Searching for Information in Databases

Database packages are also very good at searching for information in order to provide us with answers to any questions we might have; for example in the football team kits database we might want to know "how many home shirts are stocked?"

Searching can either be:

1. Simple: searching for something in only one field. This kind of search may involve the user of operators < (less than), >(greater than), == (match) etc.
2. Complex: these may be of two types::
   1. An OR Search. This is where you search for different values within the same field; for example you might be interested in finding all people called Bloggs OR Smith in the school database by entering these names in the surname field.
   2. An AND Search. This is a search involving more than one field; for example you could be interested in finding Joe Bloggs so you would look for Joe in the forename field AND Bloggs in the surname field.

 

 

What you have to do! - Simple Searching

How to do Simple Searching using 1 Field! Click to Go Larger Screen

Involves looking for something in a single field. This type of search often results in a long list of results, but this list is more likely to contain what you are looking for.

1. Watch Video 4.
2. Open the database file FOOTBALL TEAM KITS and
3. Answer the following questions of Exercise 4 in the General Section of your PROGRESS Grids
   1. For how many kits is the stock number less than 500 (<500)?
   2. For how many adult kits are stocked and how many child kits are stocked?
   3. For how many kits is the stock level less than 25?
   4. How many kits more than (>) £40? - do not type in the £ symbol

 

Mark off Exercise 4 in your Progress Grids

 

What you have to do! - More Simple Searching!

1. Open the Paintings.fp7 Database and place in your Database folder.
2. Using the information from watching Video 4, answer the following questions in Exercise 5 in the General section of your PROGRESS Grids.
   1. How many seller's surname's begins with a D?
   2. How many paintings have a reserve value between £1,000 and £3,000?
   3. How many different paintings have the same title as another painting in the database (hint: this means they are duplicates)
   4. Find all the paintings by Paul Lunt. Sort the list by reserve price and then by seller surname (because there are duplicate values in the reserve price). What is the catalogue number of the 3rd painting in this list.

 

Mark off Exercise 5 in your Progress Grids

 

Complex Search (an OR Search)

This involves searching for different values in the same field. This kind of search gives you a long list of results.

 

What you have to do! - Complex OR type Search

How to do Complex Searching! Click to Go Larger Screen

1. Watch Video 5.
2. Open the database file PAINTINGS and;
3. Answer the following questions of Exercise 6 in the General section of in your PROGRESS Grids

1. How many paintings are sold by Angelo Sarfeld or Brett Davis?
2. How many paintings begin with the catalogue number G or P?
3. How many paintings have been created in bronze or watercolour?

 

Mark off Exercise 6 in your Progress Grids

 

Complex Searches (an AND search)

Involves searching on more than one field. The more fields you search in, or conditions you use, the more likely you are to find exactly what you want and the smaller the number of records you will find.

 

What you have to do! - Complex AND type Search

1. Using the information from Video 5.
2. Open the database file FOOTBALL KITS and answer the following questions of Exercise 7 in the General Section of your PROGRESS Grids.
   1. How many away kits cost more than £40?
   2. How many child kits have a stock level between 5 and 11? (the answer is not 0)
3. Using the database file PAINTINGS answer the remain questions
   1. how many bronze paintings have reserve figure of £1,000 or less?
   2. How many paintings by Paul Lunt are sold by Angelo Sarfeld?
   3. How many of Paul Lunt's bronze paintings have a reserve value between £200 and £1,200 ?
   4. How many paintings does Anna Medbury sell for the painter's Pamela Montgomery or Paul Lunt?

 

Mark off Exercise 7 in your Progress Grids

 

Searching using Keywords on the Internet or CD-ROM based Databases.

 

Simple Search	Search Engines
A single Keyword is entered into the 'search' box. When the return key is pressed, the search engine looks through its own databases for the word entered and produces a list of results based on the keyword entered.
Complex Search
More than one keyword is entered. By default searches with more than one word are treated as AND search.
For example a search for "Scottish Rivers Tweed" looks for Scottish AND Rivers AND Tweed. You can also do OR searches. For example look for " Scottish OR Rivers OR Tweed"
Complete the two different types of search and notice the difference in the number of results.
For fun, use a search engine to find out the meaning and rules of Googlewhack and then have a go at finding a Googlewhack.

 

 

What you should be able to do now!

• Explain the advantages of computerised databases over manual databases when it comes to searching for information.

• Complete Simple Searches using one field.

• Explain the difference between AND and OR type searches.

• Complete Complex Searches both AND type and OR type searches.

• Use operators like greater than (>), less than (<) etc in your searches.

 

Continue to Section 4: Adding Records and Editing Records