5. Case Study - Big V Video

Big V Video is a video store that uses an information system. The participants of the information system are the manager and staff. The information technology consists of a personal computer and an electronic database. The database storesmembership details, video details and all video transactions.

When a new customer comes into Big V Video, they fill out a membership form containing their personal details.  The member data consists of their family name, first name, address, phone number, age, sex, date of birth and work number. It is entered into a membership table. New customers select a personal identification number (PIN) and receive a membership card with a barcode.

When a new video is bought, data is entered into a video table. The video data consists of an identity number, the title, the main stars, the rating and an entertainment category. The videos are also allocated barcodes for efficient processing. When a customer borrows a video, the membership and video barcodes are both scanned. This data is automatically inserted into the membership and video tables.

The electronic database provides readily available information about the business at any time. The type of information that is regularly required includes:
  • determining whether a particular video is in the store
  • listing all the videos available in a particular category
  • producing a list of overdue videos
  • finding a customer’s membership number if a card is lost
  • sending promotional material to valued customers
The manager and staff at Big V Video are continually using information technology to carry out the following information processes:
  • collecting—scanning the video and membership barcodes
  • organising—ensuring the data is in the correct format to be used by the database
  • analysing—searching and sorting the database to produce reports
  • storing and retrieving—saving the database to a disk
  • processing—calculating late fees on overdue videos
  • transmitting and receiving—transferring the data between peripheral devices
  • displaying—obtaining a weekly report of all video transactions.

These processes are not necessarily completed in a particular order. The staff can move from organising the data to displaying the information. However, the rate at which these information processes are carried out is critical to the efficiency of the store. If the staff are
not proficient in producing reports of overdue videos, the information system will not be operating efficiently.


Questions
  1. What information is stored in the database?

  2. List the items of data used in the member table, and their data types.

  3. List the items of data used in the video table, and their data types.

  4. Describe the procedures associated with borrowing a video.

  5. What information can Big V Video produce from its electronic database?

  6. The information system at Big V Video is very efficient. Explain how the system is efficient in terms of effort, time and cost.

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