A question on databases and best practices for them

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jzents
Posts: 65
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2007 11:04 am
Location: Edinburg, TX

A question on databases and best practices for them

Post by jzents »

I originally envisioned having a separate database for Philosophy, History, and any other major topics I found myself writing on. But then it occurred to me, that I frequently use historical references in philosophy and sometimes the other way around. So it would seem that having a separate database for each one, which I considered to be pretty sizable when they were done, is likely to be extremely awkward. So do you find it practical to just keep all of your references in a single database, and then perhaps use grouping or some other method to sort those references into various basic categories? Or do you find it better to keep a different database for each kind of literature, something like what I mentioned in the first sentence?
Jeff Zents
South Texas College
jzents
Posts: 65
Joined: Fri Oct 26, 2007 11:04 am
Location: Edinburg, TX

Re: A question on databases and best practices for them

Post by jzents »

About 30 minutes after I wrote this post, while doing something entirely different, I stumbled upon the answer in the user guide. Consider this question answered.
Jeff Zents
South Texas College
rickl
Posts: 182
Joined: Thu Sep 16, 2004 4:47 am
Location: Japan

Re: A question on databases and best practices for them

Post by rickl »

For the sake of people who may have the same question as you, and not know exactly where to look in the User Guide, I'll quote the answer here:
Bookends stores reference information (author, title, date of publication, etc.) in libraries. The number of references you can store in a library is, in theory, essentially unlimited. In practice, the maximum number you will find comfortable to work with depends upon your work habits and the capabilities of your computer, but is perhaps 50-100 thousand. In the event that you want to store more references, you can make additional libraries.

· We suggest you use one library rather than several smaller libraries if possible. You can make "virtual" subdivisions of the library, if you want, with static and/or smart groups.
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