My database has become rather large, with 1077 records and 25 MB (with covers stored externally). In recent months, I noticed significant performance declines, with 10 to 20 second delays in performing operations.

I was about to post a question about that, when I saw somebody mentioning compacting the database in a different post. It reminded me that I hadn't done that probably in years. After I compacted the database, performance returned to normal.

So, I have answered my own question, but thought this might be worthwhile to share with others who may also have forgotten about this feature (to be found under "Database | Manage database | Compact").