Currently I am taking a course on GIS which forces us to use a system called QGIS. Using shapefiles, we create maps with layers of “data” applied to them. When looking at the database of names in the African Slave Trade website, it looked almost exactly like the attribute tables that we use for GIS. Indeed these are databases except they are organized and linked in a way as to be applied to a map. With the right equipment, mathematics can be done on the nominal data. Another example of a database would be our course catalog. It holds information about class descriptions, id’s, professors, units, requirements, time, and place. All students are familiar with using this database and the organization of it ensures easy selection of classes for the coming quarter. The odd thing about this system is that classes leave and enter the database based on availability. While there is a database with each class,, most students will only ever see the ones being offered. The database is therefore redesigned each quarter based on the need of certain classes. Data is taken out of the complete database and is formulated into a comprehensible catalog with only the necessary information. In this perspective, the database is specific to the problem being addressed: finding classes for next quarter.
Also reading the Kissinger article, I am struck by the age of the comment itself. Nowadays if something is online or in the “cloud” it remains forever. A good example would be nude celebrity photos that are leaked into public space. Anything on the internet will exist forever. I recall a quote from the movie The Social Network, “the internet is written in ink.” I believe Kissinger is wrong. A paper can be destroyed but the internet keeps everything and can at any given point, be retrieved. Ultimately the internet is just a large database of sites and information that can be lost or maintained. In Web of Science, students search for key terms that are stored in the database and referenced in the metadata. With extended searches, you can even narrow down your focus by limiting the search to file types and subject. Oddly enough, it seems that every search engine is just a program/ method for finding something in a large database using key terms. I figure every internet site must therefore have a database behind it if there is to be any hope of organization or storage of information.
http://www.qgis.org/en/site/
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/sep/01/celebrity-naked-photo-leak-2014-nude-women
http://www.registrar.ucla.edu/schedule/schedulehome.aspx