Data vs. Information

From: chet justice <chet.justice_at_gmail.com>
Date: Sat, 5 Sep 2009 00:36:42 -0400
Message-ID: <8311a5b60909042136m5ebb3b38h918625ef70be8792_at_mail.gmail.com>



I recently tried to make a case for
views<http://www.oraclenerd.com/2009/09/case-for-views.html>, in the last line of the post I wrote:

Records in a table typically constitute data. Tables, joined together, in a
> view, tend to *turn that data into information.*
>

A very good friend and mentor who has like 27 masters degrees took umbrage with this statement. He said that data is information.

While I don't necessarily disagree with him, I tried to frame it in the context of a database. I've always been told, or read, or heard, that a database stores data and from that, you get information (in the form of queries, reports, etc).

Am I off my rocker here? Am I misinformed? Or just misspeak?

More than anything I think it was more of a theoretical discussion, but I have enough respect for this individual to give it further thought?

Anyone have an opinion or links on the subject?

chet

-- 
chet justice
www.oraclenerd.com

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Received on Fri Sep 04 2009 - 23:36:42 CDT

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