i really need help as this is my project i have to submit for 6 credit course


The library is organized into sections based on subject areas. Each section is identified by a code, has a name related to the subject area, a location, and a librarian is responsible for the section.
The library is composed of books, magazines and Journals located in different sections. Each book is described by a number, has a title, authors, version, year, edition, subject area, and location. A book can be classified either as a consultation only item or as a loan item. The books that can be borrowed have an associated maximum period for loan. The loan period is different for each type of user of the library. The library database maintains record of the total number of copies for a certain book and the number of copies that are on loan. Journals are for consultation only. Each journal is classified by a number and is described by title, volume, number, year, location, and related subject area. The library users include members, administrator and staff. Each member is uniquely identified by an ID code and name. They also have an address and telephone number. For each type of users there is a maximum number of items that the user of this type can borrow for a certain period of time. Information about any item that is borrowed at any point in time has to be known, including the date that the item was borrowed and the date that it is supposed to be returned. The library contains its own staff members. Each librarian is described by an ID Staff code, name, address, date of birth, sex, function, and related working section. An administrator is allocated to a unique section.


(a)
Identify the main entities in this description of the library requirements.

(b)
Identify the main relationships between entitles described in part (a), represent each relationship as an ER diagram, clearly labeling each relationship. Any many-to-many relationships should be included in your answer to part (b).

(c)
State the degree of each of the relationships described in part (b). Decompose any many to many relationships, replacing them with new entity types and relationships.

(d)
Identify all attributes and place them in a list, associating them with an entity or relationship.

(e)
Determine candidate key attributes, primary key attributes and foreign key attributes for each entity.

(f)
Using your answers (a) to (e), create a single Entity-Relationship (ER) diagram to represent the data requirements of the library database. To simplify the diagram, only show entities, relationships, primary and foreign key attributes. State any assumptions (if necessary) to support your design.




(a)

An entity is any distinguishable object or concept that is to be represented in the database. Considering this, the following are the 'main' entities i have identified in the description of the library requirements.


Library
Category
Book
Journal
Magazines
Members (registered users of the library)
Staff




(b)
After assuming i have selected the correct entities form the library description the next step to identify logical links between these entities and representing these links in an ER diagram. The reason for this is that later in the design process tables are created from the original entities. These relationships are what allow one table to access related information in another table. The diagrams below show the relation ships between the entities outlined in part (a) as required i have included the many-to-many relationships which will be resolved in my answer to part (c)



The relationship between the entities Book and members is many-to-many. Books can be borrowed by many members & many members can borrow many books.





The relationship between the entities Library and Category is one-to-many as the Library has many Category and the Category belong to only one library.








The relationship between the entities magazines and member is many-to-many. magazines can be borrowed by many member & many member can borrow many magazines.





As outlined in the library description, Journals are for consultation only and cannot be loaned. The relationship is Many-to-many as many journals can be consulted by many members and many journals can be consulted by many members



This relationship between Journal and category can be described as many-to-one, as many Journals can be in one category and one category can contain many Journals.




The relationship between category and Staff is many-to-one as many staff is allocated to one section within the Library.

This relationship between books and category can be described as many-to-one, as many books can be in one category and one category can contain many Journals.

This relationship between staff and library can be described as many-to-one, as many staff work in one library and one library is managed by many staff.


(c )
Assuming i have included all the relationships required in part (b) below i have stated the degree of these relationships. The degree of a relationship is defined as the number of attributes a relationship contains.
Also the definition states that the degree is a number For this reason I will list all the attributes of all entities in the relationship and a number which precedes the list conveying the degree of the relationship.



