0003. When we say a database is “Integrated”, what do we mean?

 

We make the assumption that we are inter-relating a number of different subject areas. For example, as a student, there are different areas which are concerned with you: The registrar is concerned about what courses you are taking; the bursar is concerned with how much (if any) you owe them; the instructor of a course is concerned with how you are doing in the class. All of these are separate issues, but are related by one issue: You, the student. It is basically  the difference between a spreadsheet (such as Excel) and a database (such as Oracle or Access), A spreadsheet is set-up for a specific purpose (the registrar, bursar, or instructor might keep spreadsheets on you), whereas a database keeps general information (data - we'll discuss the difference later) about you which all of the areas can draw from.