Publishing your database on CDROM for profit: the FISHLIT and NISC experience
| Pages | 453-458 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb045412 |
| Date | 01 May 1995 |
| Published date | 01 May 1995 |
| Author | Margaret Crampton |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
Article
Publishing your database on
CDROM for
profit:
the FISHLIT
and
NISC
experience
Margaret Crampton
FISHLIT Information Service, JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology
Library,
Rhodes
University,
Private Bag
1015,
Grahamstown 6140,
South
Africa
and
National Inquiry Services Centre (NISC), 10 Constitution
Street,
Grahamstown, 6140 South Africa
E-mail:
nisc@ru.ac.za
Abstract: The JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyology Library at Rhodes University
in Grahamstown has maintained the FISHLIT bibliographic database since 1985
In
1990
the decision was taken to publish the database on CDROM
with
NISC
(National Information Services Corporation) in Baltimore. FISHLIT was the first
South African database to be published by
NISC.
FISHLIT
is
now on the CDROMs Fish and Fisheries Worldwide and Aquatic
Biology, Aquaculture and Fisheries Resources in an anthology of related
databases.
The
software
is
user-friendly and
powerful,
and advanced
compression techniques allow large quantities of data on one
disc.
This
article
will show how others can benefit from the advantages of CDROM publishing.
1.
Introduction
The JLB Smith Institute of Ichthyol-
ogy is a Research Institute and Mu-
seum in Grahamstown, South Africa,
devoted to the study of
fishes.
The In-
stitute was started in 1980 and named
in honour of Professor J.L.B. Smith,
whose publications described the di-
verse fish fauna of southern African
seas and who identified and described
for science the first living coelacanth,
previously known only as a fossil, La-
timeria chalumnae.
2.
The collections
The Institute is renowned for its two
collections of national importance:
firstly, the
fish
collection which
is
a 'li-
brary' of preserved fish specimens and
as such is a reference collection of fish
for
the
African continent. The fish col-
lection includes taxonomic type speci-
mens of newly described species as
well as reference collections of fishes
from localities all over Africa and the
surrounding oceans, and as far afield
as Antarctica. Much of the work de-
scribing these species was initiated by
Professor Smith and his work is con-
tinued by those who follow in his foot-
steps:
Gon & Heemstra (1990);
Skelton 1993; and Smith & Heemstra
(1986).
The scientific research of the Insti-
tute has its foundation in literature and
the second collection of national im-
portance is in the library. Here there is
a highly focused collection of publica-
tions:
books, periodicals, reports, re-
prints and pamphlets, all devoted to
the study of fishes. The original core
collection of publications was assem-
bled after the war by Professors J.L.B.
and Margaret Smith and consisted
mainly of publications related to their
interest in marine systematics and the
taxonomy of fish. It includes many
rare and antiquarian publications nec-
essary for fish taxonomy. Sub-
sequently research interests in the In-
stitute and at Rhodes University
Department of Ichthyology and Fish-
eries Science have expanded to cover
not only taxonomy but all aspects of
fish research, including aquaculture,
fisheries, ecology and behaviour, and
genetics and physiology. The collec-
tion in the library has expanded to
cover all these fields of fish research
and now represents a very comprehen-
sive collection.
3.
The FISHLIT database
Since the library's inception
the
jour-
nal articles on fish have been keyword
indexed. For many
years
this was done
on cards, but in 1985 the card index
gave way to a computerised bibliog-
raphic information system, FISHLIT
(Crampton
1989).
FISHLIT has exten-
sive keyword indexing and has been
growing at the rate of about 500 arti-
cles a month since then.
The indexing for FISHLIT has al-
ways been done by a qualified zoolo-
gist and marine biologist, in
a
working
library which is used on a daily basis
by the scientists for whom it is in-
tended. The critical input of the scien-
tists has been very valuable over the
years to ensure that the keyword
choices are comprehensive, pertinent,
controlled and relevant. The thesaurus
used to compile Aquatic Sciences and
Fisheries Abstracts (ASFA) (Fagetti et
al. 1986) is used to control the key-
word terms used.
FISHLIT now consists of more
than 48 000 references and covers Af-
rican fish and fisheries information
well. It also provides comprehensive
access to all the major international
The Electronic
Library,
Vol.
13,
No.
5, October 1995 453
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