Funded by NSF
grants number IIS 0741620 and IIS 1017296.
Introduction
Database researchers have striven to improve the capability of a database in terms of both
performance and functionality. We believe that the usability of a database is as important as its
capability. However, modern database systems are very difficult to
use. The central goal of this project is to lay the foundations
for the formal
design of a presentation layer in a database system that sits above the
physical and logical layers, but below the user interface. We are
approaching this problem from three parallel directions.
1. Forms: Forms are perhaps the most popular way to access structured
databases on the web today. We are studying the optimal creation of forms,
and the algebraic support for such form creation.
2. Spreadsheets: Many non-technical users find it intuitive to manipulate
data in a spreadsheet such as Microsoft Excel, while finding it challenging
to write queries in SQL. We believe this is on account of the crucial
"direct manipulation" capabilities of a spreadsheet. We are developing a
presentation algebra for effective presentation of spreadsheets on databases.
3. Keyword Queries: On account of the popularity of Google, and other search
engines, most people today feel comfortable issuing keyword queries, and
would like to do so even against structured data. We are studying what it
would take in terms of a data model to support such underspecified queries
effectively.
For an overview of the issues, please download Prof. Jagadish's
keynote
talk at SIGMOD 2007 and the accompanying
paper, or watch the video.
This work has been supported by NSF grants number IIS 0741620 and
IIS 1017296. Please see our
web-site for database usability research for
additional information.
People
Faculty
Graduate Students
Alumni
Publications
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Automated Creation of a Forms-based Database Query Interface. Magesh Jayapandian and H. V. Jagadish. In VLDB, 2008.
- Qunits: Queried Units for Database Search. Arnab Nandi and H. V. Jagadish. In CIDR, 2009.
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Using Trees to Depict a Forest. Bin Liu, H. V. Jagadish. In VLDB, 2009.
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A Spreadsheet Algebra for a Direct Data Manipulation Query Interface. Bin Liu, H. V. Jagadish. In ICDE, 2009.
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DataLens: Making a Good First Impression. Bin Liu and H. V. Jagadish. In SIGMOD (demo), 2009.
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Automatic Rule Refinement for Information Extraction. Bin Liu, Laura Chiticariu, Vivian Chu, H. V. Jagadish, and Frederick R. Reiss. In VLDB, 2010.
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Refining Information Extraction Rules Using Data Provenance. Bin Liu, Laura Chiticariu, Vivian Chu, H. V. Jagadish, and Frederick R. Reiss. In IEEE Data Engineering Bulletin, 2010.
Database Research Group |
Computer Science and Engineering |
University of Michigan
|