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Conceptual Schema Design

  • Reference work entry
Encyclopedia of Database Systems

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Definition

Conceptual schema design is the process of generating a description of the contents of a database in high-level terms that are natural and direct for users of the database. The process takes as input information requirements for the applications that will use the database, and produces a schema expressed in a conceptual modeling notation, such as the Extended Entity-Relationship (EER) Data Model or UML class diagrams. The challenges in designing a conceptual schema include: (i) turning informal information requirements into a cognitive model that describes unambiguously and completely the contents of the database-to-be; and (ii) using the constructs of a data modeling language appropriately to generate from the cognitive model a conceptual schema that reflects it as accurately as possible.

Historical Background

The history of conceptual schema design is intimately intertwined with that of conceptual data models (aka semantic data models). In fact, for many years researchers...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

    Alexander Borgida

  2. University of Trento, Trento, Italy

    John Mylopoulos

Authors
  1. Alexander Borgida
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  2. John Mylopoulos
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology, 266 Ferst Drive, 30332-0765, Atlanta, GA, USA

    LING LIU (Professor) (Professor)

  2. Database Research Group David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, University of Waterloo, 200 University Avenue West, N2L 3G1, Waterloo, ON, Canada

    M. TAMER ÖZSU (Professor and Director, University Research Chair) (Professor and Director, University Research Chair)

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© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC

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Borgida, A., Mylopoulos, J. (2009). Conceptual Schema Design. In: LIU, L., ÖZSU, M.T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Database Systems. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-39940-9_642

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