Information Systems

Data, Databases, and Database Management ◾ 155

title of the major, updating all applicable students’ records automatically, and to store addi-

tional information about the major if we wish.

Does this change complicate the database by adding a table? Yes. Does it slow down

retrieving information about majority of students who only have one major—here James,

Puri, and Wu? Yes. Is it worth it, in terms of reducing database errors? Almost always,

also yes.

You’ll learn more about normalization if you go on to study database management. For

now, it’s enough to understand that it means giving a database a clean, correct structure.

Where you t in