- in notion and similar tools, a database is a collection of pages that share the same properties. - e.g., items that require a `status` and `assignee` might go in a `tasks` database. all `task` entries are *pages* with those properties and with / without body content. - relationships can be created between databases – e.g., a second `projects` database might be linked to `tasks`. - however, you cannot *combine* multiple databases into a single view. - when creating or embedding a database view, you can only see the pages that are part of a single source database with those pre-determined properties. - with obsidian’s `bases` core plugin, your entire vault is “the database”. - “bases” are just a way to filter all of your markdown files. - you can display any properties available in your vault, even if not actively in a file’s yaml. - notion allows you to create database entries *without* creating a “note” / file in the sidebar; any record in an obsidian base must be a file in your vault.