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Earlier studies have suggested the creation of a central database of concluded property transactions as a panacea to the property data debacle. It is in this regard that the purpose of this paper is to examine the perception of potential users of centralised property database on the consideration for the design and management of such database.

Questionnaires were administered on 190 property practitioners (referred as estate surveying and valuation firms) in Lagos property market. Frequency index, frequency distribution and percentage were employed for data analysis.

The result showed that respondents preferred a web-based databank and free access to the information in the databank by those who recorded their market data in it. They also preferred uniform recording standard in the databank, an interface that must be user friendly and secure to prevent unauthorised user from gaining access, amongst others. The practitioners also preferred that their professional body manage the databank when it is created.

The paper provides useful insights into creating a property database that will improve accessibility to property data in opaque markets.

There is still little or no empirical research on framework/end-users’ requirements for the creation of property transaction database in emerging property markets.

Document publishing systems are systems that support the creation, storage and subsequent retrieval and dissemination of documents and/or document representation or metadata. They are widely used in information retrieval applications, and in particular, are important in supporting the publication of documents on CD‐ROM or the Web. The publication process involves the following stages: identify content, database set‐up, populate database, publish, process search requests and view/download original. Document publishing systems fall into two categories: those that have developed from text management systems, and those that had their origins in document creation; this gives rise to systems with different ranges of facilities in areas such as data entry and document creation, information retrieval and security. Special issues associated, respectively, with publication on CD‐ROM and through the Web are considered. Future issues for document publishing systems include workgroup publishing, hybrid publication, globalisation, integration and seamless document publishing and management, and further integration with Web server technology.

An important stage in the process of retrieval of objects from a hypertext database is the creation of a set of inter‐nodal links that are intended to represent the relationships existing between objects; this operation is often undertaken manually, just as index terms are often manually assigned to documents in a conventional retrieval system. Studies of conventional systems have suggested that a degree of consistency in the terms assigned to documents by indexers is positively associated with retrieval effectiveness. It is thus of interest to investigate the consistency of assignment of links in separate hypertext versions of the same full‐text document, since a measure of agreement may be related to the subsequent utility of the resulting hypertext databases. The calculation of values indicating the degree of similarity between objects is a technique that has been widely used in the fields of textual and chemical information retrieval; in this paper, we describe the application of arithmetic coefficients and topological indices to the measurement of the degree of similarity between the sets of inter‐nodal links in hypertext databases. We publish the results of a study in which several different sets of links are inserted, by different people, between the paragraphs of each of a number of full‐text documents. Our results show little similarity between the sets of links identified by different people; this finding is comparable with those of studies of inter‐indexer consistency, where it has been found that there is generally only a low level of agreement between the sets of index terms assigned to a document by different indexers.

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the relevance of cultural heritage inventories and documentation as critical tools for heritage conservation and management in historic cities, through the case study of the historic city of Ahmadabad, India.

The paper discusses the creation of inventories as part of the comprehensive documentation undertaken for preparation of the World Heritage nomination dossier. In this context, the goal of preserving the outstanding universal value of the historic city formed the basis for selection and assessment of the assets to be included in the inventory. Standard processes and methodology employed for creation of the database involved archival research and planning; field surveys for mapping, photo documentation and data collection; data registration and processing using CAD, Ms Office and geographic information system (GIS)-based digital platform. Optimal data acquisition while maintaining cost and time efficiency was an important consideration for the fieldwork.

While an inventory remains a critical conservation tool, the heritage assets are integrally linked to and influenced by their surroundings in an urban context. A comprehensive documentation approach that provides a broader understanding of the city’s natural features, built environment, heritage resources, cultural practices and socio-economic networks is therefore necessary for creation of a suitable management plan for historic cities. Traditional field surveys based on external visual observation are time and cost effective, and can generate adequate information on identification and assessment of built heritage assets for creation of inventory along with documentation of their context. However, the scale of investigation and the intended role of an inventory as an urban management tool calls for creation of integrated, accessible and updatable data management systems.

At the moment, the database created is only used for the limited purpose of monitoring and managing the conservation of listed properties. The importance of the inventory as a critical conservation and urban management tool can be further validated once the GIS database of the historic city is integrated within the urban management and planning system for the city.

The inventory created for the historic city of Ahmadabad offers one of the few examples of heritage documentation at such a large scale. It covers an area of 543 ha with a detailed inventory of more than 6,000 properties. The description of, and the reflections on the process employed provide an overview of usual challenges encountered in creation, presentation and management of heritage inventories for historic cities which may offer useful guidelines to practitioners planning similar exercises and help them establish efficient work processes.

This article describes the rationale behind the construction of an interactive numeric flies retrieval system, and the creation of the system (project team, project phases, data preparation, software, and hardware used). The major findings section includes comments on data problem resolution, database design and construction, interface considerations, enhanced cataloging, file transfer, standards adherence, and staff resources. The incorporation of the system into the range of services of Cornell's Mann Library is described.

The paper seeks to reflect the information environment with emphasis on indigenous science and technology knowledge requirement in developing countries, particularly India.

Indigenous scientific/technical knowledge functions as a critical national resource for any developing country. Literature reflects need and provision of database services that can cater to indigenous knowledge.

The paper discusses nationally developed databases, various aspects related to initiation and creation of these databases in India. The objectives behind development of such databases and some factors such as indigenous knowledge need, strategic culture, managerial capability, technological thrust and organizational interest responsible for developing databases in India are highlighted. Other features such as quality assessment control and network‐based indigenous knowledge database access and information delivery are discussed. Current indigenous knowledge database activities, efforts of NISCAIR and NISSAT, are highlighted along with promotion and marketing of indigenous knowledge databases. Constraints to indigenous knowledge development in India are discussed. Some guidelines are given to keep balance in the collection and distribution of indigenous knowledge in the developing countries. The paper concludes with the idea of pacing in the right direction for developing balanced and information service‐oriented indigenous knowledge system.

The paper gives an overview of indigenous knowledge database development in India and is useful for librarians to discern the gradual change towards indigenous knowledge storage and to find out the information centers on a national level which can be helpful in indigenous knowledge database development in India.

The use of the software package mini‐micro CDS/ISIS for the creation of the “Myco Database” is discussed. The design, development of the database and sorting of records are described step by step. Details of the print format and sample printout of the printed version of the directory are given.

Tertiary programmes for teaching online searching consist typically of the components of an online search system, different categories of databases, overview of database hosts and their search facilities, methods to create search strategies and command languages, to name but a few. Practical experience, an integral component, is gained by searching interactively on one or more database hosts, where the emphasis is on search techniques rather than the intrinsic characteristics of the databases of the specific system. The extent of students' hands‐on experience invariably depends on the teaching unit's budget, which may preclude extensive ‘live’ exposure. However, the technical facilities and shared resources of a local area network (LAN) are likely to have a significant effect on the traditional teaching methods of online searching. It is now possible, in a LAN environment, to integrate the various information retrieval activities, for example creating and searching personal or local databases, utilising these for indexing, abstracting and thesaurus building, searching locally on CDROM databases which simulate the search facilities and command languages of commercial database hosts and, when the need arises, accessing their external ‘online’ counterparts. This article will demonstrate how the limited concept of ‘online searching’ is broadened when a LAN and local databases are utilised in the online teaching process.