Electronic database of historical natural stones of the Czech Republic: structuring field and laboratory data

The structure of the electronic database of natural stones used in the Czech Republic (named <em>Deka</em>) has been completed. The system is based on MySQL, and is comprised of the following crucial items: general data, data regarding the geographic location and status of the quarry; petrographic description, associated mineralogical data and chemical analyses; technical data covering physical and mechanical properties as well as sculptural workability; parameters about the deposit (quarry); and data describing historical exploitation and utilization. Along with the structure of the database, other practical problems such as access to the database, insertions, corrections, erasing a record or reference, etc. are discussed. The database is designed for geologists, historians and restorers resolving problems of a stone's provenance from monuments, architects involved in the selection of promising stone types for new projects and for educational purposes to geologists, restorers, etc. Appendix 1: A description of the eight types of data used in the dimension store database is provided at http://www.geolsoc.org.uk/sup18394