Lecture Notes Book (Patterson Is Using Information)

Information Systems
Using Information
[INTERMEDIATE 2;
HIGHER]
Alan Patterson
abc
The Scottish Qualifications Authority regularly reviews
the arrangements for National Qualifications. Users of all
NQ support materials, whether published by LT Scotland
or others, are reminded that it is their responsibility to
check that the support materials correspond to the
requirements of the current arrangements.
Acknowledgement
Learning and Teaching Scotland gratefully acknowledge this contribution to the National
Qualifications support programme for Information Systems.
First published 2005
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2005
This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part for educational purposes by

educational establishments in Scotland provided that no profit accrues at any stage.
ISBN 1 84399 076 8
© Learning and Teaching Scotland

CONTENTS
Tutor introduction 5
Student introduction 8
Section 1: Data and information 11
Section 2: Organisational information systems 31
Section 3: Information management software 73
Section 4: The social, legal, ethical and economic

implications of information systems 109
Section 5: Useful resources

Web links 139
Bibliography 141
Software evaluation form 142
Answer section 143
USING INFORMATION (INT 2, H, INFORMATION SYSTEMS) 3

4 USING INFORMATION (INT 2, H, INFORMATION SYSTEMS)

INTRODUCTION
Tutor introduction (Higher and Intermediate 2)
This unit is designed to develop knowledge and understanding of the

principles, features and purposes of information and the systems used to
create, store, process, retrieve and present information. It also develops
knowledge and understanding of the wide-ranging implications of the
growing use of information systems within society. It provides an
opportunity to develop practical skills in the use of contemporary
information handling. Candidates may then apply this knowledge and
these skills to solve practical problems.
Target audience
While entry is at the discretion of the centre, candidates for the Higher
level would normally be expected to have attained one of the following
qualifications (or equivalent experience):
• the corresponding unit at Intermediate 2.

• Intermediate 2 Information Systems
• Intermediate 2 Computing
• Standard Grade in Computing Studies at Credit level.
The unit has two outcomes (Higher and Intermediate 2):
1. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the principles,

features and purposes of information, organisational information
systems, information management software, and the social, legal,
ethical and economic implications of information systems.
2. Demonstrate practical skills in the use of contemporary hardware

and software in the context of creating, storing, processing,
retrieving and presenting information.
Outcome 1 is assessed by a multiple-choice test. Outcome 2 is assessed

by a checklist. Both of these are included in the NAB.

INTRODUCTION
Learning and teaching approaches
The materials for Higher and Intermediate 2 have been incorporated

into the one pack, making possible to run bi-level classes. Suitable
questions and activities have been included at the end of each section
(with Intermediate 2 questions at the end of Intermediate 2 content and
Higher questions at the end of each Higher section). There has also
been an attempt to include more activities for Intermediate 2 to allow
the tutor to concentrate on delivering the rest of the Higher content of
the unit to Higher students.
It is recommended that the assessment of the practical element and

delivery of this unit be combined in order to maximise the amount of
time the students are working on the unit. These study materials should
be made freely available to the students during the Outcome 2
assessment, as should any tutorials, documentation or other materials
relevant to the hardware or software required to complete the
assessment.
A mixture of student-centred, resource-based learning and tutor-led

class teaching is recommended. Students will require access to
appropriate computer hardware and software and Internet access
throughout this unit.
The shaded margins alongside of the text indicate material for the
Higher. A range of suitable questions and activities is provided at various
points throughout the notes, and tutors should direct students to these
activities as they see fit. A wholly Higher class would be expected to
study the Intermediate 2 and Higher units but would probably only be
expected to undertake activities relating to the Higher Outcome 2
assessment and any others the tutor sees fit to use to enhance the
course. The questions should also provide a means of diagnostic
assessment as part of the learning and teaching of the unit.
Hardware and software requirements
This unit requires that the student has regular use of a computer system,
which can be used throughout the unit for research on the World Wide
Web and for completing the software tasks. At the time of going to
print, the minimum specification for such a system would be:
• A Pentium III 800MHz Processor based PC or a 600MHz G4-based

Apple Power Mac.
• Windows 2000 operating system on a PC
• Sufficient RAM which is 128MB on a PC

INTRODUCTION
• Internet access
• Word Processing, Spreadsheet and Presentation Software including
PIM software such as Microsoft Office 97 at least (Office 95 on a Mac)
but Office 2000 at least is recommended with Outlook.
• Desk Top Publishing and Web Authoring Software
• Project Management Software is optional and may be demonstrated
by the tutor. (Although Project is expensive, an evaluation package
can be downloaded and used for 30 days free of charge; either
SmartDraw or Microsoft Project can be used.)
Practical work
The tutor should supplement this pack with a suitable range of practical
activities using a range of software applications, in order to develop and
consolidate the learner’s experience and understanding, and to provide
evidence to support the checklist of practical skills for Outcome 2.
Advice on appropriate levels of treatment of practical skills is included in
the NABs provided by SQA.
How to tackle this Unit
A standard learning pattern is suggested for your use throughout this

unit, as follows:
• A clear outline of the main teaching points

• Questions to check the understanding of these points
• Practical work where appropriate to illustrate the learning.
What is in the pack?
Section 1: Data and information
The difference between data and information, metadata, categorisation

of information and characteristics of information. Questions and tasks.
Note that in a bi-level class there is only limited Intermediate 2 material

in Section 1, and the first questions will not keep Intermediate 2
students busy for the length of time taken by the Higher students to
complete the rest of the topic. It is suggested that Intermediate 2
students can follow tutorials and/or complete some of the tasks for the
software packages they are going to use later (Word Processing, DTP,
Spreadsheet, Presentation and Web Authoring).

INTRODUCTION
Section 2: Organisational information systems
Explanation, definition, description and exemplification of

organisational information systems. Questions and tasks.
Section 3: Information management software
Explanation, definition, description and exemplification of different

classes of software. Questions and tasks.
Section 4: The social, legal, ethical and economic implications of

information systems
Explanation, definition, description and exemplification of social, legal,

ethical and economic implications of information systems. Questions
and tasks.
Section 5: Useful resources
Bibliography, and useful web links summarised.
Section 6: Additional resources
Software evaluation pro-forma. Answers to questions used throughout

the unit.
PowerPoint presentation
A PowerPoint presentation linked to this pack may be downloaded from

the Information Systems subject pages in the e-library at
www.LTScotland.org.uk/NQ

INTRODUCTION
Student introduction
We are said to live in an age where information and knowledge are so

important that society can be divided up into two groups. These are the
‘information rich’ group and the ‘information poor’. If you are
information rich you have access to many TV and radio channels, books,
newspapers and journals, and of course computers and the World Wide
Web. Those who are information poor tend to not have access to the
Web and probably find it difficult to access relevant books and journals.
Even in general conversations a discussion about a TV programme
shown on satellite TV will be lost on people who only have 4 or 5
terrestrial channels. If you are following this course you will probably be
information rich.
We are going to examine the nature and uses of information by looking

at:
• the differences between data and information

• organisational information systems
• information management software
• the implications of information and communications technology.


DATA AND INFORMATION
SECTION 1
Data and information
Data is raw unprocessed facts and figures that have no context or

purposeful meaning and information is processed data that has
meaning and is presented in a context.
For example, a computer operator may enter 36.41, which is data,

because we do not know why or in what context it is being used.
However, if this number then appears on a bill to show that you owe a
company £36.41 for goods received then this data has changed into
information, because it has acquired a context (it’s a bill) and meaning.
The figures 36.41 will be held as binary data on some media such as a
hard disk. It is the software which accesses this data and displays it in its
context. It may also have some structure, if it is held in a program like a
database for example, and a database will also give it structure. So, it is
the software which turns the figures from data into information and
gives them meaning.
The binary patterns on backing storage devices such as a disk, CD or

DVD, or memory stick, are all classed as data. For example, the binary
patterns that describe an icon on your desktop are data. They become
information after the operating system software has processed them,
because then they become meaningful to you as the icons representative
of your hard disk or Internet explorer.

