SUMMARY OF DATABASE ISSUES
DATA RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Data Resource management is a managerial activity that applies information systems technology and management tools to the task of managing an organization's data resources. It includes the database administration function which fouces on developing and maintaining standards and controls for an organization's databases. Data administration, however, focues on the planning and control of data to support business functions and strategic organizational objectives. This includes a data planning effort that focuses on developing an overall data planning effort that focues on developing an overall data architecture for a firm's data resources.
DATABASE MANAGEMENT
The database management approach affects the storage and processing of data. The data needed by different applications is consolidated and integrated into several common databases, instead of being stored in many independent data files. Also, the database management approach emphasizes updating and maintaining common databases, having users' application programs share the data in the database, and providing a reporting and an inquiry/response capability so end users can easily receive reports and quick responses to requests for information
DATABASE SOFTWARE
Database management systems are software packages that simplify the creation, use, and maintenance of databases. They provide software tools so end users, programmers, and database administrators can create and modify databases, interrogate a database, generate reports, do application development, and perform database maintenance.
TYPES OF DATABASES
Several types of databases are used by computer-using organizations, including central, distributed, end user, manaement, data warehouse, and online databases. Text databases consist of data in text form, while image databases contain digitized images of documents, photographs, and other visual media. Special database management software is used to catalog and index such databases for quick retrieval of text and images of documents or other forms of information.
DATABASE DEVELOPMENT
The development of databases can be easily accomplished using microcomputer dtabse management packages for small end user applications. However, the development of large corporate databases requires a topdown data palanning effort. This may involve developing enterprise and entity relationship models, subject area databases, and data models that reflect the logical data elements and relationships needed to support the operation and management of the basic business processes of the organization.
DATA ORGANIZATION AND ACCESS
Data must be organized in some logical manner on physical storeage devices so that it can be efficiently processed. For this reason, data is commonly organized into logical data elements such as characters, fields, records, files, and databases. Database structures, such as the hierarchical, network, relational, ond object-oriented models, are used to organize the relationships among the data records stored in databases. Databases and files can be organized in either a sequential or direct manner and can be accessed and maintained by either sequential access or direct access processing methods.