Background: Learners of database courses usually encounter difficulties in building entity-relationship (ER) models and relational models for database problems. These difficulties may arise because of semantic gaps between the stages of database design. To investigate this issue, we employed semantic network theory--particularly the concept of…

Many nonprofit organizations rely upon volunteers and fundraising events to supplement their operating budgets. Unfortunately, these budgets are often so tight that they do not allow for supplemental purchases beyond daily operations. Many nonprofit organizations would love to have volunteer help who could create software to meet their specific…

With almost all MLIS and similar degree programs having a required course covering database design, it is critical to develop curriculum that engages students in learning essential concepts and how to implement designs. We report on a project that explored how essential knowledge about database design can be taught effectively through experiential…

Continuing to fill the literature gap, this research replicated and expands a prior study of student performance in database normalization in an introductory database course. The data was collected from four different universities, each having different prerequisite courses for their database course. Student performance on a database normalization…

With the growing entrepreneurial spirit and ease of selling items online, many people are turning to virtual marketplaces to earn extra income or, in some instances, build a career. This case focuses upon the development of a database to assist in inventory management for an online reselling business that has grown from an occasional hobby to a…