What is an Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD)? ER-modeling is a data modeling technique used in software engineering to produce a conceptual data model of a information system. Diagrams created using this ER-modeling technique are called Entity-Relationship Diagrams, or ER diagrams or ERDs. So you can say that Entity Relationship Diagrams illustrate the logical structure of databases. Dr. Peter Chen is the originator of the Entity-Relationship Model. His original paper about ER-modeling is one of the most cited papers in the computer software field. Currently the ER model serves as the foundation of many system analysis and design methodologies, computer-aided software engineering (CASE) tools, and repository systems.