Issue title: Special Issue containing papers from the Spring 1984 Meeting of the Association of Information and Dissemination Centers on “The Economics of Data-base Production” and containing selected summaries of presentations from the Ninth International CODATA Conference, 1984
Guest editors: A.W. Elias, C. van de Weteringh and T. Matsumura
Note: [*] Based on a presentation delivered at the Spring Meeting of the Association of Information and Dissemination Centers (ASIDIC) in New Orleans on 19 March 1984.
Abstract: There are many costs, both hidden and obvious, associated with data-base production. Market research, file design, selection of the data elements, setting of the editorial guidelines and construction of a backfile are important cost elements to consider. Data-base construction can be accomplished in numerous ways by using photocomposition tapes, OCR, offshore keyboarding, tape merges, telephone line downloading or keying the data on floppy diskettes. Each of these methods has its own advantages and disadvantages depending on the type of material and type of data base. This article discusses and compares each method, with special emphasis placed on the costs which one can expect to incur during each step of production.
