Glossary
Database
A collection of information organised in such a way that a computer program can quickly select desired pieces of data - essentially an electronic filing system. May have a specialist role e.g. membership, case management, fundraising, customer relationship management. Software for creating databases includes Microsoft Access but many databases come as "off-the-shelf" products, for example Circle, Alms, Raisers Edge, AIMS, etc. May also be known as a Relational Database Management System (RDMS). Databases are "queried" to return subsets of data for reporting purposes using expressions written in, for example, SQL (Structured Query Language). This includes Microsoft Access but also enterprise level client server applications such as SQL Server or open source alternatives such as My SQL or Firebird SQL.
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