Questions on data and information
1. Look at this list and decide whether the following are data or
information:
(a) The registration number of a car

(b) 234.73
(c) SA04KRT
(d) An icon on a computer’s desktop
(e) 00101001
(f) A binary stream held on a hard disk
(g) Unprocessed raw facts
(h) The contents of a field in a database
(i) A paragraph of text in a word-processed document
(j) 04081953 10
2. Give two examples of data that is generated in a school’s

administration and assessment system. 2
3. Give two examples of information that is generated in a

school’s administration and assessment system. 2
Total marks 14

Knowledge
Humans have an endless thirst for knowledge, but how do we

obtain knowledge? We can read books and magazines, study course
materials, and of course we can gain knowledge from watching TV
and listening to the radio. The knowledge about the weekend’s
sports matches can mean as much to one person as the latest
advances in rocket science does to another.
We tend to gain knowledge from information and we use that

information to make decisions.
Knowledge can be split into two categories: explicit and tacit.

Explicit knowledge is rules or processes or decisions that can be
recorded either on paper or in an information system. Tacit
knowledge exists inside the minds of humans and is harder to
record. It tends to be created from someone’s experiences, so
again it is based on a set of rules or experiences.
Metadata
Metadata can be thought of as data that describes data. It may have

been introduced to you in the Database Unit where it is defined as
a data dictionary. This is one example, but other formats of
metadata exist. It may be the card-index system used by libraries
before computerisation, where each card told you the author, title
and location of the book. It can also be thought of as data about
documents or files stored on the computer. The computer keeps a
file on its hard disk where it records information about each and
every file on the computer. This includes information such as
when the file was created or modified; who created it; the size of
the file; the file type it is. This master or directory file is an
example of metadata.
Categorisation of information
Information can be categorised under many headings that help us

to determine its overall usefulness. The main categories are
Source, Nature, Level, Time, Frequency, Use, Form and Type. We
will examine each of the categories and their sub-categories in
some detail.

Sources of information
Primary information
A primary source of information is one that provides data from an
original source document. This may be as simple as an invoice
sent to a business or a cheque received. It may be more complex,
such as a set of sales figures for a range of goods for a tinned food
manufacturer for one week, or it may be a set of sales figures over
several weeks and several locations. There are many examples of
primary sources in many walks of life, but generally a primary
source is defined as being where a piece of information appears for
the first time.
Secondary information
A secondary source of information is one that provides information
from a source other than the original. Secondary sources are
processed primary sources, second-hand versions. Examples of
secondary sources could be an accounts book detailing invoices
received, a bank statement that shows details of cheques paid in
and out. Where statistical information is gathered, such as in
surveys or polls, the survey data or polling data is the primary
source and the conclusions reached from the survey or the results
of the poll are secondary sources.
Internal information
All organisations generate a substantial amount of information
relating to their operation. This internal information is vital to the
successful management of the organisation. The information may
be available from a number of sources within the organisation, for
example:
• Marketing and sales information on performance, revenues,

markets shares, distribution channels, etc.
• Production and operational information on assets, quality,
standards, etc.
• Financial information on profits, costs, margins, cash flows,
investments, etc.
• Internal documentation such as order forms, invoices, credit
notes, procedural manuals.
External information
An external source of information is concerned with what is
happening beyond the boundaries of the organisation. This covers

any documentation relating to a subject area produced as a

summary or detailed report by an agency external to an
organisation. Such information may be obtainable from
government agencies or private information providers. Examples
might include:
• census figures • telephone directories

• judgments on court cases • computer users’ yearbook
• legislation, for example • gallup polls
the Data Protection Act • national opinion polls
• trade journals • Ordnance Survey maps
• professional publications • financial services agencies such
• industry standards as Dunn and Bradstreet
• the Internet
Nature of information
Formal information
This involves presenting information in a structured and consistent
manner. It is usually defined, within an organisation, as the main
way of communicating between and within parts of the
organisation. It is also usually the main way of communicating
externally from an organisation. The main methods of formal
communication are still the formal letter, properly structured
reports, writing of training materials, etc. Formal information is
communicated in cogent, coherent, well-structured language.
Informal information
This describes less well-structured information that is transmitted
within an organisation or between individuals who usually know
each other. It tends to be categorised as ‘unofficial’ information,
and is communicated by casual conversations, e-mails, or text
messages between colleagues. The language used is less well
structured than formal communication and tends to include
colloquialisms and shorthand; and spelling is less important.
Quantitative information
This is information that is represented numerically. Any event or
object that can be represented as a set of numbers is an example of
quantitative information.

Qualitative information
This is information that is represented using words. Any event or
object that is represented using words to describe its attributes is
an example of qualitative information.
Levels of information
Within an organisation planning, control and decision-making is

carried out at various levels within the structure of the
organisation.
The three levels at which information can be used are strategic,

tactical and operational and there is a direct correlation between
the levels of importance of individuals or groups within an
organisation and the level of information that is being
communicated.
Strategic information
Strategic information is used at the very top level of management
within an organisation. These are chief executives or directors who
have to make decisions for the long term.
Strategic information is broad based and will use a mixture of

information gathered from both internal and external sources.
In general a timescale may be from one to five years or even longer

depending on the project. Some oil related projects are planned
from the outset to last for 25 or more years. A supermarket
building a new superstore will look at a timescale of 20 years or so,
whilst even a small business may have a five-year strategy.
Strategic plans will have little or no detail in them and more

detailed strategic plans will be made slightly lower down the
managerial ladder. A good strategic plan will be easier to flesh out
lower down than a poor or vague strategic plan. Similarly, well
constructed and more detailed plans will be easier to implement
than poorly constructed plans.
Tactical information
The next level down is the tactical level, and tactical planning and
decision-making takes place within the guidelines set by the
strategic plan.

Tactical information will be mostly internal with a few external

sources being used. Internal information is likely to be function
related: for example, how much ‘down time’ a production line
must allocate for planned maintenance.
Tactical information is used by middle management (employees)

when managing or planning projects.
The timescale is usually at least between 6 months and 5 years

(depending on the scale of the strategic project). Circumstances
vary but a small project may have a tactical timescale of between
one and six months.
Tactical plans have a medium level of detail and will be very

specific; they deal with such matters as who is doing what and
within what specific budgets and timescales.
These plans have medium scope and will address details at the
operational level. They will generally have specific objectives and
be geared towards implementation by operational level employees.
Operational information
The lowest level is operational and operational planning takes
place based on the tactical plans.
The lowest level of management or workers in an organisation

implements operational plans. These may be section leaders or
foremen in a large organisation or workers such as shop assistants,
waiting staff, and kitchen staff, etc., in smaller businesses where
there is no supervisory layer.
The timescale is usually very short, anything from immediately,

daily or at most a week or month.
Results of operational work will usually be passed upwards to let

the tactical planners evaluate their plans.
Time
Historic information
This is information gathered and stored over a period of time. It
allows decision makers to draw comparisons between previous and
present activities. Historic information can be used to identify
trends over a period of time.

