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.
For each topic we will cover, we will study multiple aspects of a
topic by considering different perspectives and by reading multiple
research articles as well as textbooks, when applicable.
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.