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MIS 2000

Class 2:

Basic Concepts

Updated January 2014

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Basic Concepts

Outline

Data, Knowledge,Information

Data, Knowledge, Informationin Organizations

Information System (IS)

IS User

Information Technologies

Summary

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Information

Is this information:

Treuliodd y rhif cwsmer bron i dri chant o ddoleri mewn un

pryniant - gwerthiant mwyaf y mis diwethaf!

- Why yes/no?

Is this information:

The customer number 18 spent nearly three hundred dollars inone purchase -- the largest sales last month!

- Why yes/no?

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Data

Basic Concepts

Symbols created by people for communication purposes(voices, letters, numbers, pictures).

Data are organized at different levels:

letters words text report

Data can be recorded in electronic form or some other(paper etc.).

Information systems help to organize and transform data(sorted text, tabulated numbers, structured report).

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Information

We will define information from theprocess perspective taken inthis course* in this way:

Information is a result of interpreting data by using knowledge.

Or, information refers to data that are understood by a person.

Understanding data refers to grasping a meaning of data, whichhappens in human brains. So, information can also be defined as

the meaning of data.

DATA KNOWLEDGE INFORMATION

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1. DATAorganized into

a SALES REPORT

Process of informing

MANAGER UNDERSTANDS:

Customer number 18 spent about

234 dollars in one purchase,

which is the largest sale in the month!

4. INFORMATION is understood

(Manager gets it.)

MANAGER KNOWS:

- Language, to read text, numbers,

graphs, sales report

- Concepts of customer, purchase,

time, salesperson, how these relate

to each other

3. KNOWLEDGEinterprets DATA

Information

Information to occur takes a whole process, process ofinforming. An example:

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Information (more)

The term information is overused today.* People get lazy and dont use their brain instead of naming the

content that is being talked about or communicated, the wordinformation is stamped upon everything. Everybody and almostevery technology is information provider.

If all this is information, what is not? Why do we have the termdata? How is information different from data?

Better than calling anything information, try to name a givencontent by what it is about (e.g., customer address or record,explanation, instruction, response, report, text, figures)**

Every MIS 2000 student who can replace the word informationwith an appropriate term gets a participation credit!

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Knowledge

Basic Concepts

Complex structures in human memory.

Knowledge implies understanding

Whatsomething is (concepts, relationships, taxonomies)

Whysomething is (cause-effect relationships betweenconcepts)

How to do something (procedures, experience)

Knowledge can be represented in talk, books, informationsystems, and other forms.*

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Knowledge, Data, & Information

Knowledge uses data to create information, i.e., enablesinterpreting of data to grasp the meaning of it

New information advances knowledge, adds to it, changes it.

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Data, Information, Knowledge in Organizations

Most of work in modern organizations is about data, knowledgeand information

Occupational groups: Managers, Professionals, Clerks

Basic Concepts

ProfessionalsUse knowledge to analyze &resolve professional problems

& advance knowledge.

ClerksManipulate data

Managers

Interpret data in reportsand elsewhere toget informed for

managing.

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Systems and Information Systems (IS)

Any system is a set of related parts with a common purpose toproduce some output from inputs.* (see Note)

Systems are differentiated on the purpose the outputs theyproduce.

Purpose of educational system is to produce graduatedstudents.*

Purpose of ISis to organize and/or transform data for systems

users.

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Information System (IS)

Basic Concepts

Definition: An IS is a system that provides transformed and

organized data.

A computer-based IS is a whole that consists of (1) data, (2)computer hardware and software (information technologies), and(3) procedures applied to data, software & hardware.*

ENVIRONMENT

keyboard,mouse

hardware

data storage;processors for

transforming datarunning software

screen,printer

hardware

Data Transformed& OrganizedData

INPUT part PROCESSING part OUTPUT part

Data are the heart of IS. Inputted data are differentthan outputted data.

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IS and Information

Outputted data are often called information, but human informing doesnot happen unless data are received and understood.

Why it is important to differentiate between data andinformation:

If the system designer assumes that any output fromsystem is information, but the user really dos notunderstand the output (fully or partially), then the systemfails to support the user and business.

The test if information is communicated is on the users side,in his/her understanding of the system output.

IS is not called so because it outputs information but becauseit transforms and organizes data so that data can becomeinformation for the IS user.

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Information System User

IS for Management

Primary User:direct use,

manipulates data & IT

Secondary User:indirect use,

interprets outputted data

Information

SystemData

Transformed &OrganizedData

Basic Concepts

IS Useris a person that uses an IS by manipulating it or byinterpreting its output.

Many higher level managers are (still) secondary users of IS.

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Information Technologies (IT)

Electronic IT are machines and devices for managing data.*

In a computer-based IS, each part (input, central unit, output)is made from particular kinds of IT:

hardware parts (monitor, motherboard with main circuitry,

keyboard)

software

Application Software (Application) supports users work;e.g.: MS Access, Excel, a Web browser.

Systems Software - operates hardware so that applicationsoftware can run; e.g.: operating system like MS Windows

combinations of software and hardware in the computer.

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Basic Concepts

Summary 1/2

Data are symbols created by people for communication purposes (voices, letter,

numbers, pictures). Data can be recorded in various ways.

Knowledge is complex structures in human memory thatmake a person

understand what something is, why something is, and how to do something.

Knowledge is in human brain and it can be represented in complex data structures.

Information is the data that are understood by people, or the meaning of data.

There is no understanding of data without knowledge. Information is created in

human brain, although people often assume that external data is already

"information."

In organizations, clerks mostly deal with data, managers with information, and

professionals with knowledge.

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Summary 2/2

Any system is a whole made of related parts with a common purpose toproduce some output from inputs. Systems are differentiated on outputs,that is, purpose.

The purpose of information system is to store, organize and transforminput data.

A computer-based IS is a whole that consists of data, computer hardwareand software (information technologies), and procedures applied to data,software & hardware.

Data are the heart of IS. System procedures are often work procedures(the way tasks and job are done).

The IS user can be primary or secondary user. Most managers aresecondary users.

Electronic information technologies are machines (computer, smart phone)and devices (computer storage, keyboard) for managing data.

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