DATABASE USES AND ISSUES

Databases offer great opportunities for productivity. In fact, in corporate libraries, electronic databases are now considered more valuable than books and journals. However, maintaining databases means users must make constant efforts to keep them from being tampered with or misused.

STRATEGIC USES:-

 Databases help users to keep up to date and to plan for the future. To support the needs of managers and other business professionals, many organizations collect data from a variety of internal and external databases. This data is then stored in a special type of database called a data warehouse. A technique called data mining is often used to search these databases to look for related information and patterns.

There are hundreds of databases available to help users with both general and specific business purposes , including

 • Business directories providing addresses , financial and marketing information , products , and trade and brand names.

  • Demographic data , such as county and city statistics , current estimates on population and income , employment statistics , census data , and so on.

  • Business statistical information , such as financial information on publicly traded companies , market potential of certain retail stores , and other business data and information . 

• Text databases providing articles from business publications , press releases , reviews on companies and products , and so on . 

• Web databases covering a wide range of topics , including all of the above . As mentioned earlier , web search sites like Google maintain extensive databases of available Internet content .

SECURITY

 Precisely because databases are so valuable, their security has become a critical issue. One concern is that personal and private information about people stored in databases may be used for the wrong purposes. For instance, a person's credit history or medical records might be used to make hiring or promotion decisions. Another concern is unauthorized users gaining access to a database. For example, there have been numerous instances in which a computer virus has been launched into a database or network.

 Security may require putting guards in company computer rooms and checking the identification Some security systems electronically check fingerprints.  Security is particularly important to organizations using WANS. Violations can occur without actually entering secured areas. As mentioned in previous chapters, most major corporations today use special hardware and software called firewalls to control access to their internal networks.