Relational Database Systems currently dominate the marketplace and thus the use of Database Management Systems by historians. This technology can constrain the thinking ofits users and limit the representational and analytical power of the applications built using it. This has led to research into other models of Database Management which are less restricting. An introduction toone ofthese approaches, Object OrientedDatabase Systems, ispresentedhere in a historical context with the purpose ofillustrating its power for historical research. An example of this power is given with a description of the authors research into the development of a workbench system utilising Object Orientedprinciples for Nominal Record Linkage.