Present
This is information created from activities during the current work-
window (day, week or month). In real-time systems this
information would be created instantly from the data gathered (for
example, the temperature in a nuclear power plant turbine), giving
accurate and up-to-date information.
Future
This is information that is created using present and historic
information to try to predict the future activities, trends and events
relating to the operation of an organisation. An example would be
sales figures for a company: if the sales figures are up 10% from
those recorded this time last year it might be anticipated that next
month’s sales figures will also be up by 10%.
Frequency of information
Continuous
This is information created from data gathered several times a
second. It is the type of information created by a real-time system.
For example, sensors may be set up to collect temperature and
humidity readings in a large commercial greenhouse. It will be
important for that information to be collected constantly because
any variation in either the temperature or the humidity could
point to the failure of some machinery and an alarm could be
sounded to alert the staff. A very important system exists on
modern aircraft where the navigation and flight-control systems are
continuously monitoring and making adjustments; another is on a
computerised production line where constant monitoring allows
the system to correct faults. Obviously many other types of real-
time systems exist but a feature of them all will be that they check
data continuously.
Periodic
This is information created at regular timely intervals (hourly,
daily, monthly, annually). Different examples of information
generated by an organisation are needed at specific periods of
time.
• Annually – On an annual basis a company must submit its report

and accounts to the shareholders.
• Monthly – Banks and credit-card companies produce monthly
statements for the majority of their customers.

• Daily – A supermarket will make daily summaries of its sales and

use the product information to update its stock levels and to re-
order stock automatically.
• Hourly – A busy call centre will often update totals for each
operator on an hourly basis and give the top employee for the
hour some reward.
Use of information
Planning
Planning is the process of deciding, in advance, what has to be
done and how it is to be done. Planning should be based on good
information. Planning is not an end in itself; its primary purpose is
to provide the necessary structure for decision-making and
resulting actions, throughout the organisation.
The process of planning provides an opportunity to construct a

sequence of actions that, when executed, will achieve the required
aims and objectives.
Basically, planning means decisions by management about:
• what is to be done in the future

• how to do it
• when to do it
• who is to do it.
An objective is something that needs to be achieved and a plan

contains the activities or actions required to achieve the objective.
Control
Control can be defined as the monitoring and evaluation of current
progress against the steps of a pre-defined plan or standard. If
these tasks are not proceeding in line with expectations then
action is taken to bring the project back in line with what had been
planned.
Control is carried out at strategic, tactical and operational levels.

The type of control changes according to the level of management
as does the amount of time spent on control.
At an operational level the majority of the time of the manager or

supervisor will be spent on control activities where the work of

staff is compared to very specific financial or quantifiable terms

(e.g. how many boxes have been packed).
At higher levels, planning and control are more closely linked, with
management being concerned with the monitoring of progress
against the plan, assessing the suitability of the plan itself and
predicting future conditions.
Organisations and individuals must plan in order to operate

effectively. Likewise they must also operate controls to ensure that
progress is being made against the plan. These controls are needed
because unexpected events can cause actual results to change from
the expected planned results.
Control activities attempt to keep the organisation in line with the

original plan or to enable the organisation to change to meet the
new conditions. Unexpected events range from short delays in the
completion of an element of a plan – which may be relatively minor
– to major disturbances such as a large new competitor entering
the marketplace.
Control measures actual progress against what is expected and

provides information upon which remedial action can be taken, if
required, either to change performance in order to conform to the
original plan or to modify the plan.
Decision-making
Decision-making is the process of selecting an action or actions
from those possible based on the information available. Decision-
making involves determining and examining the available actions
and then selecting the most appropriate actions in order to
achieve the required results.
Decision-making is an essential part of management and is carried

out at all levels of management for all tasks. All decisions are
arrived at in the same way. The manager must choose, by some
means, the result or results that s/he wishes to achieve and do
some form of appraisal of the situation.
Decision-making is made up of four phases:
• finding occasions for decision making

• find possible courses of action (i.e. what choices are available)

• choosing among these courses of action

• evaluating past choices.
Forms of information
Written
The vast majority of information created within an organisation is
in the written form. This can include hand-written or word-
processed information and information in e-mails as well as reports
produced from different classes of software, both general-purpose
packages and bespoke software solutions. Examples of written
information are reports, memos and tables, receipts, invoices,
statements, and summary accounting information. The list is
almost endless and different businesses will produce their own
type of written information.
Aural
Another common form of information is aural, which is
information presented as sound. The commonest form of aural
information is of course speech and examples of this would be
formal meetings (where minutes are taken), informal meetings,
talking on the phone and voice-mail messages. Nowadays many
organisations will have employees giving a presentation or talk to a
group where there may be use made of music and sound effects as
well as speech.
Visual
This form of information includes when pictures, charts and graphs
are used to communicate information. Again, many presentations
will make use of data projectors and presentation software that will
include text, graphics and animations. Full video can also be
projected via a data projector, and presentations can use video
filmed with a digital video camera and then edited on a computer
and distributed via CD or DVD now that DVD writers are quite
common.
Types of information
Detailed
Detailed information might be an inventory list showing stock
levels, actual costs to the penny of goods, detailed operating
instructions, and so on. This information is most often used at the
operational level within an organisation.

Sampled
This information usually refers only to selected records from a
database: for example, only selected customers from a company’s
full customer list. In a supermarket this may be product and sales
summaries given to departmental managers (bakery, fruit and
vegetables, etc.). Sampled information is often used at a tactical
level within an organisation. Depending on the size of the
organisation it may also be relevant at a strategic level.
Aggregated
This is information that consists of totals created when detailed
information is collated. An example of aggregated information is
the details of all purchases made by customers totalled each month
and displayed in a chart showing total sales for each month over a
year.
In order to show all three types of information, here is an example

that some of you should be familiar with. In a league of teams who
play each other twice in a season, the detailed information would
be the score line for each game played by all the teams in the
league. Sampled information would be the details for a team in the
league relating to their performance. Aggregated information
would be the goals for, goals against and goal difference for a team
in a league.
Characteristics of information
Good information is that which is used and which creates value.

Experience and research shows that good information has
numerous qualities.
Good information is relevant for its purpose, sufficiently accurate

for its purpose, complete enough for the problem, reliable and
targeted to the right person. It is also communicated in time for
its purpose, contains the right level of detail and is communicated
by an appropriate channel, i.e. one that is understandable to the
user.
Further details of these characteristics related to organisational

information for decision-making follows.

Availability/accessibility
Information should be easy to obtain or access. Information kept
in a book of some kind is only available and easy to access if you
have the book to hand. A good example of availability is a
telephone directory, as every home has one for its local area. It is
probably the first place you look for a local number. But nobody
keeps the whole country’s telephone books so for numbers further
afield you probably phone a directory enquiry number. For
business premises, say for a hotel in London, you would probably
use the Internet.
Businesses used to keep customer details on a card-index system at

the customer’s branch. If the customer visited a different branch a
telephone call would be needed to check details. Now, with
centralised computer systems, businesses like banks and building
societies can access any customer’s data from any branch.
Accuracy
Information needs to be accurate enough for the use to which it is
going to be put. To obtain information that is 100% accurate is
usually unrealistic as it is likely to be too expensive to produce on
time. The degree of accuracy depends upon the circumstances. At
operational levels information may need to be accurate to the
nearest penny – on a supermarket till receipt, for example. At
tactical level department heads may see weekly summaries correct
to the nearest £100, whereas at strategic level directors may look at
comparing stores’ performances over several months to the
nearest £100,000 per month.
Accuracy is important. As an example, if government statistics

based on the last census wrongly show an increase in births within
an area, plans may be made to build schools and construction
companies may invest in new housing developments. In these
cases any investment may not be recouped.
Reliability or objectivity
Reliability deals with the truth of information or the objectivity
with which it is presented. You can only really use information
confidently if you are sure of its reliability and objectivity.
When researching for an essay in any subject, we might make

