Databases

Structured, persistent, query-able collections of data and metadata that enable the efficient storage and retrieval of knowledge. Databases rely on a logical, structured organisational format, typically using a data model (e.g., relational, hierarchical, network, or object-oriented) that specifies the relationships between different data elements.

A database management system (?), software providing tools and interfaces to manipulate and query the database. What are the (specific) mechanisms for manipulating data?

Data independence (what is it?).

Durability? Data stored on non-volatile media!

Controlling access? Concurrent access and use?

Persistence, backups, recovery?

• [?] Is a simple collection of data files on a computer a database, or does a database require a more formal structure and management system?
• [&] See also: card catalogues?

Including physical systems in the definition highlights the continuity of information management approaches across different media, and key database concepts originated in the physical realm. My sense is that any system that allows structured storage, efficient retrieval, and some form of querying/access language could be considered a database in a broad sense. The medium is less important than the system’s functional qualities.

• [?] Does a database need to be accessible by multiple users or applications to qualify as a true database system?

Maybe a spectrum of “database-ness”? Collections of data files are on a continuum between raw data and formal databases. The more structure, consistency, metadata, and access tools, the more “database-like” it becomes. If a collection of files is regularly queried and manipulated as a source of knowledge, it is acting as a de facto database.

• [&] See also: knowledge graphs