ICT1 - 1
ICT1 - Information: Nature, Role and Context
Topic 1 - Knowledge, Information and Data
Example: Getting a balance of account from an ATM (cashpoint machine)
The INPUT (data) would be the card (magnetic stripe) and the pin number and instructions entered via a keypad.
The PROCESS will be the computer doing a search (and possibly a calculation) to ascertain the user's balance.
The OUTPUT (information) would be the balance, which will either appear on the screen or be printed on a slip of paper (or both).
KNOWLEDGE, INFORMATION and DATA.
"Information" is "data" that has been processed. Data is raw facts and figures, whereas Information is data that has been processed and given a context.
For example, a red traffic light is data. The meaning that we attach to this data is "Stop". When you drive up to a red light and stop, you do so because your brain sees the data and process it.
Knowledge is an understanding of "rules". For example, "smoking can cause cancer", "revising hard means you stand a better chance of passing exams", "run and you will get there faster".
A "knowledge worker" is someone who is employed because they understand rules related to a particular task. For example, a doctor has an understanding of the rules of medicine, a lawyer understands the law.
McAfee Helpdesk Suite is an example of an "Expert System". You might also want to look at the Windows Troubleshooter.
Example (2): A Bank Statement
250 is DATA (because this figure is meaningless when out of context)
£250 on a bank statement is INFORMATION because it is meaningful.
"If I only have £250 in my bank account, I haven't got enough money to pay my bills" is KNOWLEDGE
Example (3): A Doctor
A patient arrives with certain symptoms i.e. runny nose, sore throat, headache (the symptoms are DATA).
A doctor (a knowledge worker) understands that these symptoms can mean that the patient either has a cold, flu or hay fever.
The doctor uses an information system to ascertain that the patient has hay fever (INFORMATION).
Case Study: Mr Haverstock (Heathcote page 35). Consider these questions:
Will the information he gathers eventually be out-of-date?
Does he really have to visit these places? Couldn't he find out about them some other way?
What knowledge does he need?
Could his judgements easily be encoded as data?
Case Study: Pfizer UK
What are the benefits/drawbacks of using video conferencing?
Sources of Data
There are direct and indirect sources of data.
An indirect source is where data is used for a purpose other than that for which it was originally collected
Examples:
A "clocking on" system records who was at work and at what times. This data is used to generate information e.g. wage slips, staff attendance records and so on. This is the primary purpose for which the data is collected, therefore, it is a direct source of data.
A library might have an IT system, which collects data about which books are taken out, when and by whom. This is the primary purpose for which the data is collected.
When a credit card is scanned at a POS (point of sale) terminal, data is collected about the card number, the amount, the place of purchase, the till number and so on. This is the primary purpose for which the data is collected (this data is necessary to process the transaction). However, there are also secondary purposes for collecting records of credit card purchases. Can you think what these might be?
N.B. The Data Protection Act restricts the rights of organisations to use data for secondary purposes.
Encoding Information as Data
This means turning information into data, so that it can be understood by a computer. For example, the letters M and F might be used to indicate male or female. A postcode (e.g. SS = Southend on Sea) can be used to indicate a town. A date (e.g. 14th October 1966) can be translated to 14/10/66.
Can we encode value judgements (example: recording pupil behaviour on a scale of 1-10, Surveys that ask you to rate good/bad/average, colour of eyes that are grey/blue)
Is precision lost when we encode information as data (example: computerised medical records, measurement to the nearest 100)
The problem of out of date information (example: if "out of stock" reports are printed on Monday, they are no good if orders go out on a Friday. The Internet holds a vast amount of out of date information. "Date-stamping" is useful)
GIGO (Garbage In = Garbage Out)
If users enter data incorrectly, the information that is outputted will inevitably be unreliable. Steps can be taken to minimise this problem (although it can never be eliminated completely) e.g. data validation in a database.
What is Information and Communications Technology?
Technology is the application of science to everyday tasks.
Information and Communications Technology is the application of science to:
The application of science to:
| From an Industrial Society to an
Information Society
The birth of an information society, and the death of the old industrial society, is the most important 'megatrend' - one that is still not universally recognised as a reality. In the past, those who controlled capital controlled the world, but in an information society the 'world controllers' will be those who control information. Having access to the facts is not the key; everyone receives more or less the same information. In fact we are drowning in information, but often starved for knowledge. The trick is to filter out correct knowledge; to pull useful information from the endless sea of computerised data. Megatrends - John Naisbitt, 1982 |
Reading: Heathcote chapter 8 (4 pages)
Doyle (pages 1-11) - a photo essay