Preparation Helps Ensure Painless Database Creation

I've spent many years in the field, literally. I've trekked through Yosemite National Park, along California’s coast, and at the base of glaciers. Working in nature is some of the most gratifying work I’ve done and it's taught me important lessons about preserving and protecting what remains of our open space.

Each one of my opportunities in the field had a different set of data, with different requirements for tracking it: How many visitors went to the Ranger Campfire? How many parents noted attitude changes in their children after an Outward Bound course? How much trash was collected on a Coastal Clean-up Day?

C'mon, can’t we just go for a hike? Here I was in the field enjoying the great outdoors and all I was being asked about were the numbers. But those numbers count, as any funder, scientist, or educator will tell you. How you keep track of that data can make the difference between whether your program lives or dies. That's why building a good database is so important.

To help with the challenge of creating a database, CompuMentor provides assistance to environmental education organizations through the Environmental Solution Forum ( ESF). On September 10, 2004 we offered a free workshop on database and information system planning -- based on feedback from ESF cohort organizations -- with the goal of addressing the challenges ESF organizations face when they develop and manage a database system. Just about everyone at the meeting had at some point struggled with how to begin planning and developing a database.

The workshops were successful, thanks to the insight and wisdom from people like Jennifer Saltzman, the Education Manager at the Farallon Marine Sanctuary Association (FMSA). Saltzman had been through the fire of developing and planning a database and came out the other side without a scratch!

Using a database planning process, Saltzman developed an innovative data collection and analysis program called the Sandy Beach Monitoring Project, which provides high school students with an opportunity to assist the FMSA and monitor the abundance and distribution of sand crabs at beaches near their schools. Saltzman shared insights and information, in the workshop and during one-on-one interviews, on how and why her database was successful.

To recreate the process of building a database, she worked backwards from the finished product and identified data that she collected.

She also asked the following questions when planning her database:

1. What is the sand crab community?
2. What is the abundance of sand crabs in the area?
3. What proportion of the population are females? Males? Females with eggs?
4. What is the distribution of crabs across the beach?
5. How does the beach community change over a year?
6. What is the parasite load in the sand crabs?

Once she knew what her end product would be, she thought about her users -- individuals who would be entering and retrieving information from the database.

Now that Saltzman knew what she wanted from the database and what her budget would be for the work, her next step was to find someone to help her build it. Given that FMSA didn't have anyone on staff with the skills and experience to do this work, she hired a consultant. Her first stop was CompuMentor, where she received a list of independent consultants who served nonprofits and were well versed in database and Web site planning and development.

She called multiple database consultants and ended up meeting with and accepting proposals from three of them. She also requested references so she could learn more about the consultants' past and current clients, and to discover how smoothly projects went. After her screening process, she hired Eric Leland to help with her database. She chose Leland, not only because he had the skills she was looking for, but also because she felt he listened to what she needed and proposed a solution that would meet her needs.

Despite the fact that Saltzman was extremely happy with her consultant selection, this was one of the more time-consuming and challenging aspects of the project. Fortunately she did the necessary planning and identified her requirements; and, as a result, she could be clear with the consultant regarding what she needed and wanted.

As with any project, planning is crucial. Saltzman recommends that staff consider the following before tackling a database project:

1. What end product do you want?
2. What will that database look like and how will it be used?
3. What will it cost to maintain? (Consider not only the immediate costs, but also the costs to upgrade and modify your database.)
4. Who will be using the database? Think about the skills and competency of individuals who are entering and generating reports from the system.

Most importantly, you should anticipate that the project will take longer than you think!

So, are you ready to get started? Think about the database planning process in the same way you would a backpacking adventure. You wouldn’t be caught in the woods without the essentials. Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the essentials for a backpacking and database journey:

Backpacking Checklist	Database Plan Checklist
Map	Database Plan
Essentials: Water, Food and Clothing	Information that will go into your database ( i.e., database requirements) Information coming out of your database (i.e., reports) Information systems and processes (i.e., where information and data is gathered, where it goes and where it's hiding!)
Camping Gear	Forms and data collection tools (i.e., enrollment forms)
First Aid and First Aid Manual	Database documentation and help file
Guide or Trip Leader	Executive director, finance staff, board members, development staff, program staff, scientists, IT staff

Next Steps

It's time to pull your team together and start your journey. For more information regarding the nuts and bolts of database planning and building, visit TechSoup.org and look at the Database section for more information.