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DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2013/2014
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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of Informatics : Informatics

Postgraduate Course: Data Integration and Exchange (Level 11) (INFR11058)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of Informatics CollegeCollege of Science and Engineering
Course typeStandard AvailabilityAvailable to all students
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Year 4 Undergraduate) Credits10
Home subject areaInformatics Other subject areaNone
Course website http://course.inf.ed.ac.uk/die Taught in Gaelic?No
Course descriptionWith the proliferation of data on the web, data in different formats is scattered across many sources. Data sources may only provide partial access to data and the structure of the data may differ drastically from the assumptions used in conventional queries.

Querying such data requires data integration and exchange between different sources. The notion of querying and the meaning of an answer to a query are different from their classical counterparts: since only a partial view of the data is available, answers to queries are at best approximate. Furthermore, integrated data may not be consistent with its specification, and hence techniques for querying inconsistent data become more important.

This course presents the basics of data integration and exchange, explains techniques for querying incomplete and inconsistent information, for specifying correspondences between database schemas and schema mappings, and for querying databases using views. Both relational and XML data formats are considered.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites It is RECOMMENDED that students have passed Database Systems (INFR09011)
Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Students MUST NOT also be taking Data Integration and Exchange (Level 10) (INFR10032)
Other requirements This course is open to all Informatics students including those on joint degrees. For external students where this course is not listed in your DPT, please seek special permission from the course organiser.

Maths background: discrete maths, basics of logic (propositional and predicate calculus). Programming: SQL
Additional Costs None
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesNone
Displayed in Visiting Students Prospectus?Yes
Course Delivery Information
Delivery period: 2013/14 Semester 2, Available to all students (SV1) Learn enabled:  No Quota:  None
Web Timetable Web Timetable
Course Start Date 13/01/2014
Breakdown of Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 100 ( Lecture Hours 20, Summative Assessment Hours 2, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 76 )
Additional Notes
Breakdown of Assessment Methods (Further Info) Written Exam 70 %, Coursework 30 %, Practical Exam 0 %
No Exam Information
Summary of Intended Learning Outcomes
This course introduces students to new techniques for analysing, integrating and querying data that may come from a variety of sources. The learning objectives are:

1 - Given a description of a situation requiring data integration students will be able to classify it as belonging to one of a number of standard scenarios.
2 - Given a description of data integration and exchange scenario and a commercial database management solution to the problem students will be able to predict erroneous or counterintuitive answers that will arise from the solution. Students will be able to compare & evaluate different solutions & justify the choice of one solution over another.
3 - Given a description of a data integration & exchange scenario where access to data is restricted, students will be able to design a scheme to provide approximate results to queries taking account of restricted access. Students will be able to generate a range of design options & will know techniques and their limitations for comparison between options.
4 - Given a database query & a data integration & exchange scenario, students will know how to rewrite the query to take account of the scenario, providing approximate solutions where these are necessary. Students will be able to develop rewritings of the query & will be able to reason about basic properties of such rewritings.
5 - Given two database schemas students will be able to specify mappings between schemas & how to compose such mappings.
6 - Given a collection of databases, their schemas & mappings between schemas students will be able to describe how data is exchanged based on the schema mappings.
7 - Given a collection of databases, their schemas & schema mappings, students will be able to identify instances of inconsistent data.
8 - Given a collection of databases with inconsistent data, their schemas and schema mappings, students will be able describe the results of queries on inconsistent databases.
Assessment Information
Written Examination 70
Assessed Assignments 30
Oral Presentations 0

Assessment
Three assignments, worth 10% each.
Special Arrangements
None
Additional Information
Academic description Not entered
Syllabus Topics include:
* review of relational and XML data models
* examples of data integration and exchange scenarios
* dealing with incomplete information in databases
* local- and global-as-view scenarios of data integration
* query rewriting
* answering queries using views
* relational data exchange
* XML data exchange
* schema mappings; composing and inverting schema mappings
* querying inconsistent databases
* aggregation over multiple sources

Relevant QAA Computing Curriculum Sections: Not yet available
Reading List
Transferable skills Not entered
Reading list Not available yet.
Study Abroad Not entered
Study Pattern Lectures 20
Tutorials 0
Timetabled Laboratories 0
Non-timetabled assessed assignments 40
Private Study/Other 40
Total 100
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserDr Mary Cryan
Tel: (0131 6)50 5153
Email: mcryan@inf.ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Kate Farrow
Tel: (0131 6)50 2706
Email: Kate.Farrow@ed.ac.uk
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