Why is the Monitoring Database so complex? Wouldn it just be easier to use a spreadsheet?
The short answer is: data integrity, data integrity, data integrity! A well-designed database should be a model of some aspect of the “real world”-i.e., the data entities (tables, fields, data values) should reflect some reality (e.g. if you count 7 plants of a certain species, the data value you record is “7”; if you’re working in plot #1, you tell the system you collected data in plot #1; if Lloyd L. Loope collected the data, an entry which corresponds to him [e.g. data collector=”LLL”] is made in the database). Likewise, the relationships among data entities should reflect some reality: before you enter a new Species in the TAXA table, the system must already have information about the Genus; before you tell the system that “LLL” was the data collector, the system must “know” (you must have told it) that “LLL” exists (and know some information about “LLL”, such as that the person’s Name is “Lloyd L. Loope”). These relationships should intuitively make sense: they are based on real-w
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- Why is the Monitoring Database so complex? Wouldn it just be easier to use a spreadsheet?
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