DATA: THE NEW CORPORATE RESOURCE - Fundamentals of Database Management Systems - page 16

KEY TERMS

Balance sheet
Barter
Calculating devices
Census
Compact disk
Competitive advantage
Corporate resource
Data
Data storage

Database
Database environment
Database management system
Disk drive
Double-entry bookkeeping
Electromechanical equipment
Electronic computer
Flash drive
Information processing

Magnetic disk
Magnetic drum
Magnetic tape
Optical disk
Punched cards
Punched paper tape
Record keeping
Tally
Token

QUESTIONS

1. What did the Middle Eastern shepherds' pebbles and
sacks, Pascal's calculating device, and Hollerith's
punched-card devices all have in common?
2. What did the growth of cities have to do with the
need for data?
3. What did the growth of trade have to do with the
need for data?
4. What did Jacquard's textile weaving device have to
do with the development of data?
5. Choose what you believe to be the:
a. One most important
b. Two most important
c. Three most important landmark events in the
history of data. Defend your choices.

6. Do you think that computing devices would have
been developed even if specific data needs had not
come along? Why or why not?
7. What did the need for data among ancient Middle
Eastern shepherds have in common with the need
for data of modern corporations?
8. List several problems in storing and accessing data
in today's large corporations. Which do you think is
the most important? Why?
9. How important an issue do you think data accuracy
is? Explain.
10. How important a corporate resource is data com-
pared to other corporate resources? Explain.
11. What factors led to the development of database
management systems?

EXERCISES

1. Draw a timeline showing the landmark events in
the history of data from ancient times to the present
day. Do not include the development of computing
devices in this timeline.
2. Draw a timeline for the last four hundred years
comparing landmark events in the history of data to
landmark events in the development of computing
devices.
3. Draw a timeline for the last two hundred years
comparing the development of computing devices
to the development of data storage media.
4. Invent a fictitious company in one of the following
industries

a. Banking
b. Insurance
c. Manufacturing
d. Airlines
5. Invent a fictitious company in one of the following
industries and describe the relationship between
data as a corporate resource and the company's
other corporate resources.
a. Banking
b. Insurance
c. Manufacturing
d. Airline

and list several ways in which the

company can use data to gain a competitive

advantage.