____________________________Creating and Using Web Interactive Databases

• Research Example--finding and cataloguing 2000 URLs in biology
  • The task
    • As part of a larger project, Henry Robison of the SAU Biology Department, is finding and cataloguing URLs in biology.
    • Others, myself included, are creating similar collections in 24 other academic fields.
    • Later this year, the sponsor of this effort, StudentAdvantage.com, will put those 50,000+ URLs onto a free Website for students, FirstResearch.com.
  • The database
    • The database already contains the first level of descriptors as a pull-down menu. He adds the subordinate level descriptors himself.
    • See the database at:
      • http://bssdb.saumag.edu:8000
  • How it is used
    • Robison searches the Web for suitable sites and then enters them via the Web from either his home or office using Internet Explorer. (Netscape does not yet support CSS.)
    • Kardas reviews the new additions nightly, edits out typos by hand, and then backs up the file to four hard drives on two other Macintosh computers.
    • When complete, the database will be converted into an Excel spreadsheet and sent to the sponsor electronically.

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