In response to some questions from a charity I do some work for I'm writing a wikibook 'How to future proof electronic information'. I'm stuck on several questions, but let me ask this one here. An important is SQL - but sql is for working _with_ the dataset(s). What is the format of the _actual data itself_? If I'm recommending selection criteria for choosing a database I kinda need to understand this bit... The wikibook in progress, which you are welcome to edit, is at: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_future_proof_electronic_information Thanks, Duncan
