The Data Model Resource Book – Universal Data Models

The Data Model Resource Book vol. 1
The Data Model Resource Book vol. 1
  
The Data Model Resource Book vol. 2
The Data Model Resource Book vol. 2

Couple of years ago I brought two books for my company. Today I can say that I made a small investment that still works pretty well. These books are titled as The Data Model Reosurce Book and author of these books is Len Silverston.

First volume of Data Model Resource Book introduces common models that are used by almost all industries. Second volume offers us industry specific models.

These models are not something final and also they are not absolute truth. You can use these models to build your own models that fit best to your applications.

For me these models are very important. When I start modeling new object model I will check these books for sure. Most interesting parts of models represented in these books are abstractions. You can build many parts of your system on abstractions based on models of this book. You don’t need to change these abstractions significantly later. Also these abstractions keep you moving on right direction.

Both books can be used as manuals you keep on your desk. But you can also read these books from cover to cover  – you will learn a lot of new stuff and you will look at your models not like before.

My company uses these books and this far we have had no disappointments – all the models and abstractions from these books have helped us a lot. I strongly recommend Data Model Resource Books for everybody how wants to build strong, extensible and flexible data models.

Review from Amazon

"Len Silverston has produced an enormously useful two-volume compendium of generic (but not too generic) data models for an extensive set of typical enterprise subject areas, and for various industries that any data modeler will likely encounter at some point in his or her career. The material is clearly written, well organized, and goes below the obvious to some of the more perverse and difficult information requirements in an enterprise. This is an invaluable resource for doing one’s homework before diving into any modeling session; if you can’t find it here, there is certainly a very similar template that you can use for just about any situation with which you might be faced."
–William G. Smith, President, William G. Smith & Associates

Table of Contents

Volume 1Volume 2

Foreword.
Acknowledgments.
About the Author.

Introduction.
People and Organizations.
Products.
Ordering Products.
Shipments.
Work Effort.
Invoicing.
Accounting and Budgeting.
Human Resources.

Creating the Data Warehouse Data Model from the Enterprise Data Model.
A Sample Data Warehouse Data Model.
Star Schema Designs for Sales Analysis.
Star Schema Designs for Human Resources.
Additional Star Schema Designs.
Implementing the Universal Data Models.

Appendix A: Logical Data Model Entities and Attributes.
Appendix B: Data Warehouse Data Model Tables and Columns.
Appendix C: Star Schema Design Tables and Columns.

How to Use the CD-ROM Product.
Other Reusable Data Model and Data Warehouse Design Resources.

Index.

Foreword.
Acknowledgments.
About the Author.

Introduction.
Manufacturing.
Telecommunications.
Health Care.
Insurance.
Financial Services.
Professional Services.
Travel.
E-Commerce Models.

Using the Industry Models in the Real World.

Appendix A: Entities and Attributes for Manufacturing Models.
Appendix B: Entities and Attributes for Telecommunications Models.
Appendix C: Entities and Attributes for Health Care Models.
Appendix D: Entities and Attributes for Insurance Models.
Appendix E: Entities and Attributes for Financial Services Models.
Appendix F: Entities and Attributes for Professional Services Models.
Appendix G: Entities and Attributes for Travel Models.
Appendix H: Entities and Attributes for E-Commerce Models.
Appendix I: List of Entities and Their Associated Figures.

How to Use the Volume 2 Industry Electronic Products.

Index.

Gunnar Peipman

Gunnar Peipman is ASP.NET, Azure and SharePoint fan, Estonian Microsoft user group leader, blogger, conference speaker, teacher, and tech maniac. Since 2008 he is Microsoft MVP specialized on ASP.NET.

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