Sea Grant Week 2003 - Professional development

Using Databases to Add Value to Our Web Sites

Dan Jacobs, Maryland Sea Grant

• Summary (from notes taken by Pat Kight
• Dan's presentation (Web pages)
• For more information

Summary

Adding a database to your Web site can allow you to create pages "on the fly" for such things as your publications inventory, staff contact information and more complex uses, including on-line proposal submission and management.

For Web use, you need two components:

• The database itself, containing all the information you want to be able to use and retrieve. There are many different database programs; which one you choose is largely a matter of personal preference and what your Web provider (if you don't own your own server) will support. Examples include: MicroSoft Access, MySQL, Oracle, etc. Database programs range from free (SQL) to multiple thousands of dollars (Oracle).
• The database management system, which allows you to access that information and do things with it (such as generating Web pages). Examples range from proprietary software such as Macromedia ColdFusion to scripting languages such as Perl, the Perl-derived .php, Microsoft's .asp, etc.

A field is simply a piece of information that has something in common with other pieces of information. Common fields might be:

• First name
• Last name
• Street address
• City
• ZIP code
• E-mail address

But fields can also contain longer and more complex information, such as a research project abstract, a publication description, or a faculty bio.

To provide the best use over the long term, choose a database format which permits you to save or export your data in unformatted "flat files," with tabs or commas separating each data field. Tab delimited is the current standard, and can be shared among many different database programs. If you have to upgrade or change to a different database, having your data in an easy-to-import format will save someone a lot of data entry.

The most important thing about setting up a database is to plan ahead. Consider all the fields you might possibly want. It's easier to include fields now than to insert them later. Create a "data dictionary" listing all the fields and what they contain to help you keep track of things.

If your program owns its own server - or can set one up just for the database - you have the advantage of being able to decide what database and management system you think will work best for your needs. If you depend on your university, then you need to talk to them about what database system they have, or are willing to provide, to institutional sites, and what kind of support they can offer. Contracting to outside ISPs for database location and support may also be an option.

See Dan's presentation for further explanations and examples of databases at work on Sea Grant Web sites.

For more information

• E-mail the Sea Grant Webmasters' group if you have questions about databases and their use on our sites.