I would like a bit more clarification on the toxi method of storing tags in a database – mentioned elsewhere on SO.

The database schema is:

```
Table: Item
Columns: ItemID, Title, Content

Table: Tag
Columns: TagID, Title

Table: ItemTag
Columns: ItemID, TagID

```

This is probably a stupid question (but I don't know the answer)... Should each entry, in the Table Tag, have a unique title. i.e. I only store a tag once or store it every time I use it?

To illustrate, which of the two tables below should I end up with:

```
TagID     Title
1         Fish
2         Cat
3         Dog

```

or

```
TagID     Title
1         Fish
2         Fish
3         Cat
4         Fish
5         Dog
6         Cat

```

If using the first table, before entering the tag I would first have to run and sql statement to find out if it exists, correct?

*Any help will be appreciated. I had my fingers burn recently due to hacking together and indexing, want to start getting the basics correct.*