As its title implies, this book covers selected important topics in the area of data administration. There are ten chapters, which cover the following contents: The Database Environment, Principles of Data Administration (two chapters), Database Design Methodology, Security, and Integrity (three chapters), Conflict Resolution, Auditing Techniques, and Data Dictionaries.

The book is developed from the author’s experiences, in particular the work he did for a large public utility. The book contains several case studies, all of which are related to that project. One advantage of this approach is that the reader gets a good feeling for a large administration project, and sees the various considerations and design decisions that were made.

This book is intended to cover “selected topics.” Thus, there is no effort to be complete or comprehensive. The author sticks to his experience, and does not consider alternative approaches. Consequently, all topics are not treated equally; for example, the issue of “security” is treated in more detail than other topics. It is perhaps unfair to compare this work with the standard book by Weldon [1], since they have different concerns. This book covers a subset of Weldon’s topics, with the exception of an expanded section on auditing. In all cases, however, Weldon is more comprehensive and detailed.

The book is geared towards DP professionals who wish to become familiar with this area on their own, and data administrators who need a technical guide. Each chapter is independent of the others, so one may study only what one is interested in. The writing style is conversational, and the unified case studies give the user a good idea of the issues involved. It is, therefore, a good book for introducing the area to a novice. It provides a springboard to more complete treatments of the area (such as [1]), when the user is ready.