Updating Schemas
Updating a database schema is a non-trivial task that involves both curatorial and data design constraints. Data design choices are technically limited by data types (i.e., whether something is a number, date or text) and the relational approach of using objects with references to each other. As discussed last seminar, data design choices are curatorially limited by data standards, and the general problem of interoperability. Further, when changes are made to a database schema or data model, data can become incorrect, unusable, or stale due to the context for a certain data field being lost.
In today's seminar, we will learn how to update the many aspects of the Specify data model. We will learn how to update the core technical database schema, and the opportunities and limitations of updating it. Then, we will learn how to update data entry forms, and their relation to the core model. Then we will learn how to use queries to navigate the complexity of the core schema.