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How do hierarchical databases organize records?
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information system
A woman taking a driver's license test on a computer, an example of a government using an information system to provide services to citizens.
In a hierarchical database, records are organized in a treelike structure. In this model, data is arranged such that each level of records branches off into a set of smaller, subordinate categories.12
This structure creates a parent-child relationship where record types are linked in a top-down fashion. For example, a database might group employee records under specific records that describe the departments in which those employees work. Unlike other models that allow for complex, multi-directional associations, the hierarchical model typically provides single links between sets of records at different levels.12