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Rating: 
Summary: Good for a few lines on the resume
Review: By introducing data modeling and SQL together in gradually increasing level of complexity, this book introduces students to these subjects in an intuitive manner. As a matter of fact, by the time the text covers those two subjects formally in later chapters, most of my students found it almost trivial. And by building on sound data modeling principles through out, the students learn good data modeling habits from the ground up. If I have any complaints, its that when the topic of normalization is covered in a later chapter, my biggest problem is explaining to my students why anyone would have created tables that are not in second or third normal form in the first place! Truly a joy to teach from.
Rating: 
Summary: Outstanding Textbook for teaching Data Modeling and SQL
Review: By introducing data modeling and SQL together in gradually increasing level of complexity, this book introduces students to these subjects in an intuitive manner. As a matter of fact, by the time the text covers those two subjects formally in later chapters, most of my students found it almost trivial. And by building on sound data modeling principles through out, the students learn good data modeling habits from the ground up. If I have any complaints, its that when the topic of normalization is covered in a later chapter, my biggest problem is explaining to my students why anyone would have created tables that are not in second or third normal form in the first place! Truly a joy to teach from.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book!!
Review: I had the good fortune of taking a data management class with Dr. Watson. He uses this book for an MBA level course on data management.He is an excellent teacher with a great sense of humor and it reflects very well in the way this book has been written. Even though I had known SQL well and also bits and pieces of data modeling prior to taking the class, this book put it all together very nicely. Data Modeling is taught from the perspective of a business analyst/manager. It covers virtually any type of business problem you may encounter and I guarantee that you won't find any more complex SQL queries in your real life than the ones this book covers at length. The SQL playbook is simply a great reference!! I would highly recommend it to any business student or executive who has anything to do with data management.
Rating:
Summary: Good for a few lines on the resume
Review: I have two sets of comments - one for students and one for professors. Students first... Watson focuses primarily on the practical aspects of SQL in an organizational database environment. However, database theory is also taught fairly well through the many examples offered in the text. Students will have ample opportunity to hone their hands-on skills, and as such, should be confident enough to put a line on their resume for SQL/ Database skills by the time the course is over. Although the publisher's website offers little support beyond lecture slides, the author's personal website does offer more in this regard. Now for professors... The book is organized well and is thorough in its coverage of SQL and organizational database applications. I don't think I have seen a better text for teaching SQL that wasn't explicitly an SQL text. For my part, though, I prefer a deductive approach to teaching database theory rather than the inductive approach preferred by the text. Also, I would have preferred some more support materials for instructors, such as an instructor CD with testbanks, cases, SQL code examples from the text and problems, etc. Although the author's personal website carries ample support materials, it would be nice to have a CD bundled with the text. The one glaring omission in the instructor support materials was that there doesn't seem to be a testbank available for this text!
Rating:
Summary: An extremely well written book
Review: The writer undertakes an ambitious tasks but handles it admirably with easy enjoyable reading. The book touches on many areas but provides enough depth for one to gain a reasonable understanding of the important areas of Data Management. I found the section on OODMS particularly helpful since I have just finished a MS course that covers the details of Object Oriented Analysis and Design but did not show how it fitted into the big picture. This book does all that and more. For those needing an introduction to modern Data Management I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Out of Date, and Not User Friendly
Review: This book is out of date. I wouldn't recommend it.
Rating:
Summary: Perfect balance of depth and breadth
Review: This book is written not for nerds or for lovers of formalisms, but for generalists with a need to really manage data, be competent at designing databases and at using them. It is a bit verbose but reads like a novel. Very didactic, but the reference value could be improved. All in all, better than many books on databases that tend to be narrow-perspectived. Well worth buying.
Rating:
Summary: Data modeling and SQL integrated
Review: This is a beautiful, accessible, up to date, patient, didactic, and all in all a very good book. A Dutch teacher of databases since a long time, I never came across quite the right thing for my non-Dutch students until I found this one.
Watson is not a computer nerd. He appreciates the fact that data modeling problems are real-world problems. And the fact that modeling and SQL are two sides of the same coin: getting the data IN a database in order to get information FROM it. And that fact that databases operate in an organization, not in a vacuum.
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