LEARNING OUTCOME 3

ACCESS INFORMATION USING COMPUTER

CONTENTS:
 Relevant types of software
 Business application
 System software
 Basic ergonomics of keyboard and computer user

ASSESSMENT CRITERIA:
1. Correct program/application selected based on job requirements
2. Program/Application containing the information required

accessed according to company procedures

3. Desktop icons correctly selected, opened and closed for

navigation purposes
4. Keyboard techniques carried out in line with OHS

requirements for safe use of keyboards

REFERENCES

www.coursehero.com

LEARNING EXPERIENCES
LEARNING OUTCOME: ACCESS INFORMATION USING COMPUTER
Learning Activities Special Instructions
Read information sheet 3.1 access After reading this information sheets,
information using computer you must be able to answer self-
check 3.1
 INFORMATION SHEET 3.1

ACCESS INFORMATIONS USING

COMPUTER

Business software is any software or set of computer programs

that are used by business users to perform various business functions.
These business applications are used to increase productivity, to
measure productivity and to perform business functions accurately. By
and large, business software is likely to be developed specifically for a
business and therefore is not easily transferable to a different
commercial enterprise, unless its nature and operation is identical. This
is due to the unique requirements of each business that off-the-shelf
software in unlikely to completely address. However, where an on-the-
shelf solution is necessary, due to time or monetary considerations,
some level of customization is likely to be required. Exceptions do
exist, depending on the business in question, and thorough research is
always required before committing to bespoke or off-the-shelf. Some
business applications are interactive, i.e., they have a graphical user
interface or user interface and users can query/modify/input data and
view results instantaneously. They can also run reports instantaneously.
Some business applications run in batch mode i.e. they are set up to
run based on a predetermined event/time and business user does not
need to initiate them or monitor them.

Some business applications are built in-house and some are

bought from vendors (off the shelf software products). These business
applications either are installed on desktops or on big servers. Prior to
the introduction of COBOL (a universal compiler) in 1965, businesses
developed their own unique machine language
Some of our favorite software tools and Web services that we deem the
best for powering small and medium-size businesses. Of course, not
every business needs every type of program or service, but if your
small business could use some help in any of the categories below,
here are some lists which will give you a pretty good shot at picking a
winner.

Accounting Software

QuickBooks: The industry standard in financial management

The flowchart-based accounting of QuickBooks is as close to a

standard in financial management as the small-business world has,
and it's arguably the easiest way for nonprofessionals to transfer their
books from the filing cabinet to the computer, where they belong. Most
actions, from cutting a check to billing a client, are just a click or two
away from the start screen.

Backup and Recovery

Mozy's remote backup service lets you select what you want to
back up. You can (and should) regularly back up files to an external
hard drive or NAS (network-attached storage) device in your office--but
what if the whole place.

goes up in smoke? Hedge your bet with an online backup service like
Mozy, which automatically archives whatever you'd like across the
Internet, safe and sound. Just select what you want backed up, and
Mozy does the rest, either in bulk while you sleep, or in real time, as
files are changed

Blogging Tool
 WordPress offers one of the easiest blogging platforms you can
find--and it's free.

If your business still doesn't have a blog--one of the best ways

around to provide up-to-date company and product news--you're only
about three years behind the curve. Hey, it's not too late to catch up:
WordPress installs in minutes (it even offers a free, hosted option on
WordPress.com), and the platform is dazzlingly easy to use (the site's
home page carries an ad for WordPress for Dummies, but we doubt
you'll need to crack that volume.

Calendar
Mozilla's Sunbird calendaring application can be integrated with its
Thunderbird e mail platform. Mozilla's Thunderbird (our e-mail pick; see
that category below) lacks a calendar, so most business users rely on
the equally free Sunbird for scheduling. It's a very straightforward
application, with day, week, and month views, and even a publishing
feature to enable sending your calendar to a Web site, should you wish
to make it public. Get the Lightning plug-in to integrate Sunbird directly
with Thunderbird.

Collaboration
The Vyew online conferencing/collaboration platform includes a
useful whiteboard. With View, anyone can host an Internet session that
lets scattered colleagues work together on a project in real time. This
Web conferencing platform gives you a very simple whiteboard where
you can upload documents for discussion, share your desktop, or
create designs from scratch. You don't even have to register to use
View, but if you do, you get access to VoIP and other audio services.
(free for up to 20 live participants; additional services extra)

Collaboration/Office Suite
Google Docs lets a team share and collaborate on spreadsheets
and documents.
If your team members all have Google accounts (and why wouldn't
they?), sharing files and collaborating on them simultaneously and in
real-time is a snap with Google Docs. A word processor and
spreadsheet are your only choices--no free-form whiteboarding here--
but the service is free and easy as pie

to operate. Upgrading to the Premier Edition brings extra space (a

25GB limit versus 7GB for free) and a conference-room scheduling
system.