(d)
Considering these are the attributes of the main entities identified in (a)
Category {categoryid, categoryname}
Books {bookid, title, author, ISBN, date of publication, accessioning number, class number}
Journal {title}
Magazines {title}
Members (registered users of the library){memberid, first name last name, address(p.o box, city, state), phone number, email address, date of birth, gender, loan limit}
Staff { staffid, job title, firstname lastname,, address (p.o box, city, state), loan limit }
library{labraryid, librayname}
(e)
Having shown all attributes associated with the targeted entities of the system the primary keys, foreign keys and candidate keys are as shown below underlined

Category {categoryid, categoryname}

Books {bookid, title, author, ISBN, date of publication, accessioning number, class number}

Borrowable books {bookid, title, author, ISBN, date of publication, accessioning number, class number}
Reference books {bookid, title, author, ISBN, date of publication, accessioning number, class number }

Journal {title}
Magazines {title}
Members (registered users of the library){memberid, first name last name, address(p.o box, city, state), phone number, email address, date of birth, gender, loan limit}
Staff { staffid, job title, firstname lastname,, address (p.o box, city, state), loan limit }
library{labraryid, librayname}

Why don't you try to solve your exercises yourself? The idea is that you learn this stuff and don't copy it from someone else and taking credits for it (literally).

agreed with stolze

i have started and need for some one to guide not to do it for me. please if any thing is not right help me out. give me suggestions. i reall need help am also using vb.net to build the software for the library. tell me if am doing the right thing. am running out of time i have also started with the user interface. developed enough and code small i need the database to connect to see if the code will work

Look, people don't want to do this because it's cheating if we help you. Unless your instructor explicitly said that you could get outside help, it's cheating for you to ask and cheating for us to answer.

That said, I don't mind pointing out if you're missing something... under c you didn't completely answer it, as stating the degree was only the first half of the question.

And in e I can't see the underlining and even if I could, you need to distinguish between primary, candidate and foreign keys.

I will also give you a hint to get unstuck: if you want to know if your database is correct, test it with paper and pencil. Imagine a complete scenario and work out what should happen on the screen and what should happen in the database.

If you need some help somewhere, how about telling us exactly:
(a) which version of DB2 are you using on which platform - see "Must Read before posting": Must Read before posting
(b) what exactly you are working on - you just gave a very broad description - and what the problem is you try to solve
(c) what you have attempted and where things fail and you don't know why it fails

In short: be as much specific as you can.

I guess you understand by now that this is your task to perform and not ours. So you can come back to close specific gaps in your knowledge, but we are not going to do your job for you - or if you expect us to, please give me your full name and address so that I could try my best so that you won't be hired in whichever company I'm working.

i have finished designing the form and coding using v.b.net. am using the sql server 2003 for the database my problem right now is the normalization to be able query it using the sql. i have got the corresponding tables with the various primary and foreign keys on paper. am attaching the tables please see if am write but if am right i need u to guide me to do the right thing through comments suggestion etc but not doing it for me. my supervisor is slowing me down thats why am seeking external help.

The library is organized into sections based on subject areas. Each section is identified by a code, has a name related to the subject area, a location, and a librarian is responsible for the section.

The library is composed of books, magazines and Journals located in different sections. Each book is described by a number, has a title, authors, version, year, edition, subject area, and location. A book can be classified either as a consultation only item or as a loan item. The books that can be borrowed have an associated maximum period for loan. The loan period is different for each type of user of the library. The library database maintains record of the total number of copies for a certain book and the number of copies that are on loan. Journals are for consultation only. Each journal is classified by a number and is described by title, volume, number, year, location, and related subject area. The library users include members, administrator and staff. Each member is uniquely identified by an ID code and name.


They also have an address and telephone number. For each type of users there is a maximum number of items that the user of this type can borrow for a certain period of time. Information about any item that is borrowed at any point in time has to be known, including the date that the item was borrowed and the date that it is supposed to be returned. The library contains its own staff members. Each librarian is described by an ID Staff code, name, address, date of birth, sex, function, and related working section. An administrator is allocated to a unique section.


(a)
Identify the main entities in this description of the library requirements.

(b)
Identify the main relationships between entitles described in part (a), represent each relationship as an ER diagram, clearly labeling each relationship. Any many-to-many relationships should be included in your answer to part (b).

(c)
State the degree of each of the relationships described in part (b). Decompose any many to many relationships, replacing them with new entity types and relationships.

(d)
Identify all attributes and place them in a list, associating them with an entity or relationship.

(e)
Determine candidate key attributes, primary key attributes and foreign key attributes for each entity.

