COMM 226

Database and content management

Chitu OkoliAssociate Professor in Business Technology ManagementJohn Molson School of Business, Concordia University, Montréal

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What is content?

• Content is related to intellectual property– a form of creative endeavour that can

be protected through a trademark, patent, copyright, industrial design, or integrated circuit topography

• Varies by industry• Organizations may store data,

documents, spreadsheets, presentations, web pages, text from blogs, Twitter, or discussion boards, graphics, video files and video logs, audio files, etc.

What Is the purpose of a database?

• A database is a self-describing collection of integrated records

• A database keeps track of things• Many professionals use

spreadsheets • Spreadsheets

– Keep lists of single concepts• Databases

– Keep lists that involve multiple themes

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Why use a database instead of a spreadsheet?

http://youtu.be/yeVHLTkIXB8

Spreadsheet (not a database)

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Information Systems Today: Why IS Matters – 2nd Canadian Edition, by Jessup, Valacich, and Wade, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-174039-6.

Normalized database

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Information Systems Today: Why IS Matters – 2nd Canadian Edition, by Jessup, Valacich, and Wade, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-174039-6.

Components of a Database

• Database is a collection of tables plus relationships among the rows in those tables plus metadata– describes the structure of the database

Hierarchy of Data Elements

File Organization Terminology

Bit: Binary digiIT (0 or 1)Byte: 8 bits, representing a

character (A-Z, 0-1, @#$%^&*, etc.)

Field/Attribute: group of characters representing a characteristic

Record: group of related fields, each of which describes a single entity (a person, place, thing, event)

File/table: group of related records

Database: group of related files/tables

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Information Systems Today: Why IS Matters – 2nd Canadian Edition, by Jessup, Valacich, and Wade, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-174039-6.

Metadata• Databases are self-describing

– Collection of integrated records– Contains, within itself, a description of its contents

• Metadata– Data that describe data – Makes databases more useful than spreadsheets– Makes databases easier to use

Components of a Database Application System

• Database– Collection of files that actually store and organize the data

• Database Management System (DBMS)– Software that manipulates (create, read, edit, delete) data in

the database (e.g. Microsoft Access, Oracle database)– The DBMS and database can be distinct (e.g. Oracle

database vs. Oracle SQL Developer), but they are often combined in one system (e.g. Microsoft Access)

• Database application– Any software that connects to a database (e.g. SAP)

Relationships Among Records

• Values in one table may relate to rows in other table(s)

• Keys (normally called “primary keys”)– Column(s) that identify unique row in

table– Each table has a key

• Foreign keys– Keys in a different table than the one

in which they reside• Relational database

– Databases using tables, keys, and foreign keys

Example of Relationships among Rows

Forms, Reports, and Queries

• Form– Used to create, edit and delete data (it also needs to

read the data to be able to modify it)• Report

– Used to display data in specified structured format– Only reads data; never modifies any data

• Query– A database command from the user to the database– Usually used to get answers from database data

(read-only)– Also used to modify data

Sources

• Most of the slides are adapted from COMM 226 Business Technology Management by David M. Kroenke, Andrew Gemino, Peter Tingling, and Earl H. McKinney, Jr. 2nd Custom Edition for Concordia University (2014) published by Pearson Canada. ISBN 13: 978-1-269-96956-7

• Some slides and images are taken from Information Systems Today: Why IS Matters – 2nd Canadian Edition, by Jessup, Valacich, and Wade, Prentice Hall, ISBN 0-13-174039-6.

• Other sources are noted on the slides themselves

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