This text is designed to introduce laboratory supervisors and managers, who have only a limited knowledge of computer programming, to the use of a relational database for the management of laboratory data. No previous knowledge of a programming language is assumed, as the detailed step-by-step instruction in the text leads the reader through the process of designing the structure of a simple functional Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS). The pragmatic tutorial approach adopted in the text leads to an intuitive understanding of the nature of relational databases, and that of Borland's Paradox relational database in particular. The full range of advanced features in Paradox are covered in the text, and each is used in at least one module of the application. The text goes beyond the interactive use of the menu-driven Paradox database, which is covered in many texts on the use of programming languages, and makes extensive use of the Paradox Application Language, PAL, to prepare code for the modules in the Laboratory Information Management System.