straight for the library to find a suitable book. We are reasonably
confident that the information found in a book, especially one that

the library has purchased, is reliable and (in the case of factual
information) objective. The book has been written and the
author’s name is usually printed for all to see. The publisher
should have employed an editor and an expert in the field to edit
the book and question any factual doubts they may have. In short,
much time and energy goes into publishing a book and for that
reason we can be reasonably confident that the information is
reliable and objective.
Compare that to finding information on the Internet where

anybody can write unedited and unverified material and ‘publish’ it
on the web. Unless you know who the author is, or a reputable
university or government agency backs up the research, then you
cannot be sure that the information is reliable. Some Internet
websites are like vanity publishing, where anyone can write a book
and pay certain (vanity) publishers to publish it.
Relevance/appropriateness
Information should be relevant to the purpose for which it is
required. It must be suitable. What is relevant for one manager
may not be relevant for another. The user will become frustrated if
information contains data irrelevant to the task in hand.
For example, a market research company may give information on

users’ perceptions of the quality of a product. This is not relevant
for the manager who wants to know opinions on relative prices of
the product and its rivals. The information gained would not be
relevant to the purpose.
Completeness
Information should contain all the details required by the user.
Otherwise, it may not be useful as the basis for making a decision.
For example, if an organisation is supplied with information
regarding the costs of supplying a fleet of cars for the sales force,
and servicing and maintenance costs are not included, then a
costing based on the information supplied will be considerably
underestimated.
Ideally all the information needed for a particular decision should

be available. However, this rarely happens; good information is
often incomplete. To meet all the needs of the situation, you
often have to collect it from a variety of sources.

Level of detail/conciseness
Information should be in a form that is short enough to allow for
its examination and use. There should be no extraneous
information. For example, it is very common practice to
summarise financial data and present this information, both in the
form of figures and by using a chart or graph. We would say that
the graph is more concise than the tables of figures as there is little
or no extraneous information in the graph or chart. Clearly there
is a trade-off between level of detail and conciseness.
Presentation
The presentation of information is important to the user.
Information can be more easily assimilated if it is aesthetically
pleasing. For example, a marketing report that includes graphs of
statistics will be more concise as well as more aesthetically pleasing
to the users within the organisation. Many organisations use
presentation software and show summary information via a data
projector. These presentations have usually been well thought out
to be visually attractive and to convey the correct amount of detail.
Timing
Information must be on time for the purpose for which it is
required. Information received too late will be irrelevant. For
example, if you receive a brochure from a theatre and notice there
was a concert by your favourite band yesterday, then the
information is too late to be of use.
Value of information
The relative importance of information for decision-making can

increase or decrease its value to an organisation. For example, an
organisation requires information on a competitor’s performance
that is critical to their own decision on whether to invest in new
machinery for their factory. The value of this information would be
high. Always keep in mind that information should be available on
time, within cost constraints and be legally obtained.
Cost of information
Information should be available within set cost levels that may vary
dependent on situation. If costs are too high to obtain information
an organisation may decide to seek slightly less comprehensive
information elsewhere. For example, an organisation wants to

commission a market survey on a new product. The survey could

cost more than the forecast initial profit from the product. In that
situation, the organisation would probably decide that a less costly
source of information should be used, even if it may give inferior
information.
The difference between value and cost
Many students in the past few years have confused the definitions
of value and cost. Information gained or used by an organisation
may have a great deal of value even if it may not have cost a lot.
An example would be bookshops, who have used technology for
many years now, with microfiche giving way to computers in the
mid to late 1990s. Microfiche was quite expensive and what the
bookshops received was essentially a list of books in print. By
searching their microfiche by publisher they could tell you if a
particular book was in print. Eventually this information became
available on CD-ROM. Obviously this information has value to the
bookshops in that they can tell you whether or not you can get the
book. The cost of subscribing to microfiche was fairly high;
subscribing to the CD-ROM version only slightly less so.
Much more valuable is a stock system which can tell you instantly
whether or not the book is in stock, linked to an on-line system
which can tell you if the book exists, where it is available from, the
cost and delivery time. This information has far more value than
the other two systems, but probably actually costs quite a bit less.
It is always up-to-date and stock levels are accurate.
We are so used to this system that we cannot envisage what

frustrations and inconvenience the older systems gave. The new
system is certainly value for money.

Questions and tasks for data and information
1. Describe the differences between data and information. 2
2. (a) Explain the relationship between knowledge and

information. 1
(b) Explain the difference between explicit and implicit 2
knowledge, giving an example of each and of the 1
kind of information that made that knowledge possible.
3. What is meant by metadata? Give an example of

metadata. 2
4. For each of the following situations say whether the

information is primary or secondary and internal or external.
• the minutes of a golf club committee meeting

• a till roll showing the day’s transactions in a corner shop
• a university prospectus
• the published accounts of a large public business. 4
5. Describe the differences between:
• formal and informal communication 2

• quantitative and qualitative information. 2
6. There are three levels of information, strategic, tactical and

operational. State the characteristics of:
• information used for decision making at the strategic

level 2
• information used for decision making at the tactical
level 2
• information used for decision making at the operational
level 2
7. Explain the differences between information categorised by

time:
• historically 1
• in the present time 1
• in the future 1

8. Information can be used in planning, control and decision-

making. Describe how information can be used in:
• planning 1
• control 1
• decision-making. 1
9. There are three forms of information, written, aural and

visual. Explain with the use of examples the difference
between the three forms. 3
10. The type of information one may receive can be detailed,

sampled or aggregated. Explain the differences between
the three types of information with regard to the level of
the information. 3
11. For each of the following characteristics of information

explain why that characteristic affects the quality of the
information:
availability or accessibility
accuracy
completeness
reliability or objectivity
timing
conciseness
presentation
value 8
12. Explain the distinction between value and the cost of

information. 2
Total marks for questions 44

Task for data and information
Imagine that a friend of yours would like you to use the Internet to
find out about university courses that he or she is interested in.
They would like you to find out which universities offer
Information Systems as a degree course in Scotland. But before
doing this you could use your knowledge of Information Systems
to make up a checklist of criteria you want to use in your search.
There are two websites you want to check out, the UCAS site
(www.ucas.ac.uk) and the Heriot Watt University site
(www.macs.hw.ac.uk). Complete the pro-forma below giving an
example in each case of either the information you supply or that
the website supplies to you.
Nature of information www.ucas.co.uk www.macs.hw.ac.uk

and criteria
Data supplied
Information received
Knowledge gained
Any metadata?
Categorisation of
information in terms of:
(a) Source
(b) Nature
(c) Level
(d) Time
(e) Frequency
(f) Use
(g) Form
(h) Type
Comment on each of the

characteristics of the
information you have
found.
(a) Relevance
(b) Accuracy

(c) Completeness
(d) Reliability
(e) Timing
(f) Conciseness
(g) Presentation
(h) Availability
Explain the difference

between the cost and
value of the information
found.

