Introduction

    The the initial document presented the proposal of a database of scientific papers (plus an auxiliary database of scientific journals), including the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

    The structure of a database depends on the content that is to be displayed, and the search capabilities of the database. Only the content – not the structure – of the database was discussed in the initial document. The structure of the periodicals database was discussed in a second document. This document complements the previous one.

Scientific papers

    When a historian of science searches a database of scientific papers, he might have different questions in mind, and the database should be devised to help him to answer those questions. It should be possible to make searches in the articles database using several different criteria:

• title of the article
• title of the periodical where it was published
• author(s) of the article
• editors, and other people related to the periodical (editorial board, etc.)
• institution that sponsored the periodical
• place of publication (city, country, region) 
• language(s) of the paper
• subjects of the article
• year of publication
• place where the document can be found (library, city, country...) 

    There might be other search requirements concerning articles that are not included in this list. Suggestions are welcome.

    The database should include, of course, all the searchable fields described above. Besides them, other non-searchable fields should be included, providing additional information about the articles that could be useful to historians of science. Some fields will use special codes, from auxiliary databases. 

1. Personal names (authors, etc.)
    In most cases, an article has a single author, or a few authors. In some special cases, there is a translator or editor involved (not the editor of the periodical, but someone who edited a posthumous paper, for instance). All relevant personal names should be included, in the form those names were published, together with the corresponding codes of the authorities database.

2. Title of the article
    The full article title, in the original language. Also, in the case of non-european languages, it is useful to provide an English translation of the title. To the title, there should be associated a language sub-field, where the language code should be entered (according to the languages database).

3. Language of the article
    The language code of the text of the article (according to the languages database).

4. Code of the periodical
    Instead of typing the complete title of the periodical, it is enough to enter the periodical code, contained in the periodicals database.

5. Series, volume, issue, pages
    The relevant information necessary to find the article in the given periodical. The initial and final pages are relevant. Sometimes a paper is published in several parts, and in those cases it is necessary to provide the volume, issue and pages for each part.

6. Year of publication
    In some cases, it is necessary to enter two years (articles published in several parts, beginning in one year and ending in another year). Also, in some cases it is necessary to enter complementary information, such as the month or day of the publication.

7. Subjects of the paper
    Subject description, using the subjects database entries.

8. Sources of information
    It is very useful to add to each record an information about the sources of information from which the record was created / updated. The usual types of sources are:

Original
    The record was created (or updated) using information collected by the direct examination of the item. This is the most reliable source of information. When this is the case, the record should not undergo any relevant correction of the entered data, unless it is possible to establish that a mistake was made.

Indirect information (secondary and tertiary sources)
    Sometimes the information will be obtained indirectly, through published tertiary sources (bibliographies, printed catalogues, etc.) or secondary sources (historiographical works). Even in the case when the original was consulted, it is useful to add information about works that refer to that periodical.
    When indirect sources of information are used, it is necessary to identify the work and to provide a specific reference (volume and page, or sometimes a reference item number). Each database will use a set of secondary/tertiary sources of information, and it will be necessary to create short codes to identify each of them. An auxiliary database will describe those secondary sources.

9. Other editions / versions / translations
    One field should introduce links to other records in the same database where different editions, translations or versions of the same work are described.

10. Links
    In some very special cases, the article can be found in the Internet, in electronic form (either in image format or in text format, or both). There may also exist Internet sites that provide additional information about that specific article. In those cases, it is useful to add links to the relevant URL's.

11. Other information
    There should also exist a text field where any complementary information might be entered. This field will not be searchable, but it is useful to add available information.
 

Database structure: Periodicals 

FOOTNOTES AND COMMENTS

    A historian might be interested in finding documents written in a specific language and / or published in a specific country or region. Most bibliographic databases do not contemplate the possibility of this kind of search, but it is desirable to include such a possibility.
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    A historian might prefer to restrict his search to documents that can be found close to the place where he/she lives. He/she may also want to produce a survey of resources that can be found at some particular place. 
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