In
database management
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and ana ...
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 or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...
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 Deposit account, 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 m ...
. The
data
Data ( , ) are a collection of discrete or continuous values that convey information, describing the quantity, quality, fact, statistics, other basic units of meaning, or simply sequences of symbols that may be further interpreted for ...
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 computer, computing machinery. It includes the study and experimentation of algorithmic processes, and the development of both computer hardware, hardware and softw ...
, the term ''databank'' is also obsolete (1960s through 1970s)
computer jargon
This glossary of computer hardware terms is a list of definitions of terms and concepts related to computer hardware, i.e. the physical and structural components of computers, architectural issues, and peripheral devices.
A
...
for ''
database
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data or a type of data store based on the use of a database management system (DBMS), the software that interacts with end users, applications, and the database itself to capture and a ...
'' itself, and is frequently used in that sense in materials written during the same time period.
See also
*
Data repository
Research data archiving is the long-term storage of scholarly research data, including the natural sciences, social sciences, and life sciences. The various academic journals have differing policies regarding how much of their data and methods re ...
*
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, which is overseen by the Worldwide Protein Data Bank (wwPDB). This structural data is obtained a ...
*
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 institutio ...
*
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
*
Hazardous Substances Data Bank
The Hazardous Substances Data Bank (HSDB) was a toxicology database on the U.S. National Library of Medicine's (NLM) Toxicology Data Network (TOXNET). It focused on the toxicology of potentially hazardous chemicals, and included information on hu ...
*
Electron microscopy data bank
*
Dortmund Data Bank
The Dortmund Data Bank (short DDB) is a factual data bank for thermodynamic and thermophysical data. Its main usage is the data supply for process simulation where experimental data are the basis for the design, analysis, synthesis, and optimiz ...
*
Casio Databank
*
Conformational dynamics data bank
*
Databank Systems 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 a dictionary of American English published by HarperCollins. It is currently in its fifth edition (since 2011).
Before HarperCollins acquired certain business lines from H ...
, Fourth Edition''.
Houghton Mifflin
The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "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 vocalize it as ...
, 2000.
External links
Data management
Information architecture
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