• The database approach to data management provides

significant advantages over the traditional file-based

approach

• Define general data management concepts and terms,

highlighting the advantages and disadvantages of the
database approach to data management
• Describe the relational database model and outline its basic
features

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 2

• A well-designed and well-managed database is an
extremely valuable tool in supporting decision making

• Identify the common functions performed by all database

management systems and identify popular end-user
database management systems

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 3

• The number and types of database applications will
continue to evolve and yield real business benefits

• Identify and briefly discuss current database applications

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 4

 Introduction

• Database management system (DBMS): group of

programs that manipulate database and provide interface
between database and users

• Database administrator (DBA): a skilled information

systems professional who directs all activities related to
organization’s database

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 5

Data Management: The Hierarchy of Data

• A bit (a binary digit) represents a circuit that is either on

or off

• A byte is typically 8 bits

• Character: each byte represents a character, the basic

building block of information

• Field: typically a name, number, or combination of

characters that describes an aspect of a business object or
activity

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 6

 The Hierarchy of Data (continued)

• Record: a collection of related data fields

• File: a collection of related records

• Database: a collection of integrated and related files

• Hierarchy of data: formed by bits, characters, fields,

records, files, and databases

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 7

 Figure 5.1: The Hierarchy of Data

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 8

 Data Entities, Attributes, and Keys

• Entity: a generalized class of people, places, or things

(objects) for which data is collected, stored, and
maintained
• Attribute: a characteristic of an entity
• Data item: the specific value of an attribute
• Key: a field or set of fields in a record that is used to
identify the record
• Primary key: a field or set of fields that uniquely
identifies the record

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 9

 Figure 5.2: Keys and Attributes

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 10

 The Traditional Approach Versus the
Database Approach
• Traditional approach: separate data files are created and
stored for each application program
• Results in data redundancy: duplication of data in separate
files
• Data redundancy conflicts with data integrity (the degree to
which the data in any one file is accurate)
• Database approach: approach whereby a pool of related
data is shared by multiple application programs; offers
significant advantages over traditional file-based approach

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 11

 Figure 5.3: The Traditional Approach to
Data Management

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 12

 Figure 5.4: The Database Approach to
Data Management

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 13

 Table 5.1: Advantages of the
Database Approach

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 14

 Table 5.1: Advantages of the Database
Approach (continued)

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 15

 Table 5.2: Disadvantages of the
Database Approach

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 16

 Data Modeling and the Relational
Database Model
• When building a database, an organization must consider:
• Content: What data should be collected and at what cost?
• Access: What data should be provided to which users and
when?
• Logical structure: How should data be arranged so that it
makes sense to a given user?
• Physical organization: Where should data be physically
located?

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 17

 Data Modeling

• Building a database requires two types of designs:

• Logical design: shows an abstract model of how the data

should be structured and arranged to meet an organization’s
information needs

• Physical design: starts from the logical database design

and fine-tunes it for performance and cost considerations

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 18

 Data Modeling (continued)

• Data model: a diagram of data entities and their

relationships

• Entity-relationship (ER) diagrams: data models that

use basic graphical symbols to show the organization of
and relationships between data

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 19

 Figure 5.5: An Entity-Relationship (ER)
Diagram for a Customer Order Database

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 20

 The Relational Database Model

• Relational model: describes data in which all data

elements are placed in two-dimensional tables, called
relations, that are the logical equivalent of files

• In the relational model:

• Each row of a table represents a data entity

• Columns of the table represent attributes

• Domain: the allowable values for data attributes

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 21

Figure 5.6: A Relational Database Model

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 22

 Manipulating Data

• Selecting: eliminates rows according to certain criteria

• Projecting: eliminates columns in a table

• Joining: combines two or more tables

• Linking: combines two or more tables using common

data attributes to form a new table with only the unique
data attributes

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 23

 Database Management Systems
(DBMS)
• A group of programs used as an interface between a
database and application programs or a database and user

• Database types

• Flat file

• Single user

• Multiple users

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 24

 Providing a User View

• Schema: a description of the entire database

• User view: the portion of the database a user can access

• Subschemas are used to create different user views

• Subschema: a file that contains a description of a subset

of the database and identifies which users can view and
modify the data items in the subset

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 25

 Figure 5.10: The Use of Schemas
and Subschemas

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 26

 Creating and Modifying the Database

• Data definition language (DDL)

• A collection of instructions and commands used to define

and describe data and data relationships in a specific
database

• Allows the database’s creator to describe the data and the

data relationships that are to be contained in the schema
and subschemas

• Data dictionary: a detailed description of all the data

used in the database
Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 27
 Figure 5.11: Using a Data Definition
Language to Define a Schema