ORGANISATIONAL INFORMATION SYSTEMS
SECTION 2
Categories of information systems
An information system is a group of interrelated components that

work to carry out input, processing, storage, output and control
actions in order to convert data into information that can be used
to support forecasting, planning, control, coordination, decision
making and operational activities in an organisation.
There are several categories of information system:
• Data Processing Systems (DPS)

• Management Information Systems (MIS)
• Decision Support Systems (DSS)
• Executive Information System (EIS).
This table shows how they fit into the categories of strategic,
tactical, and operational information systems:
Organisation level Type of information system

Strategic Executive information system
Tactical Decision support system
Management information system
Operational Data processing system
Data processing systems
Commercial computing systems were first developed in the 1950s

and 60s, initially by what can only be called enthusiasts consisting
of businessmen with a vision. These included Jo Lyon (of Lyon’s
cakes fame) who operated a huge catering empire in London in
the 1940s and 50s. The story of how they became computerised
with the first commercial system is told at the site http://
www.kzwp.com/lyons/leo.htm.
These systems were data processing systems that either replaced

the manual clerical procedures currently in use (like bank

records), or in new areas where humans were unable to perform

the calculations involved due to their complexity.
A Data Processing System is sometimes referred to as a Transaction

Processing System (TPS), because it deals with the day-to-day
transactions of an organisation. Examples include systems for
accountancy, invoicing, stock control and data entry. For example,
a clerk processing a customer order needs to know whether the
item is in stock, what the price of the item is, as well as customer
details including name and address.
Another example is each item sold in a supermarket. For each item

the bar code would be scanned and used to find the name and the
price of the product and then the price used to calculate the total
bill for a customer. This type of event would be stored in the
supermarket’s transaction file for each day’s business.
Data processing systems are usually tools used at the operational

level of an organisation, since most organisations at an operational
level produce large amounts of data from the events that
contribute to their running.
Another simpler example of a DPS, within a school context, is the

gathering of pupil attendance records. Usually some attendance
data is gathered for pupils in a school, in the morning and
afternoon. This data is then input into the attendance information
system. It can be used to calculate pupil, class, and year-group
attendance percentages. Pupil support staff enquiring about pupil
illness or poor attendance can also use the information produced
by this system.
A DPS usually involves a computer at the heart of the operation.

Depending on the size of the company, this could be a desktop
computer, a network, a mini or mainframe computer with ‘dumb’
terminals. The system also includes the software necessary to run
the computer and handle the data. The means of collecting and
outputting the data may well also be included. For example, the
National Lottery DPS includes terminals in shops around the
country where data is collected.
Management information systems
An MIS is a system that converts data from internal and external

sources into information, communicated in an appropriate form to

managers at different levels of an organisation. The information

can contribute to effective decision making or planning to be
carried out.
The source of data for an MIS usually comes from numerous

databases. These databases are usually the data storage for Data
Processing Systems.
MIS summarise and report on the organisation’s basic operations.

The basic data from the DPS is condensed and is usually presented
in long reports that are produced on a regular basis.
MIS produce reports for managers interested in historic trends on

a weekly, monthly and yearly basis (not on the day-to-day activities
of the DPS). The information in these reports provides answers to
routine pre-defined questions. An example from a supermarket will
provide reports that show the sales figures for each department
each day for a week, with weekly totals, monthly totals,
comparisons with last month and the corresponding month last
year. Once the information is in the system many reports can be
extracted.
These systems are generally not very flexible and have little
analytical capability. Most MIS use simple routines such as
summaries and comparisons as opposed to sophisticated
mathematical models or statistical techniques.
Decision support systems
A DSS provides information and models in a form to help tactical

and strategic decision-making. DSS support management decision-
making by integrating:
• company performance data

• business rules in a decision table
• analytical tools and models for forecasting and planning
• a simple user interface to query the system.
DSS are particularly useful when making ad-hoc, one-off decisions.

These types of decisions tend to be unstructured and irregular.
DSS enable a manager to explore a range of alternatives under a

variety of conditions. For example, a manager may wish to know
the effects on profits if sales increase and costs decrease.

The source of data for a DSS tends to be a combination of summary

information gathered from lower level DPS and MIS; it also
includes significant information from external data sources.
Executive information system
An EIS provides senior managers with a system to assist in taking

strategic and tactical decisions. Its purpose is to analyse, compare
and identify trends to help the strategic direction of the
organisation.
EIS address unstructured decisions and create a generalised

computing and communications environment, rather than
providing any fixed application or specific capability. Such systems
are not designed to solve specific problems, but to tackle a
changing array of problems.
EIS are designed to incorporate data about external events, such as

new tax laws or competitors, and also draw summarised
information from internal MIS and DSS. These systems filter,
compress, and track critical data; emphasising the reduction of
time and effort required to obtain information useful to strategic
management. They employ advanced graphics software to provide
highly visual and easy-to-use representations of complex
information and current trends, but they tend not to provide
analytical models.
EIS allow the user to look at specific data that has been
summarised from lower levels within the organisation and then
drill down to increase the level of detail, which is provided by the
information systems in different areas. This is an example of data
warehouse analysis, which we will discuss later.
EIS
V
V
V
MIS DSS
V
V
V
DPS
Interrelationships between information systems

Expert systems
An expert system is a computer program that tries to emulate

human reasoning. It does this by combining the knowledge of
human experts and then, following a set of rules, it draws
inferences.
An expert system is made up of three parts: a knowledge base; an

inference engine; a user interface.
The knowledge base stores all of the facts, rules and information
needed to represent the knowledge of the expert. The inference
engine is the part of the expert system that interprets the rules and
facts using backward and forward chaining to find solutions to user
queries. The user interface allows the user to enter new
knowledge and query the system.
Reasons for expert systems in business:

• To store information in an active form as organisational
memory, creating an organisational knowledge base that many
employees can examine and preserving expertise that might be
lost when an acknowledged expert leaves the organisation.
• To create a mechanism that is not subject to human feelings,

such as fatigue and worry. This may be especially useful when
jobs may be environmentally, physically or mentally dangerous
to humans. These systems may also be useful advisers in times of
crisis.
• To enhance the organisation’s knowledge base by generating

solutions to specific problems that are too substantial and
complex to be analysed by human beings in a short period of
time.
We will go on to look at some of the concepts in relation to

organisational information systems. Also we will look at their
functions and at reasons for their need, and at descriptions of
management strategies and at networking.

Higher – Questions on organisational information systems
1. What is an information system? 1
2. Describe the functions likely to be performed by a Data

Processing System, giving an example to illustrate your
answer. 2
3. Explain why a Data Processing System is classed as being

at the operational level of an organisation. 2
4. For what purposes is a Management Information System

usually used? 2
5. Explain why a Management Information System is classed

as being at the tactical level of an organisation. 2
6. Why would the management of a company like to see a

Decision Support System in place? 2
7. Explain why a Decision Support System is classed as being

at the operational level of an organisation. 2
8. Explain the purpose of an Executive Information System,

giving an example to illustrate your answer. 2
9. Explain why an Executive Information System is classed as

being at the tactical level of an organisation. 2
10. An Expert System is made up of three parts, a knowledge

base, an inference engine and a user interface. What is the
purpose of each of these three parts? 3
11. Describe two reasons why an Expert System would be used

in business. 2
Total marks 22

Concepts in relation to an Organisational Management System
Speed
Computers at the heart of information systems are capable of processing
data very quickly. Although the computer is able to access data from
backing storage at very high speeds this is one of the slowest aspects of
data processing. The processor is able to carry out millions of
calculations per second and some processors are optimised for speed of
calculations.
Accuracy
For most practical purposes computers store and process numbers to a
high degree of accuracy, but the accuracy also depends on the software
written and, of course, on human accuracy. Much financial software is
accurate to 3 decimal places rounded to 2. Once the accuracy of a
calculation has been verified the software and hardware combined will
perform the calculation correctly every time.
Volume
The number of transactions handled by an Information System in a
period of time is referred to as the volume or number of transactions. A
commercial data system often has to handle millions of transactions
every week. For example, take a bank with 5 million customers. If each
customer makes an average of 2 transactions (cash withdrawals or
deposits, cheques written, direct debits or standing orders), then the
system has dealt with 10 million transactions. The average for a bank of
that size is probably far higher so as you can see the volume of data is
huge. This has big implications for the size of backing storage,
processing power and output capabilities of the system.
Efficiency
The efficiency of an Information System is really a combination of the
speed, accuracy and volume of the data processed. It could be
measured as the number of accurate transactions carried out per
minute. In relation to human processing, it is substantially more efficient
to carry out processing on an information system. Information systems
are capable of running without interruption 24 hours a day and 7 days a
week.

