Spreadsheets are not databases.

Normalization -- what is it, and why is it important?

What:
A series of rules -- that's what database normalization boils down to.  I have had a terrible time trying to distill the "why" of database normalization, largely because I get all excited about the "what!"  So, in more concise terms than I can muster, enter the Wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Database_normalization

Why:
Databases start small, often with an Excel spreadsheet.  But -- this is important --  they're designed to get big.  Because many of us manage datasets with more than 60,000 records -- or will at some point.

How do these rules help big data sets?  Two ways:

• managing data "types"
• enforcing rules within a row, or record
  
• enforcing rules between rows and
  

A data type is a date, a currency amount, etc; think of Excel's "format" function and you get the idea.  This rule persists throughout the column

Three levels of normalization:
http://www.troubleshooters.com/littstip/ltnorm.html

More depth on our target level of normalization:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_normal_form

Important translations:

Column => Field
Row => Record

So that's where we'll begin.  I'm going to go hop on a plane in a minute.