Chapter 4: Data and Databases
In this chapter, we learned about the role that data and databases play in the context of information
systems. Data is made up of small facts and information without context. If you give data context, then
you have information. Knowledge is gained when information is consumed and used for decision
making. A database is an organized collection of related information. Relational databases are the most
widely used type of database, where data is structured into tables and all tables must be related to each
other through unique identifiers. A database management system (DBMS) is a software application that
is used to create and manage databases, and can take the form of a personal DBMS, used by one
person, or an enterprise DBMS that can be used by multiple users. A data warehouse is a special form
of database that takes data from other databases in an enterprise and organizes it for analysis. Data
mining is the process of looking for patterns and relationships in large data sets. Many businesses use
databases, data warehouses, and data mining techniques in order to produce business intelligence
and gain a competitive advantage.