The functions of an Organisational Information System
There are four basic functions of an OIS (similar in nature to the

Commercial Data Processing Cycle) relating to gathering data and
storing, processing and outputting information. Remember that we start
by gathering data, and from storing it onwards it becomes information.
Gathering data
In the past there was a wide range of methods for capturing data before
bar codes became almost universal on goods for sale. Many large
companies employed large teams of data-processing staff often entering
data from turnaround documents (like utility bills filled in and returned
with a cheque).
The original mail-order companies were another area of business that

used data-processing staff. Customers chose goods from a catalogue and
sent the order forms in. Operators typed in the order, and when the
goods were despatched documents including a bill were produced. The
customer received the goods and in time paid the bill, filling in a
document to enclose with the cheque (or to pay in at the bank). The
company eventually received the documents and the payment could be
recorded against the customer account.
In shops there were several different ways of recording sales and stock
control. Some large shops used kimball tags, which were strips of
cards with holes punched in them. These cards were fed into a reader
at the end of the day and the reader interpreted the sequences of holes
as stock numbers and stored the data on a type of disk. The disk was
sent to head office for processing and at the end of a week sales figures
and stock levels could be calculated. A similar system was employed
with metallic stripes on the cards, which were similarly read and used.
The main disadvantage of these methods is the time delay between the
goods being ordered, dispatched (remember ‘please allow 28 days for
delivery’) and the company banking the money; also shops were forever
either overstocking or running out of stock.
The current methods that are employed to capture data for an

information system will be investigated.

Bar codes
Bar codes are small labels printed on food, books, newspapers and
magazines and nearly all product packages. They are made of lines,
which represent numbers. A bar code stores four pieces of information:
• country of origin
• manufacturer’s code
• item code
• check digit.
The bar code is scanned (the numbers can be entered manually as well if
they won’t scan). The bar code data is then used by the point-of-sale
terminal to search a database of products for the name and prices. It
then prints an itemised bill and uses the data to update stock levels and
a sales file which can be used there and then to calculate all sorts of
statistics (daily sales by department, hourly sales, etc.).
Ordering goods
What are the other methods of gathering data in common use? Mail
order has all but disappeared and has been replaced by telephone and
Internet ordering. Companies now rely on customers telephoning an
order and paying over the phone with a credit or debit card. The goods
are ordered instantly, the stock position can be given to the customer
instantly, the money is transferred to the company’s account almost
instantly, and the goods are usually despatched within a few hours and
received usually within 48 hours by the customer.
When goods are ordered over the Internet a similar situation occurs
except that even more of the process is automated. The customer
orders the goods from the Internet site, pays by credit or debit card and
the goods often arrive either at a prearranged delivery time
(supermarkets), or within a day or two.
The advantages of these methods to the company are that they are paid
instantly in advance for goods ordered and hopefully increase their
business. To the customer, goods are received very quickly and often at
the customer’s convenience and of course the customer does not need
to leave their home (especially advantageous when young children are
around and / or the weather is very bad). The customer also has
protection from their credit-card company if something goes wrong.
Magnetic strips and chip and PIN

Credit and debit cards contain either magnetic strips or microchips that
contain the holder’s account details. When the card is passed through

the reader either the strip or the chip is read and the account details
transferred to the point-of-sale terminal (POS).
With a magnetic strip card a bill is printed out, signed and retained by
the retailer and a receipt is printed out for the customer.
With chip and pin the customer types a pin number into a device
attached to the till. The PIN number verifies the sale and the receipt is
printed out for the customer. It is generally quicker to use chip and PIN
and much less open to fraud as there is no piece of paper for a thief to
copy the number from.
Magnetic ink character recognition (MICR)

There are numbers printed at the foot of every cheque and on the slips
in a pay-in book. These are printed not in ordinary ink, but magnetic ink
and are the code numbers for the bank, branch, account and cheque.
When the cheque is paid into the bank, a machine is used to read the
details, firstly on the pay-in slip that gives the numbers for the account
the money is to go to, and then on the cheques that give the numbers of
the accounts the money is taken from. The bank clerk only needs to
type in the amount of each cheque and the reader sends all the details
to the branch computer that stores the data.
Optical character recognition (OCR)

This is when the printed text is scanned into a computer. Pages of text
can be scanned in very quickly and then searched for words or
sentences. They can also be reprinted or edited. It is very useful in an
office that receives or uses a lot of printed text, e.g. lawyers or
accountants.
Mark sense reader

This is a device which brushes electrical contacts across the Mark Sense
Document. If the contacts touch a pen or pencil mark then a current can
flow between them. This is used most commonly in the National Lottery,
where a player’s numbers are read from the board they have filled in and
a ticket is produced. This method is also used for marking multiple-
choice question papers.
Storing information
Information can be stored on a variety of media such as magnetic tape,
hard disk, CD-ROM and DVD. These fall into two categories, those where
data can be written to, re-written and amended, and those where data
can only be written once and read many times. Generally speaking all of
the data input from any of the above methods of data input will be

stored on hard disks. These have very fast access allowing records on
the disk to be accessed very quickly. The access is also random or direct
meaning the disk heads can go to any part of the disk without starting at
the beginning and working through towards the end, as with magnetic
tape.
Generally tape is only used for backing up large hard disks and usually
only file-servers on a network. It is totally unsuitable for most modern
data-processing applications. When fitted to a computer, CD-ROM and
DVD drives that can be written to are usually used for backing up data
from the hard disk of a personal computer.
Another popular device for transporting data from one computer to

another (home to school or work and vice versa) is the memory stick.
This small, large-capacity device plugs into the USB port on the
computer and almost immediately is recognised by the computer as an
external disk drive and data can be saved to it just like a disk, except
that it can have a larger capacity and is a lot faster than a disk drive.
Processing data
There are several types of processing that can be applied to data to turn
it into information, as follows:
• searching/selection
• sorting/rearranging
• aggregating
• performing calculations.
Searching involves selecting a sub-section of the data that meets a

specified criterion. You may be familiar with this technique from work
you may have done on databases in school or college when results of
searches or queries happened instantaneously; but on a commercial
basis searching can take a very long time. One example would be the
National Lottery where the winning numbers are entered in as search
criteria. On average it takes half an hour to find the match for any
winning combination. Even if they find a match on the first record they
must continue to the end, as the last of around 14 million records could
also be a match. Every time a bar code is scanned the database in the
supermarket is searched for a match and the details returned. Even with
20 or so tills working and some 20,000 items in store the match is fairly
instant.

