This presentation was delivered as part of the Digital Humanities at Oxford Summer School in July 2016. It provides a general introduction to relational databases, including an overview of the benefits of this method of storing and structuring data, and a guide to designing a database structure. Some slides include further explanation in the notes pane: download a copy of the presentation to see these.

1. 8 July, 2016
An Introduction to
Relational Databases
Dr Meriel Patrick
Pamela Stanworth

2. STRUCTURING DATA
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3. Structuring data
 We all structure the information we work with
 So we can find what we need, when we need it
 To facilitate evaluation, comparison, and analysis
 Choosing the right structure is important
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Our research could be enhanced by having better
ways of storing information, because the way I
store my thoughts makes a difference to how I
use them when progressing in my thinking.
Philosophy research fellow

4. The structure you select influences…
 The kinds of information you collect
 How it’s possible to interrogate your data
 The extent to which you
can take advantage of
your computer’s
data-handling abilities
 How easy it is to share
data with others
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5. Options for structuring and analysing data
Tabular data
 Spreadsheets
 Microsoft Excel
 Google Sheets
 OpenOffice Calc
 Relational databases
 Microsoft Access
 FileMaker Pro
 MySQL
 PostgreSQL
Non-tabular data
 Document-orientated
databases
 Includes XML databases
 RDF triplestores
 Linked data on the Web
 Qualitative data analysis
packages
 NVivo
 ATLAS.ti
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6. When to use a relational database
 Your data can be organised in tabular form
 E.g. information about things that share common properties
 You are interested in multiple types of entity
 And the relationships between them
 Entities may be concrete or more abstract
 You want to identify instances of things that meet
certain criteria
 You want to be able to present one dataset in
multiple different ways
 Query results can be exported and used elsewhere
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7. Benefits of relational databases
 More accurate representation of complex data
 And helps avoid duplication of information
 Permits flexible querying
 Wider range of questions possible than with a spreadsheet
 Useful if you’re unsure which questions you’ll want to ask
 Suitable for collaborative use
 Multiple people can access and use the same database
 Can encourage (or enforce) consistency in data entry
 Technology has been around for several decades
 Widely supported and well understood
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8. AN EXAMPLE
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9. A table of bibliographic data
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10. A table of bibliographic data
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One author,
four different
name formats
One name,
two authors

11. We might try to clarify things…
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12. We might try to clarify things…
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But this involves
lots of repetition

13. We might try to clarify things…
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And may get
confusing and
unwieldy

14. An alternative approach
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Separate table for author details

15. An alternative approach
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16. An alternative approach
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17. Further possible refinements
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Publishers could
also be split out
into a separate
table

18. Further possible refinements
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We could create
a standardised
list of types

19. Further possible refinements
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We could distinguish
different editions of
the same title
The right relational
database structure
lets us do all this
and more

20. DESIGNING A DATABASE
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22. Database terms
 A database is a collection of data
 Data is organised into one or more tables
 Each row is a record
 Each column is a field Name Role Town
record 1 Peter farmer Oxford
record 2 Mary weaver Winche
record 3 Seth drover Bristol
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23. Decide on the fields
 Think of all the facts that will be collected
 plenty of fields
 consult widely
 small facts, “atomic”
 difficult to add later

24. Designing the tables
 Plan it on paper first
 Choose the fields, then group them in tables
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25. Designing the tables
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People
Surname Wilson Temple Sterling Elliott
First name Adam Thos Oliver Justin
Middle initial(s) T G J K W
Date of birth 3/8/1697 6/10/1705 23/5/1720 24/2/1718
…
Notes Born France London landowner

26. Types of data
Set a data type
for each field:
Text, Number,
Date/time,
Currency, Yes/No
People
Surname text
First name text
Middle initial(s) text
Date of birth date
…
Notes memo
Books
Title text
Author text
DatePub date
…
Place text
ISBN text
…
…
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27. An example scenario
 Study of 18th century book trade
 What things are we interested in?
 Publications
 Publishers
 People
 And possibly our sources for the information we’re collecting
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28. An example scenario
 And what information might we want to know about
each of these things?
 Names
 Dates
 Places
 Where we got the information from
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Person
Surname
First name
Middle initial(s)
Date of birth
Notes
Publication
Title
Author(s)
Publisher
Date of publication
Place of publication
Edition
Format
Type of publication
Price
Sales
Notes
Publisher
Name
Staff
Founded
Ceased
Address
Notes
Reference
Author(s)
Title
Date of publication
Edition
Volume
Page(s)
URL
Notes

30. JOINS BETWEEN TABLES
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31. Primary key
 Each table needs a primary key
 Choose (at least) one field that only contains
unique values
 Commonly an auto-incrementing whole (integer) number
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Person
PersonID
Surname
First name
Middle initial(s)
Date of birth
Notes
Publication
PubnID
Title
Author(s)
Publisher
Date of publication
Place of publication
Edition
Format
Type of publication
Price
Sales
Notes
Publisher
PublisherID
Name
Staff
Founded
Ceased
Address
Notes
Reference
ReferenceID
Author(s)
Title
Date of publication
Edition
Volume
Page(s)
URL
Notes

