LSC 508 Assignment:
Database Project
Summer 2005 - Kate Cheromcha
Description and Users
Design and Projected Size
Software Usability and Security
Discussion of Results
Students in the course LSC 508 Information Science and Technology are responsible for locating, reading and annotating relevant articles in the professional literature. These individual lists are to be compiled into a single database, using a database management system. The result will be a valuable resource, providing information on a variety of topics related to the discipline, study and application of information science within the field of librarianship.
Primary users will be the students; other users may be instructors, professional librarians, information systems designers and developers and researchers in this field.
The database permits searching by author, article title, journal title, publication year and class topic words. This database project report discusses the database design and the software tool used in its creation, and provides examples of database search results.
Design and Projected Size
Using Microsoft's Access software, a small database was created which comprised of one table and one data entry form. These two objects (Access term) can be used to create queries (requests for information from the database) and database reports (products of the query). Annotations are written in APA style. The data entry form was designed to follow that format. Annotations can be considered to consist of several fields; each field is represented on the data entry form. As an entry is completed for each field on the form, it is simultaneously entered into the matching field in the table.
Annotation Entry Form:
The screenshot below illustrates the form used to enter the annotations into the database itself. Each blank space in this form corresponds to a table row. When the annotation is saved, Access
stores the field information in the pre-established, corresponding Annotation Table.
Annotation Table:
The screenshot below illustrates a portion of the Annotation Table layout
as it was created for the database, using Microsoft Access:
Annotation Record:
The chart below lists each field by name, the type of data entered (alpha or numeric), the description of each field,the reason each field is included in the database and the maximum size in bytes of each field. This last column will be used to calculate the maximum size of each annotation record being entered. From this, the size of the database after five years can be calculated and hardware with sufficient storage capacity can be purchased.
| Field | Type |
Description | Reason For Data Field |
Length |
| Annot ID | N | Auto-Sequence Number | Unique identification number | 6 |
| Student code | N | Unique student ID code | Enables students to access own annotations | 10 |
| Author 1 | A | Last, First Init, Middle Init | Enables searching by author name. | 15 |
| Author 2 | A | Last, First Init, Middle Init | Enables searching by author name. | 15 |
| Author 3 | A | Last, First Init, Middle Init | Enables searching by author name. | 15 |
| Author 4 | A | Last, First Init, Middle Init | Enables searching by author name. | 15 |
| Year | N | Publication year | Identifies article publication year | 4 |
| Article | A | Title of Article | Identifies article by title | 240 |
| Journal | A | Journal Title | Identifies article location by source journal | 60 |
| Volume | N | Volume number | Identifies article location within source journal | 5 |
| Issue | N | Issue Issue number | Identifies article location within journal volume | 5 |
| Pages | N | Page range | Identifies article location within journal volume | 10 |
| Annotation | A | Article Description | Provides brief description of article contents | 600 |
| Topic Word 1 | A | Related course topic | Enables searching by topic | 25 |
| Topic Word 2 | A | Related course topic | Enables searching by topic | 25 |
| URL | A | WWW address | Identifies electronic resource location | 50 |
Record Size in Bytes: |
1100 |
Estimated Size of Annotation Database
Calculated database size: five year projection
|
The total byte size of this project's database (9,850,000) equals 9.85 MB, which personal computers produced in 2005, can easily accommodate. My own laptop computer came with 512 MB of Random Access Memory (RAM) which is more than sufficient to not only contain the entire five-year database, but also to run the Access software.
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Software Usability and Security
Microsoft Access was used
for this database project. As to be expected with such a powerful program, it can be overwhelming for a novice user. I would strongly recommend that new users take time to first learn the vocabulary of this database program and then to practice with the tutorials available with the program and online.
In general, I have found Microsoft's Help which accompanies their software to be more useful for experienced users. I located two online tutorials that were more suited for this novice user. The best one was available through James Madison University at:http://www.jmu.edu/computing/ittraining/tutorials/microsoft/access/index.shtml#reports
Security is the primary concern and component of any database, from my tiny example to massive databases such as ScienceDirect, which must maintain its integrity despite multiple users - whether they are entering or accessing the information. It is a multi-facted issue. The physical components that store the database must be protected against damage and destruction. The information itself must be regarded and treated as a valuable commodity - which means that physical transfer of the "containers" is best done via armored car, rather than regular UPS delivery, as Citigroup recently tried unsuccessfully to do. Finally, electronic access must be controlled and protected from unauthorized entry. I don't have the knowledge to discuss all the various ways and means that companies should and must use to protect the valuable commodity, but I did learn in a URI short course that many different types of security provide the best chance for overall protection of the system.
If this database were an actual component of the WebCT class, students would have logged in with their unique user name and password to WebCT in order both to enter their annotations and access the database information. When I created the data entry form, I set limits that will help insure that the information is entered into the correct field. In addition, every student has a unique alpha/numeric ID number that will identify their individual entries, if an annotation seems to be incorrect or inconsistent.
The value of a database program becomes apparent when the information must be retrieved for some specific purpose. Maintaining a collection of annotations to which students add on an ongoing basis might be termed a database. However, it is one thing to review seven or eight annotations for one specific entry; it is a daunting task to review that same database after five years, without the organizing and retrieval functions that a database program provides.
When attempting to extract information from this database, I realized that it was necessary to "think like a computer". By that I mean it was necessary to think in small, incremental and logical steps - the way a computer "thinks". Access is a powerful database program, but it is not an intuitive program - it cannot respond to an information need unless the user has prepared both the request for information and the program to respond to the request. It was necessary to understand the difference between Query and Report; that I first must create a query to extract the needed information and then to determine the format for the report of that information.
The screenshots below illustrate two queries. The first retrieved all eight annotations - the entire database. With a database of eight annotations, there is no problem, but users should not have to retrieve the entire database in order to review the information. Queries can be filtered (Access term) in order to permit retrieval of only selected records. The second screenshot shows the results of a filtered database query which requested only record with "education" as the first topic word. Interestingly, I was first attempting to retrieve records with the topic word "information systems" without any success. Eventually I realized that I had placed "information systems" in the second topic word, but had designed the query to retrieve only the first topic word. The computer "thought like a computer" and did not retrieve my requested topic word, even though it was in the database, because it did not search outside of the specified fields.
Unfiltered query retrieves entire database:
Filtered query (topic word 1: education) retrieves selected records:
Reports present the information requested according to specifics that are set by the user. From this database, three reports, submitted in hard copy, were generated:
Report of Output Query: The instructor wishes to check on how many annotations each student has submitted to date. Student code, publication year, journal title and page range were specified for inclusion.
Reports of Topic query: The student wishes to locate articles that address the topic "information systems". Through trial and error, the student realizes that "information systems" must be specified in topic word 2. The student then searches again, requesting that topic word 1 entries also be included.
Report of Annotations Query: The student wishes a printout of the entire database (eventually impractical).
With Access, it is possible to construct queries that draw data from two or more tables, prompt users for certain criteria each time, exclude some fields but include others, etc. in order to produce reports that are customized to the user's information needs. This, of course, is exactly what a database management system is supposed to do and which is largely invisible to the users.
This project was an opportunity to become the architect of an information collection. Even using an established database software program and a defined source and type of information, I still had to make many decisions about the eventual structure of this database, in order to benefit the users. In essence, I acted as the intermediary between what the users would want and how the database management system can respond. Users approach the database with questions but a computer responds to commands. It is the primary task of the system designer to create an interface that accommodates both. Even this rudimentary effort underscored the importance of this.
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