From SLIS to Our Careers

April 30, 2012SLIS S-511

Group MembersKatherine Harmeyer – Database AnalystPatrick Heisel – Technical LeadStephanie Pike – DocumentationAlan Rhoda – Documentation and Team Lead

Project DescriptionOur client: SLIS Career Services Office (CSO)Focus: SLIS online jobs database (http://

www.slis.indiana.edu/careers/students.html)Current database limitations:o Limited search functionalityo Poor recall on keyword searcheso Limited usefulness for career prep

Project DescriptionWe think we can do better. Our proposed solution requires:Additional tables for career types (positions), skill

sets (skills), and SLIS coursesControlled vocabulary for positions and skills

Our solution will provide:Better recallFiltering by career type (position)Career prep guidance

All with only minimal additional requirements for data entry.

Database Flow DiagramThe revised database will affect information flow in two ways:

(1)Job entry(2)Search and browsing of job postings

We’ll diagram these processes separately.

Job EntryBEFOREBEFORE AFTER

addition shown in grey

Search / Browse

BEFORE

Search / Browse

AFTERadditions / changes shown in grey

Preliminary Functionality GoalsMinimally, the system should enable users to:Browse all recent job listingsFrom a single job posting, find similar job

postings and identify its associated career type (position), skills associated with that career type, and which SLIS courses provide training in those skills

From a career type, find all job postings of that type, associated skills, and related SLIS courses

Preliminary Functionality Goals

Full Functionality GoalsEventually, we would like a database interface that enables users to:Discover, from a SLIS course, the skills

taught in that course, careers that emphasize those skills, and recent job postings related to those careers

Discover, from a given skill, which SLIS courses provide training in that skill, which careers emphasize it, and recent job postings related to those careers

Full Functionality Goals

User-Centered Design DecisionsKeep the appearance of the interface similar to

the familiar current SLIS interfaceKeep data entry requirements similar to current

CSO staff do not have time for elaborate data entry

Hence, we only require the one additional step of associating each job posting with a position type

Enhance search functionality by enabling filtering by position type

Display related job, position, skill, and course information on the same page for easy cross-referencing.

Business RulesThe database requires four main entities (job, position, skill, and course) and three bridge tables (job_position, position_skill, and course_skill).

Each job has at least one job_position.Each job_position belongs to exactly one job.

Each position can belong to any number of job_positions.Each job_position belongs to exactly one position.

Each position has at least one position_skill.Each position_skill belongs to exactly one position.

Each skill has at least one position_skill.Each position_skill belongs to exactly one skill.

Each skill belongs to at least one course_skill.Each course_skill belongs to exactly one skill.

Each course has at least one course_skill.Each course_skill belongs to exactly one course.

E-R Diagram

Full Schema

Data Definition Table

AssessmentValidation of database against objectives

Database allows the user to view all recent job listings

Users can find similar job postings using a fuzzy search and/or position search

Users can find information on generic position types

Users can use the database to determine what courses to take and what skills each course develops

The database centralizes the storage of SLIS job postings

AssessmentWeaknesses & limitations

Certain data about job postings is not stored in individual columns

Skills are linked to jobs through courses through positions.

International jobs are listed as “international” in the state (hold over from current SLIS database)

AssessmentPossible future changes and upgrades

Add columns to the job table to accommodate additional data (e.g., employer contact information)

Implement columns and queries to sort jobs by type:full time, part time, internship, etc.

Add field for country to address international jobs issue