Issues in desktop publishing are discussed as they relate to the use of computer databases. The design and development of software to automate the production of conference programs by linking databases to a desktop publishing system is described. The discussion covers: the redesign of the existing conference program; specifying styles in Ventura Publisher; setting up dBASE II databases; writing the conference program generator software; and using Ventura Publisher to produce camera-ready copy.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>