2017-2018 exchange Sept Oct 2017 Newsletter FINAL | Page 10

It’s All About Data
By: Jennifer Best, J.D.,
Editor-In-Chief, exchange
As noted in my column, data will be the focus in this and upcom-
ing issues. The information below is intended to provide basic
information about data and topics that are commonly discussed.
Data consists of alphabets, numbers or symbols that
refer to, or represent, conditions, ideas or objects.
Two data types that are commonly known in records management
are structured and unstructured. Structured data resides in a fixed
structure, such as tables and rows in a database. In contrast, un-
structured data is not contained in that same type of column/row
structure and can consist of images, videos and content that is
created in Word and PowerPoint applications.
There are different types of da-
tabases that are used by organi-
zations based on the type of da-
ta they wish to store for busi-
ness purposes. Two types of da-
tabases are relational and object
oriented. A relational database is
a set of tables containing col-
umns consisting of standardized
data categories or attributes and
rows containing data related to
the categories. An object orient-
ed database contains infor-
mation in the format of objects;
in other words, information as a
unit.
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Examples of content in a
relational (#1) and object
oriented databases (#2)
Student
ID
First
Name
1234567 John
Last
Name GPA
Doe 3.5
Student ID
1234567
First Name:
John
Last Name:
Smith
GPA: 3.5