CRM
Salesforce.com offers many sales- and lead-tracking tools.
Customer relationship management isn't just for the Fortune 500. Even
one-person shops can benefit from a more ordered approach to
managing the sales process, tracking leads, and ensuring that follow-
ups are done in a timely fashion. Salesforce.com requires some
training and patience due to its vastness, but its exhaustive feature set
and affordable pricing options make it a business must-have.
 FileMaker Pro is more intuitive than Access, with many prebuilt
templates to get you started. Access is a part of many editions of
Microsoft Office, but if you don't already have that database program in
your toolkit, consider springing for FileMaker Pro instead. This
database application is more intuitive than Access, while offering high-
end features like live SQL data source support and easy Web-
publishing capabilities, so your whole team can access the database
via a browser. And its array of prebuilt templates helps you get up and
running in no time.
E – Commerce Service
You'd be surprised at some of the sophisticated things being
done with the simple e-commerce service at Yahoo Small Business.
Yahoo provides everything from templates and wizards to credit-card
processing and sales- tax collection. If you sell less than 50,000 units,
this is definitely one of the easiest and quickest ways to go online.
Even better: A small army of third- party developers stand ready to
create Web designs that work specifically with the service. If you have
Microsoft Office, you already have Outlook, the industry-standard e-
mail app. But if you're looking to save a buck and still get most of
Outlook's features, Thunderbird is a capable, free alternative. Message
tagging and a speedy, Integrated search system actually offer a few
improvements over off-the-rack Outlook. Yahoo's Zimbra Desktop
includes an impressive calendar as well as e-mail and contact tools.
Another interesting, non-Outlook e-mail option is Zimbra Desktop,
which Yahoo acquired earlier this year. In simple terms, the Zimbra
Desktop is an offline version of Zimbra's capable Web-based e-mail
manager. It includes everything a small- business user needs: a contact
manager, an impressive calendar, a to-do list, and even a simple,
integrated document manager for quick note-taking.

E-Mail Marketing
Topica provides an affordable e-marketing platform. Don't call it
spam: Communicating via e-mail with your customers is cool, as long
as they opt in. Topica has been in the e-mail marketing/mailing-list
game for years, and most spam filters are pretty kind to messages that
are sent through its service. Topica is also one of the most affordable of
such e-mail marketing platforms that you can find on the Web--and its
sure beats running a mailing list server yourself.
Instant Messaging
You don't have to run four different instant-messaging applications
just to communicate with your clients and with everyone in your office.
Multiprotocol software like Pidgin allows you to communicate with users
across more than a dozen IM services: Not just AIM, ICQ, and other
biggies, but also lesser-known ones like Gadu-Gadu (it's Polish) and
Zephyr. Trillian is similar, but it supports fewer services.

Invoicing
Zoho Invoice offers simple, flexible Web-based billing. Don't need a
full- fledged accounting app like QuickBooks? Zoho Invoice is a near-
perfect Web- based solution for managing simple billing needs. Create
and manage customer accounts, build invoices, and then print or e-mail
them with a mouse click. You can also tie in your use of Invoice with
Zoho's other, extra- cost business services. See our full review of Zoho
Invoice.

Mobile Device Remote Access

 It's one thing to be stuck in an airport without access to a critical file
back at the office, but what if you don't even have access to a
computer? Enter SoonR, which lets you snag files from your PC or Mac
via a mobile phone. SoonR isn't built for serious data transfer needs--
but it just might get you out of a jam when it counts.

Office Suite
Like it or not, any business, big or small, probably needs at least
one copy of Microsoft Office somewhere in the building. All of the
suite's applications are simply too close to being industry standards to
ignore. It can be pricey, but you likely needn't worry about upgrading to
the latest version--anything produced since the turn of the century
should do. The OpenOffice productivity suite is mostly compatible with
Microsoft Office. Don't want to fork over beaucoup bucks for Office?
We can't blame you--and this alternative suite will work for 95 percent
of your productivity needs. OpenOffice.org is mostly compatible with
Microsoft Office, and operations are similar enough that any Microsoft
user should have no trouble using it. The big three apps--word
processor, spreadsheet, and presentation tool--are all here,

along with a simple database and drawing tool. One caveat:

OpenOffice has trouble with Office 2007 files; but the imminent new
version, OpenOffice 3, is said to remedy that limitation.
A lot more software can be found in the web, depending on the
need of the user.
 SELF – CHECK 3.1
Identification
1. is a near-perfect Web-based solution for managing
simple billing needs.

A. Zoho Invoice B. Pidgin C. Topica D. Sunbird

2. Multiprotocol software like allows you to
communicate with users across more than a dozen IM
services:

A. Zoho Invoice B. Pidgin C. Topica D. Sunbird

3. provides an affordable e-marketing platform.
A. Pidgin B. Sunbird C. Zoho Invoice D. Topica
4. Mozilla's calendaring application can be
integrated with its Thunderbird e mail platform.

A. Zoho Invoice B. Topica C. Sunbird D. Pidgin

5. is the industry standard in financial management
A. Topica B. QuickBooks C. Pidgin D. WordPress
6. offers one of the easiest blogging platforms you can
find--and it's free.
A. Topica B. QuickBooks C. Pidgin D. WordPress

7. is more intuitive than Access, with many prebuilt

templates to get you started.
A.FileMaker Pro B. OpenOffice C Business Software D.
officeSuite

8. is any software or set of computer programs that are

used by business users to perform various business functions.
A.FileMaker Pro B. OpenOffice C Business Software D.
 officeSuite
9.any business, big or small, probably needs at least one copy
of Microsoft Office somewhere in the building.
A.FileMaker Pro B. OpenOffice C Business Software D.
officeSuite

1. productivity suite is mostly compatible with Microsoft

Office.
A.FileMaker Pro B. OpenOffice C Business Software D.
officeSuite

ANSWER KEY TO SELF – CHECK 3.1

1.A
2. B
3. D
4. C
5. B
6. D
7. A.
8. C
9. D
10. B