# database (information)

a collection of data that is ordered for digital access

- Computed level: L9 (depth in the emergence graph, not abstraction)
- Status: review  ·  Domain: everyday  ·  Arena: EmergenceLexicon

## Emergence
**Emerges from:** [data](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-data.information), [collection](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-collection.group), [structure](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-structure.arrangement), [digital](https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-digital.electrical)

**Through:** data are collected into a collection and ordered for digital access

**Novel properties:**
- searching
- updated
- persisting

## Examples
- The 1974 SAGE system stored U.S. air defense data on magnetic tapes sorted by geographic region and threat level. *(computing)*
- The Library of Congress maintains a card catalog database with 17 million entries, physically indexed by the Library of Congress Classification. *(institutions)*
- The Human Genome Project published a database in 2003 containing 3.2 billion base pairs, assembled from multiple donors’ DNA sequences. *(biology)*

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*Canonical: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-database.information*  
*Structured data: https://emergencemachine.com/tools/lexicon/what-is-the-meaning-of-database.information.json*  
*Every definition provably resolves to space, time, energy and pattern.*