MYOD - Make Your Own Database - a tutorial by Cindy O'Hora

Planning Begin Define Fields Radio buttons Pop-up Menu Date Value List Checkbox Number Summary Grand Summary Sort & Page view Data Entry Loverly Layout New View Find Find by date Calculating Radio Buttons Harnessing

Databases are incredibly useful when you are organizing a large set of information or things. Many people use them to organize names, addresses and phone numbers in an address book. A computer based database can go farther than its paper-based counterpart. If I add birth dates to an address book in a computer database, I can easily Find all the birthdays in a specific month. I can sort them in chronological order. I can even have the computer tell me how old the person is which is definitely a plus as my list of nieces and nephews grows. This lesson will show you the basics of making one to organize a science fair. You'll need: A computer, AppleWorks 6 installed (You can use other database software like AppleWorks 5 or Filemaker), an upcoming science fair or your imagination. Step 1. Plan your database. I know you are anxious to get creating. A little forethought can save you much grief later. Sadly, it is often only through experience that one learns this lesson. We'll invest a few moments brainstorming our database to give direction to its creation. To identify the records and fields for your database, consider the information your are requesting of the participants. In our example, each individual participant will be a record. Typical fields: Name, address, phone, grade, gender, school, teacher/advisor, project name, category (I'll explain this one when we make this field). Other data: Entry date, fee paid, paper work received, ranking/award. In the long run, you will be better served, if you break out the data in unique fields. Name info should be: Title (Mrs, Ms, Mr, Sir, Dr.), a first name field and a last name field. BEGIN

Database Internet Hunt

Harnessing Databases

Harnessing online databases 2

Database Activity - vocabulary

Database - organizing

AppleWorks database tips

Pennsylvania Academic Standards:

Science and Technology 3.7. Technological Devices -
7 C. Explain and demonstrate basic computer operations and concepts. Know specialized computer applications used in the community.

7 D. Apply computer software to solve specific problems. Apply intermediate skills in utilizing database software.

10 D. Utilize computer software to solve specific problems. Select and apply software designed to meet specific needs