Structure of databases

• Understanding the structure of a database will help you locate and retrieve information more efficiently.

• The information about each item in a database is called a record. For example, the WebLUIS Catalog has a record for each item (each book, journal, newspaper, video, map, etc.) located in the library. 

• A record is composed of individual elements of information called fields. All the records in a given database are composed of a common set of fields. These fields can be used as access points when searching a database. For example, in WebLUIS the records share common fields such as author, title, call number, and subject. 

There are several types of databases. The kind of information contained in a database determines its type. The most common types of databases include:

• Bibliographic databases - provide citations (a listing of information about the item), and sometimes include abstracts (summaries) or descriptions of the items.
• Full-text databases - contain the full text of a work. 
• Numeric databases - provide mostly numeric data (numbers)  such as statistics or financial data.
• Image databases - could include art prints, photos, animations, and other types of images
• Audio/Video databases - could include audio clips of sound effects and music samples or video excerpts from speeches, television shows, or other broadcast media. 
• Mixed databases - combine two or more of the other database types.