Week 4 Notes

Database

A database is an organized set of information and a Database Management System is software used to organize the storage of the data.

The different database models are the Hierarchy, Network, and Relational. I likes the differentiation of the Hierarchy and Network: One parent vs. several. I think that the Hierarchy would be easier to understand, but the network would give more options. The relational model appeals to the mathematician in me. It's good that many programs work with more than one model.

Setting the Stage

The computer specific jargon is getting thick here. Meta data is the data of the data or to a librarian "catalogue data". I've heard this before somewhere: The answer to the answer, the problem of the problem? Meta data is the aggregate of information. I like the visual definition you get with aggregate...

Through meta data Information's object reflect content, context, and structure.

Librarian use Meta data to in organizing the organized information.


Dublin Core

My attempts to access this article were unsuccessful. So, I Googled "Dublin Core Data Model and came across several very good articles. The one I found most relevant was the article found at
http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/II/DublinCore.html

"The Dublin Core is a set of 'core' data-elements that were first discussed in a meeting in Dublin (Ohio, not Ireland). The Dublin Core is relatively simple; in fact it is extremely simple. This is being touted as a great advantage. " The elements (15 of them) that the meta data would be based on are include the following:

• document title
• author or artist
• subject and keywords
• description
• publisher
• other contributors
• date
• resource type
• format
• resource identifier
• source
• language
• relation
• coverage, and
  
• rights management

This meta data should be able to generate automatically. This would not be based on HTML.
Some people feel that this system is too simple.