For some 30 years now Missionalia, the journal of the Southern African Missiological Society, has published abstracts of mission-related journal articles.

About 8 years ago we were discussing the possibility of putting them on CD-ROM, to make them more easily accessible to mission researchers, but for various reasons the project was delayed, although a couple of typists were employed to get abstracts from the back issues into an electronic form. They were typed into the askSam database program, and stored on floppy disks, which were stored in a cupboard.

Now we are thinking of reviving the project, and I would like some advice from potential users and from those who have had experience of similar projects.

I've transferred the material from the floppy disks to a hard disk on my computer, and backed them up on a rewritable CD. The first step will be to get them all into a single database, which can then be consulted.

The next step will be to get the abstracts that are not in the database entered in (mainly the more recent ones, but some earlier ones may also have been missed).

Then we will have to work out the best method of distribution. We are using a DOS version of askSam, and it had a run-time module that could be used for distribution of CD-Roms, but I don't know if it is still available, since askSam are now only distributing the Windows version, and the DOS version has Y2K problems that are unlikely to be fixed. I am not sure whether the Windows version has a run-time module, though I do know that it lacks some of the reporting features of the DOS version, which is one reason I've never used it.

We could also use other software for distribution disks, but I am not sure what is available, how much it costs, and how well it works, so I'm asking for advice from people who have experience of such things. Global Mapping used Folio Views for their 20:21 database, which contained a variety of material.

Another possibility is Inmagic, which has been used for AIC databases (which we could also include on a distribution disc with the abstracts, since there will probably be room). Inmagic, too, has been replaced by a Windows version, called DBText, though it seems that transferring files between one and the other would be easy enough, and transferring files from askSam (DOS version) to Inmagic is not difficult. Transferring the data to a relational database, like Microsoft Access or Paradox WILL be difficult however, and it might not be possible to do it without either losing some data, or re-entering it manually. Certainly it would require an enormous amount of time to be spent on programming, or employment of a skilled programmer, which would be very expensive.

I would welcome advice from people who have experience of such things.

I'd also welcome some opinions from people whose main interest would be in using such a tool for research.

First - would you be interested in having access to a database of missiological abstracts, and possibly a database of AICs as well?

Secondly, how much would you be prepared to pay for a CD-Rom with such a database?

There seem to be at least two possible ways to go in pricing distribution discs. One is to have a professional production with a fancy user interface, and price the discs to recover the costs of production. That would probably put them out of reach of anyone except wellendowed libraries.

Another way would be to do a less professional production job, without the slick interface, but to produce a usable database on the cheap, and not aim to recover *all* the production costs, but concentrate on making the material available at a reasonable price. Such discs could be produced in quantity and perhaps distributed to missiology students at Unisa and other academic institutions as part of their course material, or for a nominal fee.

Any comments? Suggestions? Other alternatives?

More information about the project can be found at: http://www.geocities.com/missionalia/missalia.htm

Dr Stephen Hayes

PO Box 7648, Pretoria, 0001 South Africa

E-mail: shayes@dunelm.org.uk

Web: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/7734/steve.htm