In
database management
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases spa ...
and
information architecture
Information architecture (IA) is the structural design of shared information environments; the art and science of organizing and labelling websites, intranets, online communities and software to support usability and findability; and an emerging ...
, a data bank or databank is a repository of information about one or more subjects, that is, a
database
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases s ...
which is organized in a way that facilitates local or remote information retrieval and is able to process many continual queries over a long period of time.
A ''data bank'' may also refer to an organization primarily concerned with the construction and maintenance of such a database.
A data bank may be either centralized or decentralized, though most usage of this term refers to centralized storage and retrieval of information, by way of analogy to a monetary
bank
A bank is a financial institution that accepts deposits from the public and creates a demand deposit while simultaneously making loans. Lending activities can be directly performed by the bank or indirectly through capital markets.
Because ...
. The
data
In the pursuit of knowledge, data (; ) is a collection of discrete Value_(semiotics), values that convey information, describing quantity, qualitative property, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of sy ...
in a data bank can be anything from scientific information like global temperature readings, and governmental information like census statistics, to financial-system records like credit card transactions, or the inventory available from various suppliers.
In
computing
Computing is any goal-oriented activity requiring, benefiting from, or creating computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and development of both hardware and software. Computing has scientific, ...
, the term ''databank'' is also obsolete (1960s through 1970s)
computer jargon
Jargon is the specialized terminology associated with a particular field or area of activity. Jargon is normally employed in a particular communicative context and may not be well understood outside that context. The context is usually a particu ...
for ''
database
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases s ...
'' itself, and is frequently used in that sense in materials written during the same time period.
See also
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Data repository
A data library, data archive, or data repository is a collection of numeric and/or geospatial data sets for secondary use in research. A data library is normally part of a larger institution (academic, corporate, scientific, medical, government ...
*
List of databases
*
Star Wars Databank
*
Protein Data Bank
The Protein Data Bank (PDB) is a database for the three-dimensional structural data of large biological molecules, such as proteins and nucleic acids. The data, typically obtained by X-ray crystallography, NMR spectroscopy, or, increasingly, ...
*
National Trauma Data Bank The National Trauma Data Bank (NTDB), also called the American College of Surgeons National Trauma Data Bank, is a compilation of information about traumatic injuries and outcomes in the United States. Hospital emergency rooms and other institution ...
*
Memory bank
A memory bank is a logical unit of storage in electronics, which is hardware-dependent. In a computer, the memory bank may be determined by the memory controller along with physical organization of the hardware memory slots. In a typical synchro ...
*
International Tree-Ring Data Bank The International Tree-Ring Data Bank (ITRDB) is a data repository for tree ring measurements that has been maintained since 1990 by the United States' National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Paleoclimatology Program and World Data Center fo ...
*
Hazardous Substances Data Bank
The Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) is a toxicology database on the United States, U.S. National Library of Medicine's (NLM) Toxicology Data Network (TOXNET). It focuses on the toxicology of potentially hazardous chemicals, and includes inf ...
*
Electron microscopy data bank The EM Data Bank or Electron Microscopy Data Bank (EMDB) collects 3D EM maps and associated experimental data determined using electron microscopy of biological specimens. It was established in 2002 at the MSD/PDBe group of the European Bioinformat ...
*
Dortmund Data Bank
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Casio Databank
Casio Databank (often styled as CASIO DATA BANK) is a series of digital watches and electronic personal organizers manufactured by Casio. The watches allow data storage for names and telephone numbers, memos, and in late editions, email addres ...
*
Conformational dynamics data bank
The conformational dynamics data bank (CDDB) is a database about conformational dynamics of heavy proteins and protein assemblies. The CDDB is useful when used alongside static structural data to aid research into protein function
Protei ...
*
Databank Systems Limited
Databank Systems Limited was the name of a not-for-profit "off balance sheet" company set up by a consortium of competing banks in New Zealand, to operate on what is nowadays termed a "Shared services
Shared services is the provision of a servic ...
a former New Zealand banking agency
Sources
*
*''
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
''The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language'' (''AHD'') is an American dictionary of English published by Boston publisher Houghton Mifflin, the first edition of which appeared in 1969. Its creation was spurred by the controversy o ...
, Fourth Edition''.
Houghton Mifflin
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star.
Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...
, 2000.
External links
Data management
Information architecture
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