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The literature on database design most often deals with processes for well-structured organizations. In contrast, this book provides a step-by-step approach to the development of the conceptual scheme for systems that do not yet exist, and in which the process of information flow has not been worked out. It shows how to analyze data that at first seems chaotic and disorganized to achieve a highly structured, useful data representation: a data dictionary. Using the Entity-Relationship model, it gives thorough instructions on procedures for integrating individual sections, or individual databases, into a coherent system. To prepare for data collection, it demonstrates how to establish a system of rules that determine the representation of each item so that conflicts between data as they appear in the real world and as they should be recorded in the database are resolved. Also offered is a set of criteria for evaluating the database scheme.

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CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION = 1
 The Significance of a Conceptual Approach = 1
 Databases, Their Enterprise and Environments = 5
 Levels of Design = 9
 Internal Level = 9
 External Level = 10
 Conceptual Level = 11
 Manual and Computerized Databases = 13
 The Conceptual Schema = 14
 Summary = 16
 Reference = 17
2. METHODS OF COLLECTING USER REQUIREMENTS = 19
 Selection of a User Sample = 20
 Sampling Structured Environments = 22
 Sampling Unstructured Environments = 34
 Requirements Collection = 37
 Summary = 40
 Reference = 42
3. REQUIREMENTS ANALYSIS = 43
 Classification of Sentences = 44
 The Interview with Mr. S = 46
 The Answer of Ms. W = 54
 The Observation of Mr. R = 55
 Pitfalls in Requirements Analysis = 59
 Requirements That Are Not Stated Clearly = 59
 Requirements That Are Stated Incompletely = 60
 Requirements Stated in Terms of Existing Databases = 61
 Summary = 63
 Reference = 64
4. DATA AND OPERATIONS DICTIONARIES = 65
 The Data Dictionary = 67
 The Name of an Item of Data = 68
 The Code of an Item of Data = 71
 The Environment of an Item of Data = 72
 The Description of an Item of Data = 73
 The Source of an Item of Data = 79
 The Relationships among Items of Data = 79
 The Operations Dictionary = 82
 The Constraints Dictionary = 86
 Summary = 86
5. THE ENTITY-RELATIONSHIP MODEL = 91
 Entities = 92
 Relationships = 94
 Attributes = 99
 Entities, Relationships, and Attributes = 100
 Focal Entities = 102
 An Instance of an Entity = 102
 Establishing Relationships = 107
 Multiple-Entity Relationships = 109
 Entities versus Attributes = 112
 Divided Attributes = 116
 Summary = 117
 Reference = 118
6. THE INTEGRATION OF SCHEMATA = 119
 Conflict Resolution = 122
 Conflicts between Names = 123
 Conflicts between Definitions = 124
 Conflicts in Inclusion = 135
 Diagram Management = 137
 Data Dictionary Update = 138
 Summary = 143
 References = 145
7. PREPARATION FOR DATA COLLECTION = 147
 Entity Identifier = 148
 Attribute Values and Domain = 153
 The Purpose of Rules = 154
 Rules for Occurrence = 158
 Rules for Cardinality = 160
 Rules for Authorized Sources = 163
 General Rules = 165
 Lack of Authorized Sources = 166
 Multiple Authorized Sources = 167
 Establishing Entities, Relationships, and Attributes = 167
 Elaboration Rules = 168
 Fuzzy Entities, Relationships, or Attributes = 170
 Borderline Cases = 175
 Rules for Domains = 177
 General Rules = 177
 Fuzzy Domains = 180
 Data Dictionary Entries = 183
 Data Dictionary Entries for Entities = 183
 Data Dictionary Entries for Relationships = 185
 Data Dictionary Entries for Attributes = 188
 Summary = 192
 Reference = 194
8. EVALUATION = 195
 Rigorous Design = 197
 Intrinsicality = 198
 Reliability = 199
 Representability = 201
 Continuance = 202
 Resolution = 204
 Consistency = 204
 Quality Features = 206
 Flexibility = 206
 Clarity = 208
 Efficiency = 210
 Semantic Integrity = 211
 Completeness = 212
 Specificity = 213
 Domain Specificity = 214
 Domain Expressiveness = 215
 Trade-Offs = 216
 Data Dictionary = 217
 Summary = 219
 Reference = 221
GLOSSARY = 223
INDEX = 229