This document provides an introduction to the concept of data mining. It discusses several applications of data mining such as credit ratings, targeted marketing, fraud detection, and customer relationship management. It then defines data mining as the process of analyzing large databases to find valid, novel, useful, and understandable patterns. The document outlines some common data mining techniques including classification, clustering, association rule mining, and collaborative filtering. It provides examples of how these techniques can be applied and discusses their advantages and disadvantages.