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A database is an organized collection of data. The term originated within the computer industry, but its meaning has been broadened by popular use, to the extent that the European Database Directive (which creates intellectual property rights for databases) includes non-electronic databases within its definition. This article is confined to a more technical use of the term; though even amongst computing professionals, some attach a much wider meaning to the word than others.

One possible definition is that a database is a collection of records stored in a computer in a systematic way, so that a computer program can consult it to answer questions. For better retrieval and sorting, each record is usually organized as a set of data elements (facts). The items retrieved in answer to queries become information that can be used to make decisions. The computer program used to manage and query a database is known as a database management system (DBMS). The properties and design of database systems are included in the study of information science.

The central concept of a database is that of a collection of records, or pieces of knowledge. Typically, for a given database, there is a structural description of the type of facts held in that database: this description is known as a schema. The schema describes the objects that are represented in the database, and the relationships among them. There are a number of different ways of organizing a schema, that is, of modeling the database structure: these are known as database models (or data models). The model in most common use today is the relational model, which in layman's terms represents all information in the form of multiple related tables each consisting of rows and columns (the true definition uses mathematical terminology). This model represents relationships by the use of values common to more than one table. Other models such as the hierarchical model and the network model use a more explicit representation of relationships.

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ACM SIGMOD Online - ACM's Special Interest Group on Management Of Data.

AutoMed Data Integration Project - Documentation and software from the AutoMed project, which provides the first implementation of the both as view approach to data integration

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Meta Description: [ Bibliographies on Database Research, part of the Collection of Computer Science Bibliographies ]

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Meta Description: [ Presentation of a content-based image retrieval system in big distributed archives ]

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Data Modelling - Explains the value of data modelling in an application analysis project.
Meta Description: [ Explains the value of data modeling in an application analysis project; goes through some of the processes in a data modeling session: identifying entities, attributes, and relationships, drawing and reading entity relationship diagrams (ERD). ]

Data Warehousing and OLAP - Papers on data warehousing and online analytical processing available online.

Database DebunkIing - Site dedicated to dispelling fallacies and misconceptions prevailing in the database industry.

Database Management Systems - Computer Science course for Database management systems. Has information about SQL and Relational Algebra. A Database-I course for graduates of the masters program in computer science

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Meta Description: [ This article is dedicated in memory of Edgar F. Codd - Father of Modern Relational Database Theory. In this article we will delve into the history of databases - how it started, where the industry is now and what its potential achievements will be. ]

DBLP Bibliography - Bibliography primarily focused on DataBase systems and Logic Programming

DBWORLD - An ACM SIGMOD discussion email list announcing conferences, jobs, books, software and grants. Posting requires (free) registration.

IEEE Computer Society Technical Committee on Data Engineering - A subgroup of the Computer Society concerned with the role of data in the design, development, management and utilization of information systems.

500 Interval Skip Lists - Data structures for finding all intervals that overlap a point, applied to active databases. Research paper and source code.

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