(f)
Using your answers (a) to (e), create a single Entity-Relationship (ER) diagram to represent the data requirements of the library database. To simplify the diagram, only show entities, relationships, primary and foreign key attributes. State any assumptions (if necessary) to support your design.




(a)

An entity is any distinguishable object or concept that is to be represented in the database. Considering this, the following are the 'main' entities i have identified in the description of the library requirements.


Library
Category
Book
Journal
Magazines
Members (registered users of the library)
Staff




(b)
After assuming i have selected the correct entities form the library description the next step to identify logical links between these entities and representing these links in an ER diagram. The reason for this is that later in the design process tables are created from the original entities. These relationships are what allow one table to access related information in another table. The diagrams below show the relation ships between the entities outlined in part (a) as required i have included the many-to-many relationships which will be resolved in my answer to part (c)



The relationship between the entities Book and members is many-to-many. Books can be borrowed by many members & many members can borrow many books.





The relationship between the entities Library and Category is one-to-many as the Library has many Category and the Category belong to only one library.








The relationship between the entities magazines and member is many-to-many. magazines can be borrowed by many member & many member can borrow many magazines.





As outlined in the library description, Journals are for consultation only and cannot be loaned. The relationship is Many-to-many as many journals can be consulted by many members and many journals can be consulted by many members



This relationship between Journal and category can be described as many-to-one, as many Journals can be in one category and one category can contain many Journals.




The relationship between category and Staff is many-to-one as many staff is allocated to one section within the Library.

This relationship between books and category can be described as many-to-one, as many books can be in one category and one category can contain many Journals.

This relationship between staff and library can be described as many-to-one, as many staff work in one library and one library is managed by many staff.


(c )
Assuming i have included all the relationships required in part (b) below i have stated the degree of these relationships. The degree of a relationship is defined as the number of attributes a relationship contains.
Also the definition states that the degree is a number For this reason I will list all the attributes of all entities in the relationship and a number which precedes the list conveying the degree of the relationship.



(d)
Considering these are the attributes of the main entities identified in (a)
Category {categoryid, categoryname}
Books {bookid, title, author, ISBN, date of publication, accessioning number, class number}
Journal {title}
Magazines {title}
Members (registered users of the library){memberid, first name last name, address(p.o box, city, state), phone number, email address, date of birth, gender, loan limit}
Staff { staffid, job title, firstname lastname,, address (p.o box, city, state), loan limit }
library{labraryid, librayname}
(e)
Having shown all attributes associated with the targeted entities of the system the primary keys, foreign keys and candidate keys are as shown below underlined

Category {categoryid, categoryname}

Books {bookid, title, author, ISBN, date of publication, accessioning number, class number}

Borrowable books {bookid, title, author, ISBN, date of publication, accessioning number, class number}
Reference books {bookid, title, author, ISBN, date of publication, accessioning number, class number }

Journal {title}
Magazines {title}
Members (registered users of the library){memberid, first name last name, address(p.o box, city, state), phone number, email address, date of birth, gender, loan limit}
Staff { staffid, job title, firstname lastname,, address (p.o box, city, state), loan limit }
library{labraryid, librayname}

Let's keep all of the copies of this thread in one place... I'll consolidate in the posts from the DB2 forum into here, since this discussion really belongs here.

-PatP

As mentioned before; we do not do homework on this site.

However, if there are any specific questions you have with your asignment then explain what you've tried so far and you are far more likely to get apositive response.

well i have got the fact that u cannot do my assignment for me so right now i want to connect to the database.


i will have to use a connection string. am interested in using stored procedures so that i can use parameters to update and retreive information from the database. am no that good at it how can i go about it.


i apprecaite u effort for4 ur comments

as far as the connection string...

try here

Hi SHOTOS,

I don't understand why you need a Library table, will the books be located in different buildings, in different cities? or in only one location?

Second you could try to do your database model in Access, I personally like it more than Visio, and in Access you can test a bit your model

I'll try to come with other comments later on.

And I don't understand either why you need a Books in category, and Journals in Category tables.

Don't you think you can have the category id as a foreign key in books, journals, magazines tables?

well i was trying to avoid having many to many relationships but i will try and query without the two tables