IN TR O D U C TIO N TO

D ATA B A S E M A N A G EM EN T

A database is an organized collection ofrelated

inform ation

Manual Database
Might be found on top of someones desk
May be difficult to sort
Manually find the record and physically

make changes

Electronic database
Might be found in your cell phone
Sorted easily
Electronically find the record and enter the

new over the old.

Electronic databases contain at least 1 table

Tables have columns and rows

Each column is called a field
The field name FName has field contents of
Jane and John
Each row is called a record
There are 2 records in this table
All of the information in the first record
belongs to Jane Do
FNam
e

LNam
e

Street

City

State

Zip

Jane

Do

123 Any
Street

Here

NM

12345

John

Does

124 Main

There

IL

21345

O ther exam ples

Rolodex on a desk

(manual)
Your contact list in
your cell phone
(electronic)
What database have
you heard discussed
often at school?
iNow (STI)

iN ow
iNow is the database where teachers
Post attendance
Enter grades

Teachers can only see/enter specific

information according to their user

names and passwords
When I log in, I see my only MY
classes

H ere are som e possible tables and fi

eldnam es
in iN ow

tblClassOfferin
g

tblStudents
StudentID
FirstName

ClassOfferingID
ClassName

tblClassEnrollm
ent
EnrollmentID
StudentID

In this exam ple,these fi

eld nam es could be
joined creating a RELATIO N AL D ATABASE
because the fi
eld contents are the sam e.
tblClassOfferin
g

tblStudents
StudentID
FirstName

ClassOfferingID
ClassName

tblClassEnrollm
ent
EnrollmentID
StudentID

Icould pullout the Students nam e,

the identifi
cation num bers ofthe classes
he/she is enrolled in,and the classesnam es
w ith one Q UERY.
tblClassOfferin
g

tblStudents
StudentID
FirstName

ClassOfferingID
ClassName

tblClassEnrollm
ent
EnrollmentID
StudentID

a
s

t
a
h
W
?
?
?
?
?
y
r
que

Q ueries
A query is an object in a

database
To query a database is
to question it (ask a
question)
Query a database to pull
out specific information

Report
A report is another Database Object
A database report may be nicely

formatted for printing

A report can be generated from
A table
In alphabetically order by any chosen field
A query

With only specific fields showing

With all fields showing
In any order specified

In Sum m ary
Databases contain:
At least 1 table
Fields (column titles)
Field contents (columns)
Records (rows)
Queries (possibly)
Reports (possibly)

The Database Management System

you will work with is MS Office

Access 2007