Re: Iris CD-Rom & Registrar's Database
- Subject: Re: [iris-talk] Iris CD-Rom & Registrar's Database
- From: J* J*
- Date: Mon, 23 Jul 2001 17:00:17 -0700
Iris Moose wrote:
>
>
>
> I would offer that placing all the digital data that has been
> accumulated into the master database, as it is today, be prepared immediately for
> the first release. This would allow all registered cultivar names to be
> accessible right away. Perhaps John Jones could also elaborate on the
> data that is actually prepared at this time.
The '89 and '79 databases are at this time only configured into 3
fields. It was more important at the time to get the information into
electronic form quickly than to get it in the best form for the long
term. At that point I did not know what the best format would be. The
'69 and '99 will be formated with 7 fields and then we will go back and
reformat the '89 and '79. (Yes it is easy to put the '69 and '99 in the
same form as the '89 and '79 for temporary use on the website so we can
have all four decades together.)
Remember that there are two databases on the website - the Checklist and
the Name databases. The Checklist database has the full reegistration
information for each entry. The Name database, lists the name of every
cv registered through the 1999 R&I. I hope to soon have the names from
the 2000 R&I to add to it. The Name database has only the name and the
year of the book the cv was registered or introduced in. It also has
some award information. Now before anyone goes off on, "Well why didn't
they do such and such instead..." let me reiterate that you are lucky to
have this at all. It was prepared by a private individual for their own
use, and they were kind enough to let me have access to it.
> Does this also include
> hybridizer
> name and year for each of these cultivars?
See above
>
> I believe John mentioned there are only seven fields in the database
> at this
> time. This sounds like it would be a fairly simple job of building a
> stand-alone program in either Visual Basic or File Maker that could be
> used
> to search and study the records on everyone's home computer. This
> would
> also allow the most advanced search capability of the data that is
> available
> to date.
>
> It would probably take about a month to prepare the program and
> another two
> weeks to run a beta test of the program. If a volunteer is found to
> do the
> programming then there is practically no expense to the Iris Society.
> The
> actual cost of a CD with a disk label and jewel case insert would not
> exceed
> $1.50. I would easily pay $25 for this product before spending the
> proposed
> $15 for the slower and more limited website access.
And the labor and time for making the CD, packing and shipping? Keeping
track of payments, checks etc. What about an update policy? What happens
if a virus is inadvertantly inserted on the CD. Who has the liability if
it crashes someones system? You think I am being paranoid? When was the
last time you heard of a restaurant being sued because someone spilled a
cup of hot coffee on themselves?
> I also think the argument concerning a decline in the sales of the
> printed
> checklist is a bit silly. AIS is not out to make money. Publication
> of a
> checklist is a mandatory stipulation of being the International
> Cultivar
> Registration Authority (ICRA) for Iris.
Silly? How about needing to recover the cost of printing? I would admit
I have no idea how much an eletronic version would impact the sales of
the printed version. It will, but how much. Someone figure that out for me.
> construction by the AIS should continue. However, perhaps access to
> the
> site should free and the more detailed information on an electronic
> checklist CD should be purchased through the AIS as the printed
> checklists
> are right now.
The online version contains the same information as the printed checklists.
>
> Publishing a CD at this time as the one I mention above would also
> satisfy
> the current appetite of registration information many of us have.
Iassume you mean appetite for "more convenient" access as the all the
information is available in printed form.
> This
> would also allow at least a year of further work to be accomplished on
> the
> current project of digitizing the registration information.
Why is that? You mean that if I got the '59 Checklist done in 5 months
you would want to wait another 7 months before you could get it? I don't
think so.
> It would
> probably also relieve some of the stress involved with trying to get
> the
> information completed too hurriedly causing errors and other possible
> delays.
Stress? I have no stress about this. We are taking the time to do the
job as correctly as we can. The individual volunteers are encouraged to
be accurate not fast.
> =================
>
> I have no idea what kind of database or file system the Iris Registrar
> now
> utilizes.
3 X 5 Card index. And he is not inclined to give that up. Does that give
you a perspective on the complexity of the task I am facing?
> However, he must not have a comprehensive database of iris
> registrations since all this work is currently being done. Has a
> designer,
> programmer, and the Registrar ever sat down together to plan and
> implement a
> logical database for the Registrar?
No, and until just last year the registrar did not even have email. The
computer was merely an electronic typewriter with a big memory.
> Something that would allow the
> Registrar to easily verify the availability of names? A program that
> could
> generate all the printed checklist reports with the push of a button?
> Something that would allow him to send a letter to each registrant
> containing all the cultivar's registration information the moment it
> is
> recorded? A program that would allow the easy flow of information
> into
> program for release via CD-rom. ETC....
You think I don't know all this?
> Where are the priorities of the AIS right now. Is it towards a
> registration
> website, a registration CD, or the Registrar's own master record? I
> think
> the later is probably the most important, but the other two can be
> done
> simultaneously if given the proper planning. This goes back to
> publishing a
> CD now, and then taking the next year to complete the digitizing of
> registration information and taking care of the man responsible for
> recording all the Registration data in the first place.
You are assuming he wants to change.
Look folks, I know all this, and I am working towards a long term goal
to accomplish all that was mentioned in here and more. The reality is
that there are concerns that the board and registrar have in moving into
the electronic world. It is just in the last year that most of the Board
members have email (all but one). I am getting great support from the
board in moving AIS forward, but you get there by making people
comfortable one step at a time. I could build a database in a couple of
hours that would make the registrars life immensely easier, but it is
not time yet. To do that would require a complete backup and security
policy so that the possibility of any lost data is essentially zero. We
aren't there yet. Not with the hardware that is in place, and the
comfort level of the registrar with technology. Trust me, compared to
the way the AIS typically does things (most time appropriately so) we
have been moving at light speed.
You want a project that will help move things along???? Design a program
that will take the parentage information AS IT CURRENTLY EXISTS and
converts it into data that can be used by a geneaology program. Be
willing to donate that to AIS with full documentation so that someone
else 10 years after you are no longer on the scene can go in and adapt
it for an unanticipated need.
Want another project? Start going through the '39 checkilist and find
good catalogs of the time to get better descriptions that are more
meaningful and have parentages.
I am not objecting to anything that was said here. I believe it is where
we need to go. I am just pointing out that there are other things to
consider as well.
John | "There be dragons here"
| Annotation used by ancient cartographers
| to indicate the edge of the known world.
________________________________________________
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Vice Chairman, Region 14 of the AIS
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Chairman, AIS Committee for Electronic Member Services
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