33. Relating two tables - joins
 Mark the field that links this table to that table
 Draw join lines
 Convenient to have same or similar field names

34. Person
PersonID
Surname
First name
Middle initial(s)
Date of birth
Notes
Reference
PageInReference
Publication
PubnID
Title
Author
Publisher
Date of publication
Place of publication
Edition
Format
Type of publication
Price
Reference
PageInReference
Publisher
PublisherID
Name
Staff
Founded
Ceased
Address
Reference
PageInReference
Reference
ReferenceID
Author(s)
Title
Date of publication
Edition
Volume
Page(s)
URL
Notes
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1
∞
1
∞
∞
∞

35. Publication
PubnID
Title
Author(s)
Publisher
Date of publication
Place of publication
Edition
Format
Type of publication
Price
Reference
PageInReference
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∞
1
1
Person
PersonID
Surname
First name
Middle initial(s)
Date of birth
Notes
Reference
PageInReference
Publisher
PublisherID
Name
Staff
Founded
Ceased
Address
Reference
PageInReference
Reference
ReferenceID
Author(s)
Title
Date of publication
Edition
Volume
Page(s)
URL
Notes
1
∞
1
∞
∞
∞
Authorship
ID
Author
Publication
∞

36. Publication
ID Int
Title Text
Publisher INT
Date of
publication
Int?
Place of
publication
Text
Edition Int
Format Text
Type of
publication
Text
Price Dec?
Sales Int?
Reference Int
Page Text
Notes Text
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Person
AuthorID Int
Surname Text
First name Text
Middle
initial(s)
Text
Date of birth Date
Reference Int
Page Text
Notes Text
Publisher
ID Int
Name Text
Founded Int?
Ceased Int?
Address Text
Reference Int
Page Text
Notes Text
Reference
ID Int
Title Text
Date of
publication
Int?
Edition Int?
Volume Int?
URL Text
Notes Text
1
∞
?
1
∞
∞
∞
Publisher_Staff
ID Int
Publisher Int
Staff_Member Int
Reference_Author
ID Int
Reference Int
Reference_Author Int
∞
∞
1
1
∞
∞
∞
∞
Authorship
ID Int
Author Int
Publication Int

37. A USER-FRIENDLY DATABASE
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38. Easiest for people to work on data
using forms
 Too risky to work on data in tables
 A form or view is safe and efficient for humans
 Typically one record at a time
 Easy to use
 Related data appears
via drop-downs

39. Database design: A workflow
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40. WHAT NEXT?
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41. Once you’ve created your database…
 Ask questions by constructing queries
 Find the records that meet certain criteria
 Search, sort, count, and filter data
 Perform basic mathematical and statistical operations
 Export data for other types of analysis
 Share your results with others
 Some packages produce nicely formatted
reports
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42. Query results
 Results may resemble another table or spreadsheet
 But the contents are customised to your requirements
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43. What kind of questions could you ask?
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How many titles did publisher x publish between 1750
and 1759? How does this compare with other decades?
Who both authored and published books? Did they
write and publish in the same genre?
Were first editions of works by author y typically
published in quarto or octavo formats?
Were later editions typically cheaper than earlier ones?

44. What kind of questions could you ask?
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How did author z’s popularity vary through the
century (as measured by the intervals between
new editions)?
If one publisher ceased operations, did their
staff tend to switch en masse to another?
Where on earth did I find this bit of information?

45. Database challenges in the humanities
 Patchy or incomplete data
 Be aware of the difference between 0 and null
 Interpreted and uncertain information
 Fields can indicate the degree of certainty of a
particular ‘fact’ – e.g. definite, probable, or possible
 Inconsistent or changing terminology
 Alternative spellings, different forms of address,
name changes
 May help to have controlled vocabulary tables
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46. Database challenges in the humanities
 Varying degrees of accuracy
 Often an issue with historical dates
 May help to split elements of a date into separate
fields
 Fuzziness vs. queryableness
 There’s often a trade off
 A format such as ‘c. 310 BCE’ may be more accurate
 But much harder to search and sort
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47. NOW YOU TRY IT …
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48. Your exercise today…
 Draft a structure for a relational database recording
information about membership of gentlemen’s
clubs in Victorian London
 Think about the fields, tables, and relationships
you’d need
 You have a collection of evidence about which
clubs people belonged to, and when
 However, the information is patchy and not always
consistent
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49. Our example solution
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50. Possible enhancements
 Integer may not be the best data type for uncertain dates
 Make the relationship between club_memberships and
evidence many-to-many rather than one-to-many
 Done by adding a link table
 Split author entries into a separate table
 Allows multiple authors for each piece of evidence
 Impose a controlled vocabulary on the occupation field
by adding a look-up table
 Add longitude and latitude to the addresses table
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51. Questions?
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