This course is intended for students with limited experience of database systems (such as Access or FileMaker) who are interested in developing more sophisticated databases. Students will learn the general principles of the relational database model.

The conceptual content of this course in not specific to any software application. However Microsoft Access is used to perform queries. Accordingly, some familiarity with data tables and basic knowledge of how to create queries in Microsoft Access would be a benefit.

Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to:

• understand the terminology used in reference to relational databases and be familiar with the design process.
• identify data as fields, group fields into tables, select key fields, and identify table relationships.
• identify data problems and apply data normalization techniques to solve them.
• use referential integrity and other data integrity techniques to support the accuracy of data in the database.
• use criteria and operators and perform appropriate table joins in queries.
• understand basic SQL queries and techniques for improving the performance of queries.

We also offer a course in SQL programming for those who wish to explore this subject in greater depth.

Course Contents

Lesson 1: Introduction to Relational Databases

• The Basics of Relational Databases
• Planning the Database

Lesson 2: Designing Tables

• Deciding on Tables and Fields
• Selecting Primary Key Fields
• Identifying Table Relationships
• More on Keys and Relationships

Lesson 3: Data Normalization

• Solving Data Problems
• Higher Normal Forms

Lesson 4: Data Integrity

• Referential Integrity
• Field-level Integrity
• Table-level Integrity
• Reviewing and Finalizing the Database Design

Lesson 5: Query Basics

• Performing Queries
• Multiple Table Queries

Lesson 6: More on Queries

• Other Types of Queries
• SQL
• Optimizing Query Performance