Database systems today are more ubiquitous than ever. As the volume
of digital data explodes, new requirements for fast, easy-to-use and
reliable data management have emerged. In this course, we will study
new directions in database research that aim to address these new
requirements. We will examine a variety of data management problems,
some of the initial solutions proposed in the literature, and
hopefully, develop new ideas for new relevant database research.
Each week, we will tackle one topic and different approaches to solving
the particular problem. The objective is to study multiple aspects of a
topic by considering different perspectives. For each topic, I will
suggest the material you need to read. The mechanics of this course are
as follows. Two teams will be assigned to each topic. One team, the
"cheerleaders" will be responsible for presenting a summary of the
topic based on the readings, and present the area in the best possible
light. This can largely be derived from the assigned readings, but you
are encouraged to go beyond these to discover other interesting work
within the same topic. The presentation should *not* be a linear
presentation of the sections in the papers, instead it should give a
general overview of the problem, challenges involved in addressing the
problem, existing solutions, and directions for new work in the area.
The second team, the "discussants", will present a short rebuttal to
the presenters talk. They will also come to class prepared with
questions, counterexamples, and a generally with a devil's advocate
attitude toward the work. With any luck, this will set up a debate-like
atmosphere in which we can argue about the pros and cons of the basic
technologies.The rest of the class (who are neither presenters nor
discussants) is expected to actively participate in the debate. Also,
in order to ensure that you read the papers and think about the issues
before coming to class, everyone who is not a presenter or a discussant
will write a brief position paper which captures your own thoughts
about the readings. My guess is that these will need to be about 1 page
in length, but you may use whatever you feel is adequate.
This course is based on research papers. There is no required textbook.