Week 1 Flashcards
Data
Raw facts, or facts that have not yet been processed to reveal their meaning to the end user.
Information
The result of processing raw data to reveal it’s meaning. Information consists of transformed data and facilitates decision making.
Knowledge
The body of information and facts about a specific subject. Knowledge implies familiarity, awareness, and understanding of information as it applies to an environment. A key characteristic is that new knowledge can be derived from old knowledge.
Data Management
A process that focuses on data collection, storage and retrieval. Common data management functions include addition, deletion, modification, and listing.
Database
A shared, integrated computer structure that houses a collection of related data. A database contains two types of data: end-user data (raw facts) and metadata.
Metadata
Data about data; that is, data about data characteristics and relationships. See also Data Dictionary.
DBMS
The collection of programs that manages the database structure and controls access to the data stored in the database.
Data inconsistency
A condition in which different versions of the same data yield different (inconsistent) results.
Query
A question or tasks asked by an end user of a database in the form of SQL code. A specific request for data manipulation issued by the end user or the application to the DBMS.
ad hoc query
a “spur of the moment” question
query result set
The collection of data rows returned by a query.
Data Quality
A comprehensive approach to ensuring the accuracy, validity, and timeliness of data.
single-user database
A database that supports only one user at a time.
desktop database
A single-user database that runs on a personal computer.
Multiuser database
A database that supports multiple concurrent users.
Workgroup database
A multiuser database that usually supports fewer than 50 users or is used for a specific department in an organization.
Enterprise Database
The overall company data representation which provides support for present and expected future needs.
Centralized database
A database located at a single site.
Distributed database
A logically related database that is stored in two or more physical independent sites.
Cloud Database
A database that is created and maintained using cloud services, such as Microsoft Azure or Amazon AWS.
General Purpose databases
A database that contains a wide variety of data used in multiple disciplines.
Discipline-specific databases
A database that contains data focused on a specific subject area.
Operational database
A database designed primarily to support a companys day-to-day operations. Also known as a transactional database, OLTP database or production database.
OLTP online transaction processing database
A database designed primarily to support a companys day-to-day operations. Also known as a transactional database, OLTP database or production database.
Transactional database
A database designed primarily to support a companys day-to-day operations. Also known as a transactional database, OLTP database or production database.
Production database
A database designed primarily to support a companys day-to-day operations. Also known as a transactional database, OLTP database or production database.
Analytical database
A database focused primarily on storing historical data and business metrics used for tactical or strategic decision making.
Data warehouse
An integrated, subject-oriented, time-variant, nonvolatile collection of data that provides support for decision making.
Online analytical processing (OLAP)
A set of decision support system (DSS) tools that use multidimensional data analysis environment that supports decision making, business modeling, and operations research.
Business intelligence
A set of tools and processes used to capture, collect, integrate, store and analyse data to support business decision making.
Unstructured Data
Data that exists in its original, raw state; that is, in the format which it was collected. Usually unstructured data does not conform to a predefined data model.
Structured Data
Data that has been formatted to facilitate storage, use, and information generation in a predefined data model.
Semistructured data
Data that has already been processed to some extent.
Extensible Markup Language XML
A meta-language used to represent and manipulate data elements. Unlike other markup languages, XML permits the manipulation of a documents data elements. XML facilitates the exchange of structured documents such as orders and invoices over the internet.
XML database
A database system that stores and manages semistructured XML data.
Social Media
Web and mobile technologies that enable “Anywhere, anytime, always on” human interactions.
NoSQL
A new generation of dbms that is not based on the traditional relational database model.
Database design
The process that yiels the description of the database structure and determines the database components. The second phase of the database life cycle.
data processing (DP) specialist
the person responsible for developing and managing a computerized file processing system.
Field
A character or group of characters (alphabetic or numeric) that has a specific meaning. A field is used to define and store data.
Record
A logically connected set of one or more fields that describes a person, place, or thing.
File
A collection of related records for example a file might contain data about students currently enrolled at Gigantic University.
Structural dependence
A data characteristic in which a change in the database schema affects data access thus requiring changes in all access programs.
structural independence
A data characteristic in which changes in the database schema do not affect data access.
data type
Defines the kind of values that can be used or stored. Also, used in programming languages and database systems to determine the operations that can be applied to such data.
data dependence
A data condition in which data representation and manipulation are dependent on the physical data storage characteristics.
Data independence
A condition in which data access is unaffected by changes in the physical data storage characteristics.
Logical data format
The way a person views data within the context of a problem domain.
Phsyical Data format
The way a computer sees (stores) data.
islands pf information.
The old file system environment, pools of independent, often duplicated, and inconsistent data created and managed by different departments.
Data redundancy
Exists when the same data is stored unnecessarily at different places.
Data integrity
In a relational database, a condition in which the data in the database complies with all entity and referential integrity constraints.
Data anomaly
A data abnormality in which inconsistent changes have been made to a database. for example, an employee moves, but the address change is not corrected in all files in the database.
Database system
An organization of components that defines and regulates the collection, storage, management, and use of data in a database environment.
Data Dictionary
A DBMS component that stores metadata-data about data. Thus, the data dictionary contains the data definition as well as their characteristics and relationships. A data dictionary may also include data that are external to the DBMS. Also known as an information resource dictionary. See also active data dictionary, metadata, passive data dictionary.
Performance tuning
Activities that make a database perform more efficiently in terms of storage and access speed.
query language
A nonprocedural language that is used by a DBMS to maniplate its data. An example of a query language is SQL.
SQL Structured Query Language
A powerful and flexible relational database language composed of commands that enables users to create database and table structures, perform various types of data manipulation and data administration, and query the database to extract useful information.
application programming intergfaces API
Software through which applications interact with each other transmitting data, messages, status, etc. Also specifically software through which programmers interact with middleware. An API allows the use of generic SQL code, thereby allowing client processes to be database server-independent.
discpilpline specific database
A database that contains data focused on a specific subject area.
general purpose database
A database that contains a wide variety of data used in multiple disciplines