Sorting involves arranging the data into some form of order. The
choices are usually alphabetical or numeric, and then ascending or
descending. Large commercial organisations usually have their data
sorted or indexed in some way. It is common to have the customer file
permanently sorted in customer number order and when transactions
are made over the course of a day (orders and payments usually), the
transaction file is also sorted by customer number. The files are then
merged and a new file created with the transactions attached to the
correct customers. A bank will sort its customers firstly into branches
and then by account number within the branch.
Aggregating involves summarising data by taking numerous data values

and reducing them to either one value or a substantially reduced
number of data values. Financial data is often aggregated, as actual
totals of money earned or owed are wanted more often than the detail.
For example, when you buy goods in a shop or supermarket and pay for
them you only pay the aggregated total and if you pay by credit or debit
card then the card company or bank is only interested in the aggregated
total to debit your account. When you receive the statement for the
credit card all the transactions you have made are listed on the
statement but you are only really interested in the aggregated total at
the bottom – the amount you have to pay.
Performing calculations involves applying a formula to data to compute a

new value. Obviously when using examples looked at in this section,
calculations have taken place. The items have been totalled or added
up; and the total found for the till receipt, the bank and credit card
statements have been similarly totalled. When a utility bill is calculated
then several calculations take place:
Cost of units = units used * unit cost

Net bill = cost of units + standing charge
Total bill = net bill + (net bill * 0.175)
So the total bill is calculated in three stages with the VAT finally being
added. The same principles apply for electricity, gas and phone bills,
although the phone bill has many more sub-sections and performs many
more calculations.
Outputting information
Paper
The most popular output method is printing information onto paper.
The list of examples of paper output is almost endless, but tying them in

to our examples we include till receipts and bills of many kinds to

customers; in a business we call these invoices and statements. Internal
reports and business communications tend to be internal printed output
within a business, while many businesses exist to produce printed
output to send to customers and potential customers.
Screen
Often in a large data processing operation the operator is only allowed
to see their input screen and maybe some customer details. Managers
and directors are more likely to see reports and progress checks on
screen. However, with rise of web-based and web-aware software,
management reports can be viewed on screen in an interesting and
visually stimulating manner, as with with intranet pages (an intranet is
like an internal internet for an organisation).
File
Once a database file has been updated with new information it will be
saved to backing storage for future reference. In some situations reports
or filtered data will be selected from the file and saved as a separate file.
This allows the data to pass to another part of an information system
that deals with the subset of data. Files can be e-mailed to managers and
viewed on-screen to save paper.
Organisational Information System management strategies
When an organisation decides to install a computerised information

system, several important decisions need to be made and lots of
planning undertaken. There are five areas where an organisation needs
to have clear strategies when planning and using information systems.
These are as follows: Networks, Security, Backup and Recovery,
Upgrading and Software.
Network strategy
An organisation needs a network strategy initially to plan how to set up
the network in general to manage effectively its distribution of data and
information to assist its decision-making and general operation. The
network strategy should be based on sound fundamentals so that no
matter the advances in technology the network will be able to adapt and
still deliver the services the organisation requires.
The strategy needs to address the following areas:
• Data transfer (traffic)

• Distribution/coverage

• Access and security

• Facilities
• Storage capacity.
Security strategy
An organisation needs a security strategy to ensure that staff or
competitors do not steal important operational data. The security
strategy will also deal with those areas of the network that staff can
access (you cannot have data entry clerks accessing reports meant for
senior management). Nowadays security must also deal with keeping
unauthorised people from remotely accessing business networks; and,
of course, it must protect against virus attacks.
Backup and recovery strategy

An organisation needs a backup and recovery strategy to ensure that
operational data is not accidentally destroyed or damaged. As
organisations rely more and more on information systems to store and
process their data, it is vital that processes and procedures are
introduced to ensure data is kept safe from loss or harm.
Upgrade strategy
An organisation needs an upgrade strategy to ensure its information
systems can continue to support the core business as the organisation
grows and changes over time. There are likely to be advances in the
hardware technology such as faster cabling systems, faster and more
secure communications hardware and computers. Advances are also
likely to be found in the software used with faster and more secure
operating systems and greater functionality in the application software.
Organisations need to decide whether and when to upgrade, usually
when it appears cost effective to do so.
Software strategy
Initially the organisation will decide whether it needs bespoke or
specially written software. The latter is common for large organisations
like banks, insurance companies, supermarkets, and companies like call
centres and modern mail-order companies. The organisation contacts a
software house that will create the bespoke software. This is always
expensive and many organisations will try and configure off-the-shelf
application packages to suit their purposes. Often there is a mixture of
bespoke and off-the-shelf packages in use, with managers often
manipulating and analysing in spreadsheets figures produced in bespoke
systems.

Intermediate 2 questions
Concepts in relation to Organisational Information Systems
1. How may the speed of a computer be calculated and expressed? 1
2. On what factors can the accuracy of a computer system be based? 2
3. What is meant by the volume of transactions in a computerised

system? 1
4. How could the efficiency of a computer system be measured? 1
5. (a) Explain what is meant by a turnaround document. 1

(b) What has replaced kimball tags and magnetic stripes as
the main method of collecting data from goods? 1
6. Explain how a bar code is used to produce an itemised till

receipt. 2
7. What are the two modern methods of buying goods without

visiting a shop? 2
8. (a) Explain why a hard disk is the preferred storage medium

for data processing applications.
(b) If users wish to carry quite large files from work to
home, what backing storage device are they likely to use? 2
9. There are four main types of processing which can be applied

to data. Name and describe each of them and give an example
of each. 4
10 . Name and describe the three commonest methods of

outputting data and give an example of each. 3
11. Explain why an organisation needs a network strategy and state

the five areas it needs to address. 2
12. Why does an organisation need to have a security strategy in

place? 3
13. Why is a backup strategy important to an organisation? 1
14. Referring to both hardware and software issues, explain why an

upgrade strategy is needed. 2

15. Why will an organisation have a software strategy in place? 1
16. What effect can a centralised database have on an organisation

and what advantages can it give? 3
Total marks 32

Network strategy
Topologies
A network topology is basically the way in which the network has

been built. Although there are several different variations on each
of these basic topologies we are only going to look at the generic
types.
LAN
This stands for Local Area Network and it is a network that is
restricted to one room, building or site. The cabling and hardware
(infrastructure) that defines the network are usually owned by the
organisation. LANs allow users to share data and peripherals like
printers, often they are able to log on anywhere on the network
and access their own data from any computer. The network
manager is able to control access through the use of usernames
and passwords and ensure that data is kept secure and backups
made.
WAN
This stands for Wide Area Network and is a network that uses some
form of external communications for computers to communicate
with each other. Some large companies, local authorities and
government departments operate WANs. Their regional and
district offices can be connected via leased lines and their
computers will all operate as if they were workstations on a LAN.
More common nowadays is for these organisations to use
telephone lines and run a web-based service or Intranet. By far the
biggest WAN in the world is the World Wide Web running the
Internet.
Distributed networks
Distributed networks have been made possible on LANs by the use
of modern networking software and by having multiple servers
around the network. Each server can run a mini network within a
sub-group of switches and this can reduce network traffic
significantly. Users’ data can be kept on the server they are most
likely to access although their user area should be transparent
from any station on the network. A distributed network can make
the working of a network like a school or college much more
efficient, and in a business environment much more secure as well.
Server failure at one node is unlikely to render the entire network
useless.

Network hardware
Client-server network
This type of network has a central computer called a server,
although large LANs may have more than one server. Data files and
software are usually stored on the server but can be accessed from
the network stations (nodes). Some software is installed centrally
so that it only has to be installed once, although applications are
usually installed on each workstation and this software can often be
installed remotely to several stations at once. All files are stored
centrally, providing a pool of data that is accessible to all
workstations on the network. The network can support computers
of differing types and usually different versions of the same
operating system. Backup is easy to perform and there is no need
to rely on users backing up their own files.
This sort of network is heavily dependent on the server. Servers

need to have fast processing speeds, large memory and large hard
disks. They are expensive and server-based networks are
complicated to install. The commonest type of server-based LAN is
based on Ethernet technology.
Peer-to-peer network
This type of network has no central server, as all workstations on
the network are equal. Installing software takes more time, as it has
to be installed on each computer. Workstations on a peer-to-peer
network can access work stored on other computers on the
network. This type of network is less secure as access to and from
workstations needs to be open.
As a server is very expensive to buy, a small peer-to-peer network is

a lot cheaper then a client-server network. A peer-to-peer network
is ideal in a small office where a handful of computers need to be
networked.
Network adapter card

Every computer attached to a network needs a network adapter
card. Very often now the card is built-in to the computer at the
time of manufacture. The network cable plugs into the card and
the other end into a socket and it therefore allows the computer
to send and receive data across the network.

