Chapter 1
Data: The New
Corporate Resource
Fundamentals of Database Management Systems,
2nd ed by
Mark L. Gillenson, Ph.D.
University of Memphis
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Chapter Objectives
Explain why humankind’s interest in data goes back to ancient
times.
Describe how data needs have historically driven many
information technology developments.
Describe the evolution of data storage media during the last
century.
Relate the idea of data as a corporate resource that can be
used to gain a competitive advantage to the development of
the database management systems environment.
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Data
Data - the foundation of technological activity
Database - a highly organized collection of
assembled data
Database Management System - sophisticated
software that controls the database and the database
environment
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What is Data?
A single piece of data is a single fact about something
that interests us.
A fact can be any characteristic of an object.
In a university environment it may be the fact that student
Gloria Thomas has completed 96 credits;
Professor Howard Gold graduated from Ohio State
University;
It may be the fact that English 349 is being held in Room
830 of Alumni Hall
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History of Data
People have been interested in data at least since 12,000 years ago.
Non-computer, primitive methods of data storage and handling.
Shepherds kept track of their flocks with pebbles.
A Primitive but legitimate example of data storage and retrieval
Dating back to 8500 B.C., excavated clay tokens or “counters” may
have been used for record keeping in primitive forms of accounting.
Tokens, with special markings on them, were sealed in hollow clay
vessels that accompanied commercial goods in transit.
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History of Data
History of Data
دفتر
الحسابات
Double-entry bookkeeping - originated in the trading
centers of fourteenth century Italy.
The earliest known example is from a merchant in
Genoa and dates to the year 1340. 1-7
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Data Through the Ages
Record-keeping - the recording of data to keep track of how
much a person has produced and what it can be exchanged or
sold for.
With time, different kinds of data were kept
calendars, census data, surveys, land ownership records, marriage
records, records of church contributions, family trees, etc.
Early Data Problems: Issue Calculating
Devices
People interested in devices that could “automatically”
process their data.
Blaise Pascal produced an adding machine that was an early
version of today’s mechanical automobile odometers.
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Punched Cards - Data Storage
Invented in 1805 by Joseph Marie Jacquard of France
.
Jacquard’s method of storing fabric patterns [Wool
yarn = ]غزل الصوف, a form of graphic data, as holes
in punched cards was a very clever means of data
storage.
Of great importance for computing devices to follow.
“Information is the oxygen of modern Societies”
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Era of Modern Information Processing
The 1880 U.S. Census took about seven years to compile by
hand. But it took 5 years in 1890 thanks to Herman Machine.
Basing his work on Jacquard’s punched card concept, Herman
Hollerith arranged to have the census data stored in punched
cards and invented machinery to tabulate them.
In 1896 Hollerith formed the Tabulating Machine Company to
produce and commercially market his devices -- this later
became IBM.
James Powers developed devices to automatically feed cards
into the equipment and to automatically print results.
In 1911 he established the Powers Tabulating Machine
Company -- this later became Unisys Corporation. 1-10
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The Mid-1950s
The introduction of electronic computers.
Witnessed a boom in economic development.
From this point onward, it would be virtually impossible to tie
advances in computing devices to specific, landmark data
storage and retrieval needs.
Blu-ray Disc is
a digital optical
disc storage format.
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Modern Data Storage Media
Punched paper tape - The earliest form of modern data
storage, introduced in the 1870s and 1880s.
Punched cards were the only data storage medium used in the
increasingly sophisticated electromechanical accounting
machines of the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s.
Middle to late 1930s saw the beginning of the era of erasable
magnetic storage media.
By late 1940s, early work was done on the use of magnetic
tape for recording data.
By 1950, several companies were developing the magnetic
tape concept for commercial use 1-12
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Modern Data Storage Media
Magnetic Tape - commercially available units in 1952.
Direct Access Magnetic Devices: Are devices that can directly
read or write to a specific place.
Magnetic Drum - Predecessors of magnetic disk technology.
Magnetic Disk - commercially available in mid 1950s.
Compact Disk (CD) – introduced in 1985.
Solid-state technology – Flash drives.
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The future of data Storage
DNA- Short Video
DNA – Second video
DNA- More detailed video
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Using Data for Competitive Advantage
Data has become indispensable to every kind of modern
business and government organization.
1. Data,
2. The applications that process the data, and
3. The computers on which the applications run are fundamental
to every aspect of every kind of endeavor.
Data is a corporate resource, possibly the most important
corporate resource.
Data can give a company a crucial competitive advantage.
e.g., FedEx had a significant competitive advantage when it
first provided access to its package tracking data on its Web
site.
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Problems in Storing and Accessing Data
Difficult to store and to provide efficient, accurate access to a
company’s data.
1. The volume of data that companies have is massive.
Wal-Mart estimates its data warehouse contains hundreds of terabytes
(trillions of characters) of data.
All major banks today give their depositors Internet access to their
accounts.
2. Larger number of people want access to data:
Employees
Customers
Trading partners
3. Additional issues include: data security, data privacy, data
accuracy and backup & recovery.
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Data Security
Involves a company protecting its data from theft, malicious
destruction, deliberate attempts at making phony changes to the
data: e.g., someone trying to increase his own bank account
balance.
Data Privacy
Ensuring that even employees who normally have access to the
company’s data are given access only to the specific data that they
need in their work.
Backup and Recovery
Data backup is the process of duplicating data and storing it in a
secure place in case of loss or damage.
Data recovery is the process of restoring that data to a location
[original or a safe alternative location] so it can be again used in
operations.
The ability to reconstruct data if it is lost or corrupted following a
hardware failure, a natural disaster, a software failure etc.. 1-17
Data Accuracy/Integrity
The same data is stored several, sometimes many times within
a company’s information system.
When a new application is written, new data files are created to
store its data.
Data can be duplicated within a single file and across files.
So, data accuracy refers to whether the data values stored for
an object are the correct & accurate values.
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Data Accuracy-Example
Sheila Jackson, an airline flight attendant, was arrested at the
New Orleans airport by police who confused her with Shirley
Jackson, who was wanted in Texas. She spent one night in jail
and was detained for five days.
Using NCIC database, California police, twice arrested and
jailed Roberto Hernandez as a suspect in a Chicago burglary
case detained 12 days and 7 days.
They had confused him with another Roberto Hernandez, who
had the same height, weight, brown hair, brown eyes, and
tattoos on their left arms and same birthday. Their Social
Security numbers differed by only a single digit.
Terry Dean Rogan arrested after someone stole his identity
and obtained a California driver’s license using his name.
Was arrested five times and three times at gun point.
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Data as a Corporate Resource
Data may be the most difficult corporate resource to manage.
We have tremendous volume, billions, trillions, and more
individual pieces of data, each piece of which is different from
the next.
A new kind of software is required to help manage the data.
Progressively faster hardware is required to keep up with the
increasing volume of data and data access demands.
Data management specialists need to be developed and
educated.
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The Database Environment
Database Management System (DBMS)
New Personnel - database administrator and data
management specialist
Fast hardware
Massive data storage facilities
Encourages data sharing
Helps control data redundancy
Has important improvements in data accuracy
Permits storage of vast volumes of data with acceptable
access.
Allows database queries
Provides tools to control:
data security
data privacy
backup and recovery 1-21
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