Article: Computer-based storage and retrieval of palaeontological data at the Sedgwick Museum, Cambridge, England

The computer-based data handling system at the Sedgwick Museum is a specialized application of the GOS program package, geared to the requirements of a large palaeontological collection. Rigorous analysis and careful structuring of palaeontological data facilitate the automatic production, by machine processing, of hard-copy catalogues, labels, and a variety of indexes. The system goes beyond the capabilities of the standard GOS package in that a number of extra programs are geared to direct access information retrieval. The Information Retrieval System incorporates a solution to the problem of variant forms of single catalogue terms and can be used to answer rapidly many queries about the collections which formerly would either have been virtually impossible or have required extensive physical searches. Those aspects of the Sedgwick System of interest and potential use to palaeontologists and biostratigraphers are described.