THE DATABASE

CONCEPT
OBJECTIVE:
1. LEARN TO UNDERSTAND THE BASIC
CONCEPT OF DATABASE.
WHAT IS A DATABASE, ANYWAY?
A large collection of data that is
organized and used on a
computer.
A program that stores
information, such as names,
addresses, and phone numbers,
or inventory part numbers,
shipping dates, customer codes,
and any other type of information
that you think is worth saving.
HOW A DATABASE WORK?
• To help you store information in a database, Office 2013
comes with the Access database program.
• Access provides two huge advantages over storing
information on paper.
1. It can store literally billions of chunks of information.
2. Makes it easy to search and sort through your
information in the blink of an eye.
Three Main Advantages of a computer database
over a paper database are:
Massive Storage
• The largest computer database can fit on a hard drive, but a paper database may
take a roomful of file cabinets.

Fast retrieval
• Searching for a single name in a computer database is fast and easy. Doing the same
thing in a paper database is difficult, error prone, and nearly impossible with a large
database.

Reporting
• A report can help you make sense out of your data, such as showing a list of
customers who earn a certain amount of money and live in a specific area. Trying to
find this information in a paper database is time-consuming and error-prone.
A typical Access database file consists of several parts:
Fields Records Tables

• A field contains a • A record consists of • A table displays

single chunk of one or more fields. records in rows and
information, such A business card is a columns, much like
as name, street paper version of a a spreadsheet.
address, or phone database record Tables group
number. that stores fields related records,
(name, address, such as records of
phone number, and all your customers
so on) about a or records of all
single person your invoices.
(record).
A typical Access database file consists of several parts:
Forms Queries Reports

• : A form displays all • A query lets you • A report arranges

the fields of a single retrieve certain your data in a
record onscreen, information based certain way, such as
mimicking a paper on your criteria, showing all
form, so that you such as only customers who
can add, edit, or retrieving names placed more than
view a single and addresses of 1,000 orders last
record at a time. people who earn year or all
more than $50,000 a customers who live
year and have within a certain zip
children. code.
Access is known as a relational
database.
This means that you can store data in separate
tables and link or “relate” them together to avoid
duplicating data in multiple tables. One table may
contain customer names and addresses while a
separate, related table may contain those same
customers’ purchase orders.