Finding Information A337/A523

What are some of the possible problems with finding information?

 Information is often lacks STRUCTURE  ASSOCIATION between the identifying information (i.e., labels and the actual information is not always obvious) and the data  CONSISTENCY is not always present. E.g.,   (317)   May later need to MANIPULATE data (filter, sorting, etc.)

Typical “Office” Applications  Word Processing  Spreadsheet  Database Management System (DBMS)

Spreadsheets and DBMSes  Columns (labels)  Rows (“instance” or record)  Intersection (value)  Information often lacks STRUCTURE  ASSOCIATION between the identifying information (i.e., labels and the actual information) is not always obvious  CONSISTENCY is not always present. E.g.,   (317)   May later need to MANIPULATE data (deeper search, sorting, etc.)

Spreadsheets Tables in MS Excel  Information often lacks STRUCTURE  ASSOCIATION between the identifying information (i.e., labels and the actual information) is not always obvious  CONSISTENCY is not always present. E.g.,   (317)   May later need to MANIPULATE data (deeper search, sorting, etc.)

DBMSes Tables in MS Access  Table is one of many objects in a database  Easier to associate tables than in a spreadsheet (i.e., vlookup)  Tables have several unique properties we’ll discuss later  Information often lacks STRUCTURE  ASSOCIATION between the identifying information (i.e., labels and the actual information) is not always obvious  CONSISTENCY is not always present. E.g.,   (317)   May later need to MANIPULATE data (deeper search, sorting, etc.)

ERP Systems Centralized database eliminates the need to associated data located on separate systems  Information often lacks STRUCTURE  ASSOCIATION between the identifying information (i.e., labels and the actual information) is not always obvious  CONSISTENCY is not always present. E.g.,   (317)   May later need to MANIPULATE data (deeper search, sorting, etc.)

Data Quality: What is Dirty Data?  It happens when the UPC code on a package doesn't match the item.  Causes? Vendor-Unique product code and cost Retailer-Unique product code and price

Data Quality: What is Dirty Data? Potential Problems?  Inventory Reorder  Profit per unit  Net profit  Customer Satisfaction  Repeat Business  Angry Bloggers Solution: Same code for vendor and retailer Data Integrity: Wal-Mart's Dirty Secret

Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) From Computerworld QuickStudy