Big Files Research Articles

Patent law, legislation and court ruling on the PC: The German online database system juris in comparison with the specialized files DPAT and EBER

Abstract Legal information in the field of intellectual property rights becomes more and more interesting for online searchers. Big companies file their patent applications in many countries, and the numbers of PCT and European applications are growing rapidly from year to year. The legal implications in the examination, grant and opposition procedure (and sometimes about invalidity) are very important for many applicants. It is therefore interesting and helpful to search in the comprehensive German legal online database juris and compare it with the offline files EBER and DPAT.

SELECT: A Pascal Program for Easy Data Manipulation

This paper describes a PASCAL microcomputer program for data manipulation of big data files that exceeds the limits of statistical packages on the microcomputer. The program can be used to make a selection of a set of variables from a big master file, so that the statistical packages can handle the number of variables. Another application of the program is the rearrangement of the order of variables in a data file. The program is usable on many microcomputers and larger systems.

The Case of the Vanishing Tree Snail

Over a hundred years ago lovely Achatina picta appeared on the scene, vanished, reappeared briefly, and then vanished again apparently for good. Where did she come from? Where did she go? Nobody knew. Few cared. I took the case in 1930. It looked bad. I got out a three-by-five and riffled the big file. Here's what showed: 1842: Lovell Reeve reports Achatina picta from Cuba. Description inadequate. Picture follows. 1849: L. R. reports again. Search instigated. No trace found in Cuba. Picture recirculated. 1912: Henry Pilsbry turns Achatina picta in at Philadelphia. Found alive on Big Pine Key, Florida, under alias Liguus fasciatus form pictus. All stations altered. No reports from Cuba. 1929: Charlie Simpson affirms Pilsbry report. Pictus definitely on Big Pine in 1907. Dead in 1912. Thought to have died in forest fire. File considered closed. The real story behind these parodied reports from the scientific literature needs telling. Our elusive heroine, the tree snail Liguus fasciatus solidus color form pictus, was not alone. Her story is only a little more pathetic than that of her sisters whose common ancestors migrated to the Florida Keys and mainland at the end of the ice age. Evil times fell upon them all. They became the object of intrigue and ruthless exploitation. Today, they face complete destruction as South Florida becomes an extended urban complex.