Discovering the Information that is lost in our Databases -- Why bother storing data if you can't find the information?

Abstract: We are surrounded by an ever increasing amount of data that is stored in a variety of databases. In this article we will use a very liberal definition of \EM{database}. Basically any collection of data can be regarded as a database, ranging from the files in a directory on a disk, to ftp and web servers, through to relational or object-oriented databases. The sole reason for storing data in databases is that there is an anticipated need for the stored data at some time in the future. This means that providing smooth access paths by which stored information can be retrieved is at least as important as ensuring integrity of the stored information. In practice, however, providing users with adequate avenues by which to access stored information has received far less attention.