Short Database History, A

Ancient to modern: The origins go back to libraries, governmental, business, and medical records. There is a very long history of information storage, indexing, and retrieval. Don't ignore this history, there is usually something to learn from these folks and their success and failure. Lots of online stuff (and there is lots) does not guarantee quality of data or search technique. Good design principles goes way back and lots is known now about how to make good designs that lead to better reliability and performance.