MAKEBASE, an information retrieval system in structural mechanics for main‐frames and personal computers Available to Purchase

Information is the most valuable but least valued tool the scientist/engineer has. The computer program developments based on the finite element and boundary element techniques is now receiving considerable attention of the engineering community. The same is valid for their satellite programs such as pre‐ and post‐processors. Recently also expert systems are being developed in the field of structural mechanics. There are thousands of different programs in use and new ones are continuously being developed. Output of related literature on the finite element (FE) and boundary element (BE) technology has grown at a prodigious rate in the last two decades. An effective retrieval of information is necessary, but this is impossible without computer assistance. MAKEBASE is a special purpose, menu‐driven database which stores all types of information listed above. The development of this database was started five years ago. Today, MAKEBASE contains information about 1600 different FE/BE programs and more than 30,000 literature references. It is updated on a daily basis. MAKEBASE is implemented on VAX 11/780 (VMS), Apollo workstations, and different subjects of literature references have also been transferred into the microcomputer environment for individual PC databases. This paper describes the latest version of MAKEBASE and outlines the philosophy for the use of individual, special‐tailored micro‐databases for PCs.