4. Definition
›In computer science database is defined as a structured collection of data.
The data stored in a database is organized for fast search and retrieval by a
computer and therefore it is anything but a simple collection of information.
›In computer age, database is a new way to structure our experience of
ourselves and of the world. It is a new symbolic form of computer age.
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9. Data and Algorithm
›No matter what the background or story is, any task or process
can be reduced to an algorithm, a final sequence of simple
operations with which a computer can execute a given task.
9
13. Data and Algorithm
› If in physical the world is made of atoms and in genetics it is
made of genes, computer programming encapsulates the
world according to its own logic.
› The world is reduced to two kinds of software objects which
are complementary to each other: data structures and
algorithms.
14. Data and Algorithm
Data
Structures
Ontology
of
Computer
World
Algorithms
14
17. Database and Narrative
› As a cultural form, the database represents the world as a list of items and
it refuses to order this list.
› In contrast, a narrative creates a cause-and-effect trajectory of seemingly
unordered items.
Database Narrative
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18. Games and Narrative
› Narrative and games are similar in that the user, while proceeding through
them, must uncover its algorithm.
› Just like a game player, a reader of a novel gradually reconstructs an
algorithm which the writer used to create the settings, the characters, and
the events.
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19. Database and Narrative
› CD-ROMs, Web sites and other new media objects which are organized
as databases correspond to the data structure
› Narratives correspond to the algorithms
Databases
Ontology
of
Computer
World
Narratives
19
20. Database and Narrative
› In general, creating a work in new media can be understood as the
construction of an interface to a database.
› Example: World Builder http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzFpg271sm8
20
21. Database and Narrative
› Although each of these works engages the user in a set of behaviours and
cognitive which are quite distinct from going through the records of a
database, all of them are databases.
› With new media, the content of the work and the interface become
separate. It is therefore possible to create different interfaces to the same
material.
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26. Database and Narrative
› The new formulation places the opposition between database and
narrative in a new light, thus redefining our concept of narrative.
› An interactive narrative can then be understood as the sum of multiple
trajectories through a database. A traditional linear narrative is one among
many other possible trajectories.
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27. Conclusion
› In summary, database and narrative do not have the same status in
computer culture. Regardless of whether new media objects present
themselves as linear narratives, interactive narratives, databases, or
something else, underneath, on the level of material organisation, they are
all databases.
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30. The Cost of Free
› How much would you charge to let a stranger read your personal daily?
› How much would cost them to find out your religion, political or sexual
preference?
30
36. Bibliography
› Neil Taylar, 2005, Search me: The Surprising Success of Google, London:
CYANBOOKS.
› Moxon B., 1997, "Database Out of This Universe." DB2 Magazine 2, 3(Fall): 9-
16
› English Larry, 1999, Business Information Quality: Methods for Reducing Costs
and Improving Profits. New York: Wiley.
› Mullims C., 2002, Database Administration: The Complete Guide to Practice and
Procedures, Bostion: Addison- Wesley.
› David A. Vise, 2005, The Google Story, New York: Bantam Dell Publishing
Group.
› Randoll Stress, 2008, Planet Google: how one company is transforming our lives,
London: Atlantic.
› John Battelle, 2005, The Search: How Google and its Rivals Rewrote the Rules of
Business and Transformed Our Culture, London: Penguin Books Ltd.
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