[WEB4LIB] FileMaker for journals database?

[Alnisa Allgood]

At 9:44 PM -0800 3/15/05, RCH Library wrote:
>hi folks,
>
>our journals list is becoming too large to manage in static html, and we've
>been considering moving to a databse environment for some time.
>
>if we make a request for our webmaster and his cronies to build us one, it
>may take up to a year and we will be charged for their time.
>
>we just want to put our journals in it, then include it in our existing
>library site. has anyone used FileMaker Server 7 Advanced to do something
>like this? the blurb on the website (filemaker.com) certainly sounds like
>it will do what we want it to do.
>i've had it on good authority (members of this list) that Access is not a
>good idea, but what about this product? is it more stable? am i even
>looking at the right KIND of product?

FileMaker 7 can be used to do this, and is fairly easy  if your not 
worried about site traffic and speed. This doesn't mean that 
FileMaker is slow, its just that its response limits are smaller than 
say MySQL. For example, almost any database can handle 10 
simultaneous users, but 100 simultaneous users will noticeably slow 
some databases and have no effect on others.

If you have or expect to have larger numbers of simultaneous users 
(as well as other reasons), FileMaker works best with middleware 
(basically an application that sits between the web and FileMaker, 
that will limit queries,  create database caches, add additional 
security, etc.  Lasso and Tango are the two better known middleware 
applications for FileMaker.  (The basics of Lasso are easy to pick 
up, but advance functionality requires a Lasso programmer).

Also remember you can always start and transition--start with the 
very easy FileMaker then transition to a web solution developed by 
your programmers.  A basic script to retrieve and display information 
from a database, shouldn't take that long to create--a day (max) for 
extremely basic, longer with the more user trapping you add.  Plus 
don't overlook free or shareware products created for FileMaker or 
PHP/MySQL combo. Check out http://www.hotscripts.com or 
http://www.fmfiles.com/

All and all, my recommendation to clients has typically been:

* If its for internal use--use FileMaker
          its quick, easy, and requires little programming. In fact, 
if you already have the database
          you can get a basic solution up and running in about  30 
minutes including testing.

* if its for minimal external use--use FileMaker/use MySQL
          if you have both web and desktop database needs, use FileMaker
          if you have little to no desktop database needs, use MySQL

* if you want it for general public use--use MySQL
         obviously there are exceptions and if/thens, but if you have a site,
         expect or want the site to grow, and want the database to be 
a part of that growth
         don't wish to consider ongoing capacity, replication, and 
distribution issues, as site grows
         just start with a database geared for the web in the first place

These recommendation also ignore the question of web server type, and 
configuration issues.

Starting out in either can be fairly simple, depending on your needs. 
Say you want a basic table that stores the journal name, description, 
and category/topic, coverage, publisher, format, ISSN, access_to, 
location.  Then a single table in either FileMaker or MySQL will 
handle this.

Alnisa