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IST 349
Chapter 6 Concepts

What is the structure of a relational database?
Tables, records, fields.

What is a primary key?
A special field in a table that contains unique identifiers – no duplication of values
allowed. An example of such a field would be “Social Security Number”

What type of a foreign key?
A field that appears in a table that is a primary key in another table. This field allows you
to “look up” information in another table.

What is a relationship in a database?
Tables in a database may be related to each other through common fields. The
relationship may be: one-to-one, one-to-many, and many-to-many.

What is a one-to-many relationship in a database?
One record in the first table is related to many records in the second table.

What is normalization?
The process of streamlining complex groups of data to minimize redundant data and
reduce awkward many-to-many relationships.

What are some database management systems for large mainframe and midrange
computers?
DB2, Oracle, Microsoft SQL

In creating a database system using DBMS software, there are two steps in the creation
process. What are these two steps?
Describe each field and its characteristics (name, size, type, etc.) in the tables and enter
data into the tables.

What is SQL?
Structured Query Language. A language in which one defines a query. In Access, this is
done through a graphical interface. Other database systems use SQL.

What is a data warehouse?
A database that stores current as well as historical data from throughout the company.
The data originates from many different operational areas within the business and may
come from different databases and be in different formats.

What is data mining?
Data mining is a sophisticated query system that finds hidden patterns and relationships
among the data. The information obtainable from data mining include: associations,
sequences, classifications, clustering, and forecasting.

Explain how databases and the web interact.
We may visit a company’s web site and check availability and pricing of a certain
product. The customer accesses the company’s web server. The company’s web server, in
turn, is connected to the company database server. See Figure 6.14

What is an “information policy”?
The ‘information policy” of a company identifies which users can share which
information, where information can be distributed, and who is responsible for updating
and maintaining the information.

Why is data quality so important to a business?
Inaccurate data can create serious operational and financial problems for a company. It is
estimated that 25 percent of the critical data in large Fortune 1000 companies’ databases
is inaccurate. Correcting these errors can lead to increased revenue.
Case Studies
Business Intelligence Helps the Cincinnati Zoo Know Its Customers
Main Point: The Cincinnati Zoo found that they did not know much about their customers –
people who visited the zoo. To correct this situation, a new information system including a data
warehouse was implemented that could provide reporting of information. The new system
allowed management to make better decisions about operations and this led to a dramatic
increase in food and retail sales.
American Water keeps Data Flowing
American Water is the largest public water utility in the United States. Until recently their
business processes were very localized, some even manual, and over time they became hard to
manage. The individual systems were not integrated. Hence it was difficult to combine data from
the separate systems. The company decided to implement a single integrated software system for
all the different systems. The company is in the process of implementing a centralized data
warehouse repository to hold all the company’s data.
Does Big Data Bring big Rewards?