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 28

 Figure 5.12: A Typical Data
Dictionary Entry

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 29

 Storing and Retrieving Data

• When an application program request data from DBMS,

the application program follows a logical access path

• When the DBMS goes to a storage device to retrieve the

requested data, it follows a path to the physical location
(physical access path) where the data is stored

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 30

Figure 5.13: Logical and Physical Access
Paths

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 31

 Manipulating Data and
Generating Reports
• Data manipulation language (DML): the commands
that are used to manipulate the data in a database

• Structured Query Language (SQL): adopted by the

American National Standards Institute (ANSI) as the
standard query language for relational databases

• Once a database has been set up and loaded with data, it

can produce reports, documents, and other outputs

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 32

Table 5.6: Examples of SQL Commands

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 33

 Popular Database Management
Systems
• Popular DBMSs for end users include Microsoft’s Access
and Corel’s Paradox
• The complete database management software market
includes databases by IBM, Oracle, and Microsoft
• Examples of open-source database systems: PostgreSQL
and MySQL
• Many traditional database programs are now available on
open-source operating systems

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 34

 Selecting a Database Management
System

• Important characteristics of databases to consider:

• Size of the database

• Number of concurrent users

• Performance

• The ability of the DBMS to be integrated with other

systems

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 35

 Selecting a Database Management
System (continued)

• Important characteristics of databases to consider

(continued):

• Features of the DBMS

• Vendor considerations

• Cost of the system

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 36

 Database Applications: Linking the
Company Database to the Internet
• Corporate databases can be accessed by customers,
suppliers, and company employees through:
• The Internet
• Intranets
• Extranets
• Semantic Web: a seamless integration of traditional
databases with the Internet

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 37

 Data Warehouses, Data Marts, and
Data Mining
• Data warehouse: a database that collects business
information from many sources in the enterprise, covering
all aspects of the company’s processes, products, and
customers

• Data mart: a subset of a data warehouse

• Data mining: an information-analysis tool that involves

the automated discovery of patterns and relationships in a
data warehouse

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 38

 Figure 5.17: Elements of a
Data Warehouse

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 39

 Table 5.8: Common Data-Mining
Applications

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 40

 Business Intelligence

• Business intelligence (BI): the process of gathering

enough of the right information in a timely manner and
usable form and analyzing it to have a positive impact on
business strategy, tactics, or operations

• Knowledge management: the process of capturing a

company’s collective expertise wherever it resides and
distributing it wherever it can help produce the biggest
payoff

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 41

 Distributed Databases

• Distributed database
• A database in which the data may be spread across several
smaller databases connected via telecommunications
devices
• Corporations get more flexibility in how databases are
organized and used

• Replicated database: a database that holds a duplicate

set of frequently used data

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 42

 Online Analytical Processing (OLAP)

• Software that allows users to explore data from a number

of different perspectives

Table 5.9: Comparison of OLAP and Data Mining

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 43

 Open Database Connectivity (ODBC)

• Standards that ensure that software can be used with any

ODBC-compliant database

• Can be used to export, import, or link tables between

different applications

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 44

 Figure 5.19: Advantages of ODBC

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 45

Object-Oriented and Object-Relational
Database Management Systems

• Object-oriented database

• Stores both data and its processing instructions

• Method: a procedure or action

• Message: a request to execute or run a method

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 46

 Object-Oriented and Object-Relational
Database Management Systems
(continued)
• Object-oriented database management system
(OODBMS): group of programs that manipulate an
object-oriented database and provide a user interface and
connections to other application programs

• Object-relational database management system

(ORDBMS): DBMS capable of manipulating audio,
video, and graphical data

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 47

 Summary
• Hierarchy of data: bits, characters, fields, records, files,
and databases
• Entity: a generalized class of things (objects) for which
data is collected, stored, and maintained
• Attribute: characteristic of an entity
• Data model: diagram of entities and relationships
• Relational model: describes data in which all elements
are placed in two-dimensional tables called relations

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 48

 Summary (continued)

• Selecting: eliminates rows according to certain criteria

• Projecting: eliminates columns in a table
• Database management system (DBMS): group of
programs used as an interface
• Between a database and application programs
• Database and the user
• Data dictionary: detailed description of all the data used
in the database

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 49

 Summary (continued)

• Data warehouse: database that collects business

information from all aspects of a company’s processes,
products, and customers

• Data mining: an information-analysis tool for the

automated discovery of patterns and relationships in a
data warehouse

• Open database connectivity (ODBC) standards: ensure

that software can be used with any ODBC-compliant
database

Principles of Information Systems, Seventh Edition 50