TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION
APPROVAL
DEDICATION
ACKNOWLEGEMENTS iv
ACRONYMS/ABBREVIATIONS v
LIST OF TABLES
LIST OF FIGURES
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DEFINITIONS AND TERMS
Abstract
1.0 Introduction 1
1.1 Background to the study 1
1.2 Statement of the problem 3
1.3 Objectives 3
1.3.1 General (main) objective 3
1.3.2 Specific objectives 3
1.4 Justification of the project 3
1.5 Scope of the project 4
1.6 Conclusion 4
CHAPTER 2 5
LITERATURE REVIEW 5
2.0 Introduction 5
2.1 Issues related to the study title 5
2.1.1 Information systems 5
2.1.2 Information Technology 6
2.2 Database 7
2.2.1 Terminologies in database 7
2.2.1.1 Entities 7
2.2.1.2 Attributes 7
2.2.1.3 Entity Integrity 7
2.2.1.4 Referential Integrity 7
2.3 Database management system-DBMS 7
2.3.1 Function of a database management system 8
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2.3.2 Advantages of Database management systems 8
2.3.3 Disadvantages of Database management system 9
2.4 Development Tools 15
2.4.1 Microsofl Visual Basic Programming Language (VB) 15
2.4.2 Operating systems 16
2.4.3 Database management system (DBMS) 16
2.5 Conclusion 21
CHAPTER 3 22
METHODOLOGY 22
3.1 Introduction 22
3.2 Procedure of the study 22
3.3 Research Methodology 22
3.4 Research technique 22
3.5 Target population 22
3.6 Units of inquiry 22
3.7 Sampling techniques 23
3.8 Data collection methods 23
3.8.1 Primary methods 23
3.8.2 Secondary methods 24
3.9 System development Methodology 24
3.9.1 Systems Development Life Cycle (SDLC) 24
3.10 Conclusion 25
CHAPTER FOUR 26
SYSTEM DESIGN 26
4.1 Introduction 26
4.2 Analysis of the current system 26
4.2.1 Strengths of the current system 27
4.2.2 Weaknesses of the current system 27
4.3.0 Desired system 27
4.3.1 Functional requirements 27
4.3.2 Non-Functional requirements 28
4.3.3 System specification 28
4.3.4 System requirements 29
4.3.5 User requirements of the new system 29
4.3.6 Security requirements 30
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4.3.7 Organizational Requirements 30
4.3.8 User requirements 30
4.5.1 System administrator 31
4.6 Technical user 31
4.7 Final system 31
4.7.1 DETAILED ANALYSIS AND DESIGN 31
4.7.2 Conceptual Design 31
4.7.3 Logical design 36
4.8 Conclusion 39
CHAPTER 5 40
SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION 40
5.1 Introduction 40
5.2 Project implementation 40
5.2.1 System implementation 40
5.3 Program testing 45
5.4 System Specification 46
5.4.1 Sofiware Specification 46
5.4.2 Hardware Specifications 47
5,4.3 System Testing and Limitations 47
5.5 Social and Ethical Issues 48
5.5.1 Ethical and Social Issues Concerning IT 48
5.5.2 User training 49
5.6 System conversion 50
5.7 Conclusion 51
CHAPTER 6 52
RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION 52
6.1 Introduction 52
6.2 Conclusion 53
6.3 Recommendations 54
6.4 Areas for Further Work 54
Bibliography
Appendix A: Glossary 56
Appendix B: Budget 60
Appendix C: Questionnaire 61
Appendix D: Interview Guide 64
ABSTRACT Information is a very important aspect in our day-to-day activities to ensure effective communication. As result of this, Information Communication Technology plays a great role to guarantee efficient and effective communication within and among different institutions and organizations. In response to this, each organizationlinstitution strives to make sure that there is a secure means of disseminating, storing and retrieving of information within their boundaries. This calls for an information system that is capable of handling all these tasks without fail. The outpatient department of Webuye District hospital has been used as a case study. With the use of computer database systems, it becomes easier to run and effectively coordinate the operations of the department bearing in mind the environment under which it operates (vast inhabited national referral hospital). Consequently, in this project, i have displayed database development using the system development lifecycle to come up with a good database design for ease of operations within the department, using Microsoft Access and Visual Basic 6.0.
