I'm creating a database to capture various documents (hard copy books, electronic downloads, journal references).
I started this project some time ago. I've been working on a super large database and now have considerable more Access experience, so I'm trying to make the existing data for more user friendly. But I'm flumoxed as to the best way to tackle it. (My original efforts were pretty pathetic.)
I want a single book to be able to have multiple authors and multiple topics. Some books/articles might have half a dozen or more authors. The number of topics a book/article might fit under is potentially unlimited. For example an article about koalas could have the topics - koalas, ecology, catching, endangered species etc etc.
I think all other information is likely to be singular for each book/article (date, source, etc).
At the end of the day I want to create a search form where a user can say "show me everything we have on this topic", or "everything by this author" or "everything with word x in the title"; or a combination of such searches. I'd also like to create reports that list articles by topic, so I don't want a free entry field with multiple words. I have a key word field for that.
What would be my best table structure for this?
I started this project some time ago. I've been working on a super large database and now have considerable more Access experience, so I'm trying to make the existing data for more user friendly. But I'm flumoxed as to the best way to tackle it. (My original efforts were pretty pathetic.)
I want a single book to be able to have multiple authors and multiple topics. Some books/articles might have half a dozen or more authors. The number of topics a book/article might fit under is potentially unlimited. For example an article about koalas could have the topics - koalas, ecology, catching, endangered species etc etc.
I think all other information is likely to be singular for each book/article (date, source, etc).
At the end of the day I want to create a search form where a user can say "show me everything we have on this topic", or "everything by this author" or "everything with word x in the title"; or a combination of such searches. I'd also like to create reports that list articles by topic, so I don't want a free entry field with multiple words. I have a key word field for that.
What would be my best table structure for this?
