Organizing info from a database into sheets

Hello,

I have a very large database with about 12,000 names, email addresses, phone numbers, region, industry etc etc.
I am trying to organize this database into a more efficient format. I'd like to be able to sort all of the contacts from a certain region onto another sheet, and also have another sheet that is sort be region. Then, in the future, when I add other entries into the database, I'd like for them to be automatically sorted. Theoretically the ultimate goal is to be able to be able to get a list of all the people who are in a certain industry, or all of the people by a region.. I don't know if I explained this clearly..

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I thought about If/Then functions, but I'm not really sure what the best way to organize all of this is. Any ideas?

mjulian@bowdoin.edu