Database programs such as FileMaker Pro and Microsoft Access can help compile and maintain records on everything from videotape collections to home inventories and mailing lists. However, unfamiliarity with the software can make creating databases like deciphering Sanskrit. Plus, sharing information from your database is difficult when it's stored on your hard disk.

Intuit's QuickBase might be the database for those who don't use databases. It's run from a Web browser -- you don't need to install anything or save data on your hard disk. All of your information is stored online and is protected with a password, so it's easy to share with those to whom you grant access. Keep in mind, though, you can't get to the data when the system crashes.

QuickBase is geared to small offices -- its templates track things such as sales and assets -- but it will work well for anyone who has records to maintain. You can store as many as three databases free; it costs $14.95 per month to store between four and 15 databases.

What's really fantastic about QuickBase is the ease of building a new database. Do it one item at a time, or import a complete file of records. Best of all, it's possible to cut and paste data from Microsoft Word or Excel. -- Eric Griffith