As databases go, what you're talking about is really rather small. I think
I've only got 32 fields in mine. I use a lot of drop down menus precisely
for things like Linnean classification and geol period. Of the three I
mentioned, I think MS Access is the least user-friendly, but searching and
sorting are not at all difficult. I've not used it much to try to pull
reports (for printing, e.g.), which is a more arduous task in Access than in
the other two.

One advantage of MS Access is that I can view the collection in a table
view, which I can then cut-and-paste directly into Excel or Word for both
backups and ease of printing and manipulation (I print the whole thing about
2x/year in case I should have some major computer meltdown, plus I back it
up regularly on CD).

Paradox is a big program, but so is FileMaker. Doesn't mean you have to load
or use all the features. , I've currently got 2892 specimens catalogued, and
the data file takes a few seconds to load - but that will be true with Pdox
or FM, if you add a lot of records.

Both Pdox and FM are a bit pricey, which is why I started with Access, which
was bundled on my computer. Since then, I've purchased FileMaker and one of
those "To Do Someday" projects is to convert my collection dbase to
FileMaker. But even if I never do it, it's actually working just fine.

W.


:: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: :: ::
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rik Hill [mailto:rhill@...]
> Sent: Tuesday, February 17, 2004 10:25 AM
> To: fossilsites@yahoogroups.com
> Subject: Re: [Fossil Sites] looking for software
>
>
>
> My thought on using CGI was to make it more self contained on one or
> two CDROMs program, browser, catalog and all. Can this be done with
> FileMaker? As I understand it, Paradox is a petty hefty piece of
> software. What is searchability like in MS Access? I would like to be
> able to search on storage location, locality, Linnean class, common
> name and geologic time (Era, Period etc.).
>
> -Rik