References in databases

[Quintin at]

Dear TAXACOMers,
   I am working to help develop a relational database for taxonomic
information.  For those of you with experience in database
management I have a few questions for you regarding the input,
and retrieval of references:

1.  Do you have separate fields for each piece of information (e.g.
author(s), date, title, publisher, etc.), or do you use only only a few
fields that encompass most of the information?

2.  How do you deal with different types of publication such as
journals, monographs, books, and chapters within books?  Do you
utilize one window, or do you have separate windows based on
the publication type?

3.  How do you deal with old publications that are part of a series,
and that may have multiple authors and/or dates?  Do you have
multiple records that cover each possibility, or one record with
subsets (years/authors) that relate back to one entry?

You may reply to me privately at gravatt.quintin at nmnh.si.edu,
and thank you in advance for your help.

Cheers,
Quintin Gravatt
Office of Biodiversity Programs
NMNH/SI