Computer Tuition
staff training
manual writing

Websites
promotion: SEO
promotion: PPC
administration
design

Technical Support
pc maintenance
software help
email & internet
stopping spam
web searching

Data Security
introduction
safe installation
system stability
making backups
electrical protection
intrusion protection
virus protection
disk maintenance
health

Other Areas
system admin
programming
databases

Database Administration and Development

Before my recent studies, my main background was in working with databases. Although I am not a professional database administrator as such and I do not claim to be at that level, I do have a good general grasp of the main database design principles such as specifying field parameters (data types, validation rules, etc.), designing forms, specifying relationships between tables, generating queries (using SQL if necessary), using filters, sorting, reporting, and many of the other main facets of database design and use.

For over 2 years I was in day-to-day charge of a large relational database with over 45,000 customer records for a major educational charity. It used Superbase which was significant in the pre-Windows 95 arena. I did not design the database, but I did make many recommendations for improving it, nearly all of which were implemented. I have since learned how to use Microsoft Access and also have some experience of FileMaker Pro. A few years ago I assisted a friend who runs a non-profit organisation in restructuring his Access database.

In autumn 2004 I did some data-cleansing work for the old version of "TOPS", a piece of software developed by New Broom Software Ltd.

I have a very good sense of order and logical classification (although it might not seem so from this website, which is at a rudimentary stage of development!). I am aware of the pitfalls of bad database design and poor data entry methods. I am very thorough in ensuring that the database is designed such that the right data gets entered in the right fields in the right format. This saves a lot of trouble in the long term even though more work is needed in the short term.

Work
services
recent experience
websites
qualifications
recommendations
curriculum vitae
fees


Other
Live IT Newsfeed

On the lighter side
my claim to fame!
John's computer tips!

alasdairbroun.org.uk
is hand-crafted* using
pure organic html
with CSS and SSI,
and is hosted on a
Unix Server running
Apache/1.3.29

*except for various
special features such as
newsfeeds, blogs, chat, etc.