Data Modeling for Information Professionals Review

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(More customer reviews)I found this book to be a refreshing approach to teaching data modeling. With the current confusion between "object models" and "data models", Bob does a good jobe of presenting the concepts fundamental to both. His sequence is unusual (discussing occurrences before classes), but I think this is useful. I definitely recommend it to anyone trying to learn the field.

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8045k-6 "A powerful, yet easy-to-use resource for training people in data modeling principles. I highly recommend it for anyone who needs to develop data modeling competence." Clive Finkelstein, Information Engineering Services, www.ies.aust.com/~ieinfo. "An outstanding vehicle for learning the mysteries of data/object modeling." David Hay, President, Essential Strategies, Inc., www.essentialstrategies.com, author of Data Model Patterns, The most fun you can have learning data modeling! No matter what role you play in managing information, you need an in-depth understanding of how to structure data. Data Modeling for Information Professionals gives you what you need - painlessly! Based on an interactive course that's been earning raves for years, it's the informal, friendly, real-world introduction to data modeling.*Discover what data models are, what makes them successful, and what makes them fail. *Walk through every component of an enterprise data model. *Understand domains, predicates, entities, classes, relationships, attributes, and more. *Learn from enterprise case studies and extensive nontrivial examples.*Great for data administrators, analysts, SMEs, DBAs, and project managers!Comprehensive, insightful, and entertaining, Data Modeling for Information Professionals is the easy way to learn the data modeling techniques you can't afford not to know! REPOSITORY ON CD-ROM The many illustrations in this book expand and link when you launch the free data model using the included SILVERRUN CASE tool. Export this royalty-free model to jump start your own work and to practice using your own CASE tool. Or build your model u sing SILVERRUN, a leading tool for multiplatform, enterprise-capable business modeling.

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Data Modeling Made Simple: A Practical Guide for Business and IT Professionals, 2nd Edition Review

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(More customer reviews)I think very highly of Data Modeling Made Simple (the first edition), so when this second edition came out I had great expectations - which were not only met but also exceeded. Although this second edition is more than twice the number of pages as the first edition, it is still an easy read.
Here are my favorite things about this book:
1.Clearly delivers on its ten objectives. Read the back cover and you will understand the key takeaways you will get after reading the book. After I read the book, I went back over each of these objectives and I was able to check each of these off as accomplished. Everything from justifying the model to building data models to assessing data models was knowledge I gleaned from the book. If you are interested in just one or a subset of these ten objectives, read the Read Me First section and it will reference the sections and chapters you need to read to meet your specific objective.
2.More examples more thoroughly presented. The first edition took a business card example from beginning to end. This edition further expands the business card example and adds several other examples including an ice cream example and many real world examples. The author uses spreadsheets to illustrate many modeling examples, and I too have found spreadsheets to be a very effective way to communicate data and business rules.
3.Data Model Scorecard. The first edition touched on the Scorecard which is the author's technique to reviewing a data model. This second edition goes into detail including providing the template which I can use on my modeling assignments to review my models.
4.Treating a dimensional model as more than just a physical data model. Many texts treat the dimensional as only a physical data model yet there is a business level that this book illustrates at both the subject area and logical levels.
5.Getting other Greats for free. Bill Inmon, Graeme Simsion, and Michael Blaha have all written chapters in this book. I have already starting using Simsion's technique of a diary on my assignments and found it very useful.
My only area for improvement would be to expand the book with more modeling conventions such as ORM and IDEF1X. There is a chapter on UML though that I did find informative. I question however if adding these extra notations would detract from the book's simplicity.
Overall, an excellent read that I would recommend to every business or techie that works with data.


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Data Modeling Made Simple will provide the business or IT professional with a practical working knowledge of data modeling concepts and best practices. This book is written in a conversational style that encourages you to read it from start to finish and master these ten objectives:
Know when a data model is needed and which type of data model is most effective for each situation
Read a data model of any size and complexity with the same confidence as reading a book
Build a fully normalized relational data model, as well as an easily navigatable dimensional model
Apply techniques to turn a logical data model into an efficient physical design
Leverage several templates to make requirements gathering more efficient and accurate
Explain all ten categories of the Data Model Scorecard
Learn strategies to improve your working relationships with others
Appreciate the impact unstructured data has, and will have, on our data modeling deliverables
Learn basic UML concepts
Put data modeling in context with XML, metadata, and agile development

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