Database Design for Mere Mortals™: A Hands-On Guide to Relational Database Design, Second Edition

Defining a Mission Statement and Mission Objectives

The first phase in the database-design process involves defining a mission statement and mission objectives for the database. The mission statement establishes the purpose of the database and provides you with a distinct focus for your design work.

Every database is created for a specific purpose, whether it's to solve a specific business problem, to manage the daily transactions of a business or organization, or to be used as part of an information system. You identify the purpose of your database and define it within a mission statement. This will help ensure that you develop an appropriate database structure and that you collect the data necessary to support the intended purpose of the ...