A course in database management has become well established as a required course in both undergraduate and graduate management information systems degree programs. This is as it should be, considering the central position of the database field in the information systems environment. Indeed, a solid understanding of the fundamentals of database management is crucial for success in the information systems field. An IS professional should be able to talk to the users in a business setting, ask the right questions about the nature of their entities, their attributes, and the relationships among them, and quickly decide whether their existing data and database designs are properly structured or not. An IS professional should be able to design new databases with confidence that they will serve their owners and users well. An IS professional should be able to guide a company in the best use of the various database-related technologies.
Over the years, at the same time that database management has increased in importance, it has also increased tremendously in breadth. In addition to such fundamental topics as data modeling, relational database concepts, logical and physical database design, and SQL, a basic set of database topics today includes object-oriented databases, data administration, data security, distributed databases, data warehousing, and Web databases, among others. The dilemma faced by database instructors and by database books is to cover as much of this material as is reasonably possible so that students will come away with a solid background in the fundamentals without being overwhelmed by the tremendous breadth and depth of the field. Exposure to too much material in too short a time at the expense of developing a sound foundation is of no value to anyone. We believe that a one-semester course in database management should provide a firm grounding in the fundamentals of databases and provide a solid survey of the major database subfields, while deliberately not being encyclopedic in its coverage. With these goals in mind, this book:
It is important to reflect advances in the database management systems environment in this book as the world of information systems continues to progress. Furthermore, we want to continue adding materials for the benefit of the students who use this book. Thus we have made the following changes to the second edition.
The book effectively divides into two halves. After the introduction in Chapter 1, Chapters 2 lays the foundation of data modeling. Chapter 3 describes the fundamental concepts of databases and contrasts them with ordinary files. Importantly, this is done separately from and prior to the discussion of relational databases. Chapter 4 is the “mobile chapter” on data retrieval with SQL that can be covered as Chapter 4 or can be covered after the chapters on database design. Chapters 5 and 6 explain the major concepts of relational databases. In turn, this is done separately from and prior to the discussion of logical database design in Chapter 7 and physical database design (yes, a whole chapter on this subject) in Chapter 8. Separating out general database concepts from relational database concepts from relational database design serves to bring the student along gradually and deliberately with the goal of a solid understanding at the end.
Then, in the second half of the book, each chapter describes one or more of the major database subfields. These latter chapters are generally independent and for the most part can be approached in any order. They include Chapter 9 on object-oriented database, Chapter 10 on data administration, database administration, and data dictionaries, Chapter 11 on security, backup and recovery, and concurrency, Chapter 12 on client/server database and distributed database, Chapter 13 on the data warehouse, and Chapter 14 on database and the Internet.
The Web site includes several resources designed to aid the learning process:
Now available to educational institutions adopting this Wiley textbook is a free 3-year membership to the MSDN Academic Alliance. The MSDN AA is designed to provide the easiest and most inexpensive way for academic departments to make the latest Microsoft software available in labs, classrooms, and on student and instructor PCs.
Database software, including Access and SQL Server, is available through this Wiley and Microsoft publishing partnership, free of charge with the adoption of Gillenson's textbook. (Note that schools that have already taken advantage of this opportunity through Wiley are not eligible again, and Wiley cannot offer free membership renewals.) Each copy of the software is the full version with no time limitation, and can be used indefinitely for educational purposes. Contact your Wiley sales representative for details. For more information about the MSDN AA program, go to http://msdn.microsoft.com/academic.
I would like to thank the reviewers of the manuscript for their time, their efforts, and their insightful comments:
Paul Bergstein | University of Massachusetts Dartmouth |
Susan Bickford | Tallahassee Community College |
Jim Q. Chen | St. Cloud State University |
Shamsul Chowdhury | Roosevelt University |
Deloy Cole | Greenville College |
Terrence Fries | Indiana University of Pennsylvania |
Dick Grant | Seminole Community College |
Betsy Headrick | Chattanooga State Community College |
Shamim Khan | Columbus State University |
Barbara Klein | University of Michigan—Dearborn |
Karl Konsdorf | Sinclair Community College |
Yunkai Liu | Gannon University |
Margaret McClintock | Mississippi University for Women |
Thomas Mertz | Kansas State University |
Keith R. Nelms | Piedmont College |
Bob Nielson | Dixie State College |
Rachida F. Parks | Pennsylvania State University |
Lara Preiser-Houy | California State University Pomona |
Il-Yeol Song | Drexel University |
Brian West | Univeristy of Louisiana at Lafayette |
R. Alan Whitehurst | Southern Virginia University |
Diana Wolfe | Oklahoma State University at Oklahoma City |
Hong Zhou | Saint Joseph College |
In addition, I would like to acknowledge and thank several people who read and provided helpful comments on specific chapters and portions of the manuscript: Mark Cooper of FedEx Corp., Satish Puranam of the University of Memphis, David Tegarden of Virginia Tech, and Trent Sanders.
I would also like to thank the people and companies who agreed to participate in the Concepts in Action vignettes that appear at the beginning of each chapter and, in some cases, which appear later in the chapters. I strongly believe that business students should not have to study subjects like database management in a vacuum. Rather, they should be regularly reminded of the real ways in which real companies put these concepts and techniques to use. Whether the products involved are power tools, auto parts, toys, or books, it is important always to remember that database management supports businesses in which millions and billions of dollars are at stake every year. Thus, the people and companies who participated in these vignettes have significantly added to the educational experience that the students using this book.
Finally, I would like to thank the crew at John Wiley & Sons for their continuous support and professionalism, in particular Rachael Leblond, my editor for this edition of the book, and Beth Lang Golub, my long-time editor and friend, and her excellent staff.
Mark L. Gillenson
Memphis, TN
April 2011
3.142.156.235