Small and medium enterprises have a great need for information in order to develop economically. Provision of infrastructural information services for them is a priority in many countries. This book, based on an international seminar held in China, gives recommendations on operational concepts, methodology and technologies.

1 Overview: the Beijing Seminar.- 1.1 Introduction.- 1.2 User Considerations.- 1.3 Systems Design and Development Principles.- 1.4 Communications Support and Networking.- 1.5 From Pilot to National System.- 2 Determining the Needs.- 2.1 Information Needs of Small and Medium Enterprises.- 2.2 Better Information Service to Engineers in SMEs.- 2.3 Factual Data-Base Structure and Development.- 2.4 Information and Data-Base Systems in Brazil.- 3 Designing the System.- 3.1 Information Systems and Abstract Services.- 3.2 Structural Principles of Distributed Data-Base Management Systems.- 3.3 Thesauri Management for On-Line Information Systems.- 3.4 General System Design for SPARK Information Pilot System.- 4 Considering the Communications Options.- 4.1 Technology Broker System for SMEs in FRG.- 4.2 Data-Bases and Information Distribution for Rural Industries.- 4.3 Data-Base Access in the OSI Environment.- 4.4 Networks and Protocols for Information Systems.- 5 The Case of China: General Framework and a Specific Situation.- 5.1 Status and Development of Computer-Based Information Retrieval Systems in China.- 5.2 The Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (ISTIC).- 5.3 The User Survey and Design Conception of Information System for the County of Chong Ming (Shanghai).- 6 Annexures.- 6.1 List of Participants.- 6.2 Abbreviations and Acronyms.