Selecting data-base management software for microcomputers in libraries and information units*

Article type: Research Article

Authors: Pieskä, K.A.O.

Affiliations: Technical Research Centre of Finland Information Service, P.O. Box 181, 90101 Oulu, Finland

Note: [*] Version of a paper presented at the Second International Conference on the Application of Micro-Computers in Information, Documentation and Libraries, Baden-Baden, FRG, 17–21 March 1986. Permission for publication here has been granted by the Deutsche Oesellschaft für Dokumentation.

Abstract: The continuous increase in the use of data-base management systems (DBMS) has created a need for systematic methods in the choice of software. Selecting the most appropriate data-base management software for his special problems is quite a task for a person with little or no experience in using microcomputers in his work. Software producers and vendors have little awareness of the special requirements for handling large data bases containing textual fields, for example bibliographic files with abstracts. Some extra problems may be caused by Finnish special letters (å, ä, ö). In this paper, a universal method for evaluating software from the viewpoint of librarians and information specialists has been described. To make the selection task easier, the properties of the software packages have been presented in tables.

Keywords: Data-base management systems, selection, software evaluation, libraries, information units

DOI: 10.3233/ISU-1986-65-602

Journal: Information Services & Use, vol. 6, no. 5-6, pp. 207-214, 1986