[dylanw]

I'm working on my thesis right now, and I'm using the Database module in Appleworks 6 to collect my research. This is okay because my needs are actually very modest: each record is just a book title, author, publisher, page number, etc. and then a few comments on the citation. The problem is, of course, that the Database part of Appleworks is probably the most problematic part of what is a pretty rough app anyway.

So does anyone know of something else that could do what I need it to do but that is easier to work with? Somebody suggested using mysql, but that seems like waaaaay more time and effort than I want to expend. I'm also on a pretty tight budget, so any really expensive software packages are out.

Thanks in advance.

[Spacemanspiff]

Originally posted by dylanw:
I'm working on my thesis right now, and I'm using the Database module in Appleworks 6 to collect my research. This is okay because my needs are actually very modest: each record is just a book title, author, publisher, page number, etc. and then a few comments on the citation. The problem is, of course, that the Database part of Appleworks is probably the most problematic part of what is a pretty rough app anyway.

So does anyone know of something else that could do what I need it to do but that is easier to work with? Somebody suggested using mysql, but that seems like waaaaay more time and effort than I want to expend. I'm also on a pretty tight budget, so any really expensive software packages are out.

Thanks in advance.

FileMaker Pro is a great app
http://www.filemaker.com

but...

EndNote is what you might need, I think.
http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/15738

My two cents...

Edit: Sorry. Just saw the price for endNote...
FileMaker isn't that cheap eiather.

Hmm.
Can't you just keep the record in an Excel-file?

[voyageur]

If you're a student, you should be able to get a good discount for EndNote through your institution--bringing the price to a little over $100 or so.

[Judge_Fire]

You can always use a combination of the Finder, the Find by Content- feature and structure individual text- documents similarly to make up the individual records.

Seriously. I once used it, together with with folder hierarchies and labels and it worked just great, for a small project. But you even need folders, really.

Find by Content can be used for queries like 'Find (in this folder) every document that contains Melville'. And for boolean, or checkbox- type, queries you can use a piece of text in the documents like 'Book:True' or 'Book:False'.

Then just add criteria in the Find box to narrow down the searches.

With a bit of AppleScript I think you can create a set of custom searches and save them, too. Haven't tried this, though.

Viewing collated search results isn't perfect in this way, but I'm sure it can be solved along these lines. Ideas?

J

[mark2]

Here's the perfect database program for what you described. It's called iData. It allows you to use free-form or field based datafiles, it's simple to use and has an effective and fast Find capability. I use it more than almost any other program.
You can also use it to collect and organize URLs, email and, of course, as a regular telephone book. (it'll even dial the phone for you!). I also write a lot, and use it to keep track of research materials.
http://www.coastalfog.net/idata/downloads.html
----------

[dylanw]

Thanks everybody for the help. iData looks like it'll work perfectly, and the 12/31 expiration date is just fine. Any idea what the price was when it was for sale or what it will be when iData 2 comes out?

[MacGorilla]

Pretty nifty app. Thanks for the heads up!