RESOURCE CENTRE MANUAL
HEALTHLINK WORLDWIDE
information. Think about who will design and set up the database. This will
depend on the program selected, and the staff skills available within the
organisation, or funding for external help. If the right type of program is
purchased, very little outside help will be required. However, if the database is
not designed by resource centre staff, make sure that resource centre staff are
fully consulted during this process, to ensure that the database meets all the
requirements of those searching and those managing the data.
When selecting a program, consider whether the program’s design process is
straightforward and requires few technical skills, or whether it is more
complicated. Consider how easy it will be to modify the database to meet future
needs, such as adding new fields, or to solve any technical problems, for
example, if the database stops working properly.
If you employ a consultant, make sure that the consultancy includes providing
good written guidelines and training in how to use the database. Also ensure that
any training covers the skills required to adapt and develop the database for
future resource centre needs.
Field identification When designing the database, think about how you will label
or number fields, and how you will use repeatable fields and subfields. Systems
for labelling or numbering fields may be important for sharing information with
other systems (see Section 6.8.3).
Data entry assistance Data entry needs to be as straightforward as possible.
Records can be entered more quickly and accurately if the program includes
facilities for ensuring that data is in the right fields and the right format, and is
spelt correctly. Look for the following features:
• Setting up different data entry screens for each material type can help prevent
data entry mistakes, as most fields on these screens should contain some data,
and there is less confusion between fields.
• Record templates/record skeletons are useful if you need to enter a lot of
similar material. Regularly required data can be entered only once and used
for any number of records, without having to be re-entered. The required
data can be entered into any number of fields to build up the
template/skeleton. To keep down the amount to data to be entered, it is
useful to design different templates/skeletons for different types of material,
or particular sources of information.
• Default values are useful if particular words or phrases are regularly required
in a specific field, such as the type of material or language. Only one default
value can be entered for each field, so templates/skeletons are a more useful
feature than default values.
• Field templates/input masks are useful if the data needs to be in a specified
format, such as upper case, or a fixed number or pattern of characters, or a
specific date format. The pattern of the data is provided in coded form, and
data not fitting the pattern will not be accepted by the program.
• Substitution lists are useful for standard information, such as organisation
names and types of material. Once a list is set up, the abbreviation is typed
SECTION 6: COMPUTERS, ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION AND DATABASES
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