Dear Iain,
 
     Funny you should ask, I just completed deed and tax searches on 126
 home and farmsteads in Wisconsin on the Fort McCoy Military
Installation.  I have found that Microsoft Access worked quite well.  I
set up columns as follows.  First I used a random counter to
differentiate repedative fields.  Then the site number, followed by the
grantor and grantees first and last names in seperate columns (It makes
them easier to sort by last name).  The last columns are the date of
sale and the type of deed, assuming that the American system followed
the same English system that Australia did.  Microsoft Access might not
be the most advanced but it is effective.  If I have confused you
totally write back and I will attempt to clarify,  the work day is at an
end so I apologize for being brief.
 
Sincerely
 
Michael LaRonge
Research Associate
Colorado State University
CEMML
At Fort McCoy, Wisconsin
USA