Chapter 5 in particular is the best introduction to historical database design published thus far. These rather technical references are useful reading, since any historian who intends to design a database must combine a thorough knowledge of the source material with a fundamental understanding of the potential and limitations of databases and database systems.
Database design is ultimately an exercise in methodology.
3.4.1 Sources and tables For standard relational databases, the design stage concerns translating an historical source, or collection of sources, into an efficient conceptual data model. To simplify the meaning of this process, it could be adequately described as turning sources into tables. Additionally, whether the source is dismantled into a multitude of related tables and decisions taken about data-types, linking fields and standardisation of values are also primary concerns of the designer. Unlike some social science datasets, historical tables make sense only when they are precisely defined representations of particular subjects of enquiry, whether taken from single or multiple sources. Databases that contain hundreds of fields in order to fit the data all under one roof are often unwieldy to use and are essentially the product of questionable design.