Creating
an Access Database:
A Primer for Resource Center Managers
by
Laura C. Larsson |
Answers to Relationship Questions
| Q. 1. What is the relationship between the publisher and the journal? |
| Answer: A publisher can publish many
journals but the journal can only have one publisher. (one to many) Keep
in mind that it is possible for a journal to have a different publisher
for the CD-ROM version, than for the hard copy version although the content
will be the same. |
| Q. 2. What is the relationship between the journal and the Kardex? |
| Answer: Each hardcopy journal may have
several Kardex records, but each Kardex record is related in only one way
to a journal title (one to many). The Kardex tracks our journal holdings.
Note that the relationship is between the hardcopy journal and the Kardex
because we check in physical issues. In practice we would probably
have a separate Kardex record to indicate the relationship between the
CD-ROM and the Kardex, but this adds complexity which we won't deal with
today. |
| Q. 3. What is the relationship between the journal and its Websites? |
| Answer: One journal could have several
different Websites. (one to many) |
| Q. 4. What is the relationship between the journal and its editors? |
| Answer: Each journal will have one or
more editors. (one to many). Naturally, an editor could edit more
than one journal, but considering how much work editing a journal is, it
seems unlikely that she would edit more than one journal without going
crazy. |
| Q. 5. What is the relationship between the journal and the vendor/agent? |
| Answer: The agent can sell many journal
titles but the journal can only have one agent per organization. (one to
many) |
| Q. 6. What is the relationship between the journal and its routing
list? |
| Answer: Each journal can be routed to
many individuals on a list but each person should only receive the journal
once (one to many). Rememer that we will only be routing hard copy versions
either as a full issue or as a table of content. Electronic tables of content
may be routed too, but since all tables of content are routed to all people
in our organization automatically, there's no point in keeping track. |
| Q. 7. What is the relationship between the journal and the issue
being bound? |
| Answer: The hardcopy journal can have
many issues bound together over time into several physical volumes. (one
to many) |
| Q. 8. What is the relationship between the volume being bound and
the company doing the binding (the bindery)? |
| Answer: Each bindery can bind many volumes,
but each volume can only be bound once. (one to many) Note: even if the
journal spine breaks and the volume must be reound, that counts as a separate
binding transaction. |
| Q. 9. What is the relationship between the bindery and payment? |
| Answer: The bindery receives payment
(a purchase order) for each volume bound but will bind many volumes. (one
to many) |
| Q. 10. What is the relationship between the bindery and the publisher? |
| Answer: This is a trick question. There
is no relationship between the bindery and the publisher; even if some
journals come to you already bound, it just means that you will not have
to pay to bind it. |
| Q. 11. What is the relationship between a journal and its supplement? |
| Answer: A journal could theoretically
have several supplements, but each supplement is associated with only one
journal. (one to many) |
| Q. 12. What is the relationship between the journal and a claim
for a missing issue? |
| Answer: Each journal may have many issues,
and if your supplier or pulisher is careless aout sending you each issue
on time, you may put in many claims. (one to many) |
| Q. 13. What is the relationship between the journal and the ordering
or renewal of journal titles |
| Answer: One journal will be renewed
many times over the years, but the order will go to only one publisher
or vendor (one to many) |
| Q. 14. What is the relationship between the journal and the Web? |
| Answer: Each journal could potentially have
more than one Website. (one to many) |
| Q. 15. What is the relationship between the journal and its subject
headings? |
| Answer: This is a many to many relationship.
Each journal can have many (several) suject headings; each subject heading
can be associated with many (several) journals. This requires another (intermediate)
table called a junction table. (one to many and one to many) |
For More Information
Look at About relationships in a database, Define a
many-to-many relationship between tables, Display the Relationships
window, and What is referential integrity? in Microsoft
Help. |