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.