The three-dimensional model in all of its glory!

When Barbara Anderson (Integration) got to work last week, she found a surprise from Elizabeth Bell and Erika Buchholz (both of Integration) in her cubicle…an amazing, three-dimensional data model!

Barbara was the architect of Emory Shared Data (ESD). Nicknamed “the DATAM8R” (it is on her car license tag), Barbara created the entity relationship diagram as a way to demonstrate electronic relationships visually.

Elizabeth and Erica took the well-known relationship tables from the model and created a physical replica while Barbara was at home telecommuting. They even included data on the cards … the PRSN (person) card representing the PRSN table in ESD has data for three people … Barbara, Bruce Anderson (Infrastructure) and their daughter Lori – all of whom have had a relationship with Emory.

Rubber bands were used to reflect the relationships between the cards (or tables). “We wanted to get it in her office early so she would have time to enjoy it,” said Elizabeth.

“I got a chuckle over it,” said Barbara. “I think it reflects amazing creativity and generosity.”