KIT119 2025
Tutorial 1 Requirements Gathering for RDBMS
Aim
The general aim of this tutorial is to familiarize students with the process of gathering
requirements for designing and implementing a Relational Database Management System
(RDBMS) through a real-world scenario. By examining the provided cases, students will learn
the importance of understanding client needs, identifying key data entities, and formulating
relevant questions to gather essential information.
Case Study Introduction (10 mins)
Your client, Tasmanian Indigenous Care (TIC), is a local organization dedicated to providing
culturally sensitive care and support for Aboriginal communities in Tasmania. TIC offers a
range of services aimed at promoting the health and well-being of Indigenous peoples,
including healthcare access, cultural education, community outreach programs, counselling
services, and more. With a history spanning over two decades, TIC has established itself as a
trusted resource within the Aboriginal community.
Recently, Claire, the current director of TIC and a proud member of the local Indigenous
community, identified significant inefficiencies in their current data management system.
Claire and her team find themselves grappling with manual record-keeping processes,
laborious information retrieval tasks, and ongoing data maintenance challenges.
Recognizing the need for modernization, Claire has sought assistance in implementing a
robust Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) tailored to TIC's unique needs.
TIC aims to record and manage essential information related to clients, cultural programs,
staff members, and community engagements efficiently. Claire has arranged a Zoom
meeting for tomorrow to delve into the specifics of the project. Your task is to prepare a
series of questions aimed at gathering key requirements for developing the RDBMS.
Task 1: Formulating Questions: discussion on Requirements Gathering (30 mins)
In this task, students will engage in a collaborative discussion (3-4 groups) aimed at
formulating relevant questions for gathering requirements from the client, Claire, during the
initial meeting for the database project. The objective is to brainstorm and develop a
comprehensive set of questions that will help elicit essential information about the
organization's needs, objectives, and operational processes.
Challenge 1:
1. List what questions should you ask during the meeting?
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Groups will have approximately 20 minutes to discuss and formulate their questions.
Afterward, each group will have 5 minutes to present their formulated questions to the
class.
Task 2: Define Key Concepts and Refine Questions (50 mins)
In this task, students will delve deeper into fundamental concepts of database design,
including data entities, attributes, relationships, and constraints. The objective is to ensure a
clear understanding of these concepts and their relevance to the requirements gathering
process. Students will then apply this knowledge to refine the questions formulated in Task
1, ensuring they effectively capture the essential information needed for the database
project.
Challenge 2:
1. Provide an overview of data entities.
2. Discuss attributes as the characteristics or properties of entities.
3. Explore basic relationships between entities.
4. Introduce basic constraints as rules or conditions that dictate the permissible values
or behaviours within the database.
5. Review assigned questions in light of the key concepts discussed and refine them
accordingly.
Groups will have approximately 40-45 minutes to discuss. Afterward, each group will have 5-
10 minutes to present key concepts and their refined questions to the class, explaining the
rationale behind their revisions.
Challenge 3:
Relational model quiz on MyLO. It has 2 questions, and the duration is 10 minutes.
Bonus Challenge:
The Community Library is a local public library that aims to serve the residents by providing
access to a wide range of books, periodicals, and multimedia resources. In addition to
lending materials, the library also hosts various community events, reading programs, and
workshops. To improve its operations and management, the library needs a robust
Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) to efficiently record and manage
information related to its inventory, members, staff, and events.
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Design a RDBMS that captures all necessary information for the Community Library. The
database should manage information about books, members, staff, and events. Your task is
to identify the entities, their attributes, the relationships between entities, and any
constraints that should be applied to ensure data integrity and proper functioning of the
database.
Tutor Checklist
Challenge Completed (Y/N/Notes) Marks
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Bonus