First, databases are still tricky for some people to understand, and spreadsheets are more obvious. A spreadsheet is usually contained on a single screen, so it is easy for someone to figure out its logic, and the grid of rows and columns is also easier than the typical relational database with a series of tables. Tables are more than many people -- especially those who don't have a lot of formal IT training -- want to deal with. Second, the database collaboration tools are tough to learn and use. Look at how many people still use Lotus Notes for email and not much else. And since most of us are comfortable with email, using it as the transportation system isn't all that taxing. Until the day comes when three people are working on the same spreadsheet or database and make conflicting changes.

Third, building the right kinds of collaborative applications requires some skill and understanding of how and what kinds of data are shared. How many people are going to be adding/changing records to your database? How many just want to do queries and reports? And how do you prevent conflicting concurrent updates?

So what are your choices, if you don't want to email spreadsheets around? You have two basic methods. First is to use one of the many Internet-compatible database programs. and its standard edition is US$200, or you can purchase the Filemaker Server version for $1000. There are plenty of others, but these two are the easiest to setup and use across the Internet.

For both products, you will need to make use of a hosted Windows or Mac machine at your Internet provider or else have some other means of connecting the machine that you run your database on to the Internet. ( is one provider that offers a Filemaker Pro hosting account for $40 a month, and ZebraHost offers Alpha Five hosting starting at $30 a month. on how to do this with Alpha Five.) You will also have to learn their programming language and be comfortable with how they produce reports. This method has the advantage that you are running a real database program and has the most flexibility. But it has a high entry cost in terms of skills and may be more than you want to deal with.

If the skills required on either of these are daunting, you'll probably end up with the second method, which is to use one of the Web services companies that are geared towards sharing spreadsheets and tabular data. While Google Docs does allow people to collaborate on a file-level, what we really want is something a bit more sophisticated and that can recognize the individual records. There are at least four services that I have found that do this: • , $10 a month per user• , $8 a month per user • Intuit's $250 a month for 10 users• , $10 per month per user plus $30 per month for one admin account