For about 10 years, several proposals to deal with ill-known information in database management systems have been made, and extensions of the relational data model have been proposed. An overview of functional dependencies is provided, and the connection between fuzzy functional dependencies and database design is discussed. (AEF)

The trend to distributed processing is being fueled by numerous forces, including advances in technology, corporate downsizing, increasing user sophistication, and acquisitions and mergers. Increasingly, the trend in corporate information systems (IS) departments is toward sharing resources over a network of multiple types of processors, operating…

This paper addresses the problem of data management techniques for efficiently retrieving requested subsets of large data sets from mass storage devices. Describes the development of algorithms and software that facilitate the partitioning of a large data set into multiple "clusters" that reflect their expected access. (Author/JKP)

Describes the European Strategic Programme of Research and Development in Information Technology (ESPRIT), and its five programs: advanced microelectronics, software technology, advanced information processing, office systems, and computer integrated manufacturing. The emphasis on logic programming and ESPRIT as the European response to the…

Outcomes of a project that implemented a management information system to effectively gather and record student data are presented in this practicum report. The project, implemented in the adult education department of a community college and its various offcampus locations, consisted of three components: a BASIC program to calculate students'…

This report describes the development in 1986 of a management information system by the Sacramento City (California) Unified School District for use in high schools. A nine-page attachment, which comprises two-thirds of the report, offers profiles of selected schools drawn from the databases. Data sets of 200 information items, collected from all…

The projects reviewed in this annual report of the Online Computer Library Center, Inc. (OCLC) focus on four strategic areas: (1) enhancing the use of the OCLC Online Union Catalog; (2) investigating full document storage, retrieval, and presentation; (3) strengthening the interface between patron and system; and (4) providing statistical…

Institutional researchers play a key role in an environment where data warehouses are used to store and retrieve vast amounts of data. Along with the benefits of increased access for more users, improved reporting capabilities, and less reliance on centralized information, come questions of appropriate data usage, data access and security,…