I just recently read “Data Modeling 101”by Scott W. Ambler where he gave an overview of fundamental data modeling skills. I think this article was excellent for anyone who was just starting to learn or refresh their skills in regards to the modeling of data.  Scott defines data modeling as the act of exploring data oriented structures.  He goes on to explain about how data models are actually used by defining three different types of models.

Types of Data Models

• Conceptual Data Model 
• Logical Data Model (LDMs)
• Physical Data Model(PDMs)

He further expands on modeling by exploring common data modeling notations because there are no industry standards for the practice of data modeling.

Scott then defines how to actually model data by expanding on entities, attributes, identities, and relationships which are the basic building blocks of data models. In addition he discusses the value of normalization for redundancy and demoralization for performance.

Finally, he discuss ways in which Developers and DBAs can become better data modelers through the use of practice, and seeking guidance from more experienced data modelers.