to use
          highly specialized software, like Selgem and Taxier, have
          later abandoned their use as technology passed these
          programs by.
 
                                             Norman D. Penny