RESEARCH PAPER: an individual effort. You should write a maximum of 10 pages (excluding references) on a selected pre-approved topic. The following list (mostly based on material covered in this course) provides some broad areas from which a specific topic may be selected for research.

• Distributed databases
• AI and databases
• Object-oriented databases
• Temporal databases
• Extensible databases
• Main memory databases
• Statistical databases
• Hypertext databases
• WWW databases
• Multimedia databases
• Data Administration Functions
• Data Administration Tools
• Database Security
• Database Recovery
• Internet Databases
• Internet Standards for Data Exchange

The reports must be professionally done. Suggested organization of the report is as follows:

• Abstract
• Introduction
• Summary of Literature
• Research Issues/Objectives/Hypotheses
• Methodology
• Analysis (of collected data, if any) and Results
• Discussion
• Conclusions and Implications
• References (single spaced)

You must get an approval on your topic by submitting a SYNOPSIS (similar to an abstract) to me by 9/23/99. Weight: 25%.

MID-TERM QUIZ: an individual, open book test. Weight: 25%.

MAJOR PROJECT: an individual or group effort. Groups of up to three individuals will be self selected latest by 9/23/99. My approval is needed before selecting a DBMS other than Access or SQL Server for implementation. Please note that 20% of the project grade comes from an oral presentation of your project to the class; if you choose to work in a group, an additional 20% of the project grade will come from peer evaluations. Assume 100 total points for the project. Any time during the semester, please feel free to discuss your project with me or get feedback on your ongoing work from me. Complete Database Project and presentation is due on 12/2/99. Each phase is milestoned as shown on the outline. Weight: 40%.

• (Phase-1) Find a database application that has about 8 to 10 entities. Describe the application, information requirements, and the function the database is supposed to perform. Clearly state any assumptions you make about the application. Any application is fine. Ideal place to look is at your work -- this could be a great opportunity for you to enhance your grade and make your boss happy. Make sure to capture 10-15 frequently used questions people have regarding the data. If you can't find an application, I have several cases you can choose from. (10 points)
• (Phase-2) Create the E-R or SOM diagram to represent your application, including the minimum/maximum cardinalities of the relationships. (30 points)
• (Phase-3) Do the logical design of the database i.e., represent the entities and relationships in a relational data model. Clearly state why you chose the specific representation for each entity and relationship. Discuss why you feel your final design will have the desired performance. Include a discussion of denormalization, if necessary. (15 points)
• (Phase-4) Create the relational database and load some sample data (at least 50 rows for each table as sample data). (10 points).
• (Phase-5) Implement the 10-15 frequently used queries and some innovative queries that you can visualize. Run the queries against your relational database. (15 points)
• (Phase-6) Present your project to the class (about 15 minutes). Each group should illustrate their initial goals, approach, modeling techniques, and implementation choices; demonstrate the advantages and disadvantages of their design and implementation; and discuss the findings, lessons learned, and conclusions drawn from the project. (20 points)

CLASS PARTICIPATION: Weight: 10%.

There are two ways to earn extra credit for the course:

• Have a Web-based interface to access your database from browsers across the internet. This can be fun and you will learn useful skills about CGI, HTML, and the client-server architecture. If interested in this possibility, talk to me about the tools to connect your database to the Web. (5 %)
• Volunteer to make a short presentation of your research paper. One or two presentations will be allowed per class period for 10-minute presentations. If interested, volunteer early in the semester -- slots will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis. (5 %)