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Chapter 4 Information and Databases. Chapter Outline. Data Modeling: Documenting Information Architecture User’s View of a Computerized Database Database Management Systems Text Databases and Hypertext Evaluating Information Used in Business Processes
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Chapter Outline • Data Modeling: Documenting Information Architecture • User’s View of a Computerized Database • Database Management Systems • Text Databases and Hypertext • Evaluating Information Used in Business Processes • Models as Components of Information Systems
Data Modeling: Documenting Information Architecture • Entity-Relationship Diagrams • Identifying the Data in Information Systems
An information architecture • What information is in a system? • How is the information organized? • How can users get the information they want? • Are these points independent? • How can we represent this? Do we need a tool?
A model for representing information and relationships • What kinds of things are important in this system? • How are these things (entities) related? • What information (attributes) are collected about these things?
Attributes (information) about our entities (from Alter pp. 113) • PROFESSOR • Employee identification number • Name • Address • Birthdate • Office telephone • Social Security numberSTUDENT • Student identification number • Name • Address • Birthdate • Telephone • Gender • Ethic group • Social Security numberOFFICE • Office number • Building • Telephone extension • DEPARTMENT • Department identifier • College • Department head • Scheduling coordinatorCOURSE • Course number • Department • Required of department major (y/n) • Course descriptionSECTION • Section identification number • Semester • Year • Classroom • Start time • End time • Days of week for class meetings
What other attributes may be needed • What needs to be added? • What needs to be changed? • What are common attributes that can be used to “join” the tables? • For class Thursday, have an idea of how you think these entities could be improved…we are going to spend some time setting up a database
User’s View of a Computerized Database • Types of Data • What is a Database? • What is a File? • Relational Databases • Geographic Information Systems
Types of data… • Formatted data items • Text • Images • Audio • Video
What is a database? • A structured collection of items stored, controlled and accessed through a computer based on predefined relationships between predetermined data types. • What are some examples of databases that you are familiar with? • NOT a DBMS!
Files and records and fields... • File • A set of records • Record • A set of fields • Field • A group of characters with a predefined meaning • Key • A field that uniquely identifies an entity
Relational Databases • “A set of two-dimensional tables in which one or more key-fields in each tables are associated with corresponding key or non-key fields in other tables.” • Normalization • eliminating redundancies from tables in the database • Typically accessed via SQL
Other types of databases • Geographical Information Systems • becoming quite important for county and local governments • Locally, Orange County and the Town of Chapel Hill are looking for ways to integrate GIS data with their information systems • Image/video databases
Database Management Systems • Defining the Database • Methods for Accessing Data in a Computer System • Processing Transactions • Controlling Distributed Databases • Backup and Recovery
So…what is a DBMS? • Examples • Oracle • Sybase • Access • Makes data more of an enterprise resource and makes programming work more effective/efficient
Defining the database and Access to Data • Data definition • kept in a data dictionary • Metadata (data about data!) • Data definition for a database is a schema • DBMS Access • typically will be some form of indexed access • sometimes, sequential access is useful • less flexible • controlled by the DBMS to minimize complexity
Transaction processing • Small section in the book, but very important • provides control for logical units of work • locks resources • manages concurrency • provides queuing and prioritization • Can be in the DBMS or a separate transaction server
Controlling Distributed Databases • Replication • decentralized storage of information • Two-phase commit • maintain consistency • try to protect data from network or system failures
Backup and recovery • Backup is often neglected • Disaster recovery plans are often non-existent • Why do you need a disaster recovery plan? • What is in such a plan?
Review of things covered so far... • A model for describing information in a system and the relationships • the ERD • What is a database? • What is a DBMS? • What is a transaction processing system? • What about backup and recovery?
Hands-on Lab: Building a database • Use your modified table 4.2 (from Alter, page 113) • Create tables in Access for the entities • Establish appropriate relationships • Populate with sample information
Text Databases and Hypertext • Hypertext • Browsers • Indexes and Search Engines
Hypertext • Most common example today is HTML • HyperText Markup Language • Web combines hypertext and multimedia to be a “hypermedia” system • Let’s look at some HTML • This may be a review for many, but bear with us so we can all reach a common level of understanding
The HTML for our class main page <!doctype html public "-//w3c//dtd html 4.0 transitional//en"> <html> <head> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> <meta name="GENERATOR" content="Mozilla/4.7 [en] (Win98; I) [Netscape]"> <meta name="Author" content="Joel Dunn"> <title>INLS60, Fall 2000</title> </head> <body bgcolor="#FFFFFF"> <center>School of Information and Library Science <br>University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill</center> <center> <h2> INLS60<br> Information Systems Analysis and Design<br> Fall 2000</h2></center> <center>Tuesday/Thursday 2:00-3:15PM <br>307 Manning <br>Joel Dunn <br>joel_dunn@unc.edu <br>Office - 440 W. Franklin St., Rm. 07 <br>Phone: Office - 966-5837; Home - 968-1911 <p><a href="F00-Syllabus.html">Syllabus</a> / <a href="F00-Calendar.html">Calendar</a> / <a href="F00-Assignments.html">Assignments</a> / <a href="F00-Comm.html">Communications</a></center> <p> <hr ALIGN="CENTER"><b>Course Description:</b> <p>Analysis of organizational problems and how information systems can be designed to solve those problems. Application of database and interface design principles to the implementation of information systems. <p> <hr ALIGN="CENTER"> <p><i>Last modified 3 August, 2000</i> <br><i><a href="mailto:joel_dunn@unc.edu">Joel Dunn</a></i> </body> </html>
How does the browser fit in? • Retrieve pages from the text databases of Web servers • Act as today’s defacto standard terminal for other types of database access • http://bullhead.ais.unc.edu/cgi-bin/waisretrieve.pl?1301425xxx1303956xxx/home/longlegs/flyfish/log00/log0001d.txt:flyfish00 • Provide vector to launch applets • Provide access to servlets • Both applets & servlets are used for data access
Indexes and search engines • In the web context, what is an index? • What does a search engine do? • How is a search engine like a DBMS? • How has the pervasiveness of hypertext and web-based searching changed the way we deal with collections of information? • What are your favorite search engines, and why?
Evaluating Information Used in Business Processes • Information Quality • Information Accessibility • Information Presentation • Information Security
Information quality • INFORMATION QUALITY • ACCURACY • PRECISION • COMPLETENESS • AGE • TIMELINESS • SOURCE • What are some examples of these qualities?
Information accessibility, presentation and security • INFORMATION ACCESSIBILITY • AVAILABILITY • ADMISSIBILITY • INFORMATION PRESENTATION • LEVEL OF SUMMARIZATION • FORMAT • INFORMATION SECURITY • ACCESS RESTRICTION • ENCRYPTION
Let’s think about a database and evaluate it based on these criteria • What about your academic record, your history of courses taken and grades received here at UNC?
Models as Components of Information Systems • Mental Models and Mathematical Models • What-if Questions
Models… • A part of the decision making process
Mathematical model • Series of equations/algorithms that describe relationships between variables • Is often an instantiation of a mental model in an information system to apply data to solve a problem
What-if Questions • Enabled by mathematical models • How things could operate given a change in circumstances • Discussion item… • how might we try to build a model to examine the impact of dramatically increased enrollment at UNC over the next 10 years? What elements would we put in our model; what would we exclude?