collection DB design question

[Una Smith]

Alan Harvey's question has more to do with the abstract design of an
information system than it does with implementation in any particular
software package.  (It would be ideal to work out the design fully in
advance of the implementation, but that almost never happens in the
real world.)  Alan wants to be able to track the location of loaned
specimens in a reliable manner.  The standard method in corporate IS
design is to record a complete history of all changes to all records,
so that the entire history of every transaction can be reconstructed
precisely as recorded.

More on this important topic can be found in the comp.soft-sys.* and
comp.databases.* Usenet newsgroups.

Regards,

        Una Smith
        Department of Biology
        Yale University