Structured cabling
Cables are the commonest form of transmission media used to
build a network. They are usually made from copper wire, such as
co-axial and twisted pair. Fibre-optic cables are also used for fast,
large-capacity networks or to connect sections of a network in a
large building like a school or college.
In an Ethernet network, twisted pair cabling is normally used, and

each network point will be connected back to a hub or switch,
which in turn is connected to the server. However large a network
becomes (and networks of 200–500 stations are not uncommon in
large schools and colleges) this simple structure applies. Of course
complications develop and when longish distances are covered a
repeater boosts the signal, at regular intervals to prevent the signal
deteriorating until it is unusable.
Network software
Network operating system

There are two parts to the network operating system, the version
that runs on the server and the version that runs on the personal
computers to turn them into network stations. The server software
is needed to control which users and workstations can access the
server, keep each user’s data secure, and control the flow of
information around the network. It is also responsible for file and
data sharing, communications between users, and hardware and
peripheral sharing.
Each workstation (computer) connected to the network needs the

Network Operating System installed before it can connect
successfully to the network facilities. It may be extra software
added to the operating system, or more likely on modern
computers running Windows 2000 or XP it comes as part of the
operating system and only needs to be run to connect the
computer to the network. Thereafter it runs automatically after
start-up and makes any user log in before they can access either
the computer or the network
Network auditing and monitoring software

This software keeps a track of network activity. It not only records
user activity, but workstation activity as well. It records who has
logged in where, at what time, for what duration, which
applications have been used, printer requests and file access
activity. This allows the network manager to see exactly what was

happening if a problem is reported, and also to monitor any

person who may be acting suspiciously as far as the network is
concerned.
In a commercial organisation this sort of auditing and monitoring

can be used to detect fraud and suspicious activity.
Security strategy
Data stored on computer is vital to the success of any business or

organisation. The loss of computer files is an extremely serious
problem for any organisation, so it is vital that organisations take
steps to protect the security, integrity and privacy of their data.
What exactly do we mean by these terms and what is the difference
between security, integrity and privacy? We will look at this
question and investigate the policies and procedures for
implementing data security and access rights on a network.
Security, integrity and privacy of data
Data security means keeping data safe from physical loss. This
could be due to accidental damage to the computer systems, such
as a fire or flood. It might be caused by electronic problems such
as hardware failure or the data becoming altered due to magnetic
influences. We call this data corruption. This might be intentional:
for example, theft by a competitor, malicious unauthorised access
deleting or altering data, or it might be destruction of the data by
viruses.
Data integrity means the correctness of the stored data. Measures

are taken when data is entered to ensure that it is correct. In an
off-line situation data is often double entered, once originally and
once again for security. If there is a mismatch the data has to be
checked and re-entered. On-line data entry (such as from call
centres) is often checked by the software; or operators may ask
customers to spell difficult names or addresses, before reading
their details back to them so they can correct any errors. Data may
be incorrect because of program bugs, hardware breakdown,
viruses or other computer crime, or through errors in data
transmission on networks or using remote terminals.
Data privacy means protecting data so that unauthorised users

cannot access it. You as a user may wish to keep your personal

data at school or college private. In a commercial organisation

different groups of users will be allowed access to different levels
of data. Thus data is kept private to specific groups of users.
You will probably rely on a network manager to keep the data

secure. Its integrity is respected when the data is entered and
stored and your privacy is protected by not letting other users into
your personal data.
The security risks to information systems
A virus is a piece of programming code that causes some

unexpected and usually undesirable event in a computer system.
Viruses are often designed so that they automatically spread to
other computer users on a network. They can be transmitted as
attachments to an e-mail, as a download, or be present on a disk
being used for something else. Some viruses take effect as soon as
their code takes residence in a system whilst others lie dormant
until something triggers their code to be executed by the computer.
Viruses can be extremely harmful and may erase data or require the
reformatting of a hard disk once they have been removed.
Hacking is gaining unauthorised access to a computer information

system. This may be as simple as trying to break into your friend’s
account at school or college; or it may be as complex as terrorists
trying to break into state security and military systems. Much of
the security on networks exists to prevent hacking, whether user
names and passwords or chip-and-pin credit and debit cards. It is
not so much the breaking in that is the offence as maliciously
altering data or stealing information.
As organisations begin to incorporate the use of the network and

Internet into their core business activities, they become more
vulnerable to new risks. One of these risks comes from denial of
service attacks. This involves flooding an organisation’s Internet
server with a surprisingly large amount of requests for information
(traffic). This increase in traffic overloads the server, which is
incapable of dealing with the backlog of requests, and usually
results in the server crashing or needing to be taken offline to
resolve the problem.
This sort of attack on a company can be very costly. An example

was the attack on Yahoo in 2000, which involved their servers
being flooded with 1 billion hits per minute. The attack was

estimated to have cost £300,000 in lost advertising revenue alone

(Financial Times, 17 November 2000).
Policies and procedures for implementing data security
Codes of conduct can be applied to anybody that uses an

information system. Most organisations insist that users follow a set
of rules for using their information system. These rules outline the
organisation’s expectations of user behaviour – a kind of school
rules for adults and professionals. Employees in an organisation
often have to sign a code of conduct as part of their conditions of
employment. These are not usually onerous or unduly restrictive
but more often common sense and for the employee’s protection
(to prevent them from breaking any laws). A code of conduct can
cover basic professional competences as well as an obvious
statement like ‘Never disclose your password to anybody else’ or
‘Change your password every week’.
Members of professional associations, like the British Computer

Society (BCS), are expected to abide by a set of principles that set
out minimum standards of competence, conduct and behaviour.
They have a code of conduct for members who work in the
Information Systems industry, and many professional organisations
have such regulations to govern how their membership carries out
their work.
The BCS code of ethics covers:
• Professional conduct – members’ conduct shall uphold the

dignity, reputation and good standing of the profession.
• Professional integrity – A member shall not by unfair means do
anything that would harm the reputation, business or prospects
of another member and shall at all times act with integrity.
• Public interest – A member shall have proper regard to the
public interest and to the rights of third parties.
• Fidelity – A member shall discharge his obligations to his
employer or client with complete fidelity.
• Technical competence – A member shall offer only those services
which are within his/her competence, and shall declare to his
employer or client the relevant level of competence he
possesses when his services are being sought.

Password guidelines
When users are given access to an information system they will be

given a specific user identity (user ID) and a password. Most
systems allow the user to change the initial password to one of
their own choice and they also require users to change their
password on a regular basis.
However, this free choice can result in a poor selection of

password and increase the risk of a hacker guessing or deducing
the password. Most password systems try to ensure a password is
chosen that cannot be easily deduced, by imposing some password
rules; for example, all passwords should:
• have a minimum length of 5 characters

• have a mix of letters and numbers
• not contain any words
• not be the same as the previous password
• not use easily guessed strings of letters or numbers (e.g. 123456
and abcdef).
Implementing data security
Virus protection
Prevention
A virus can, like any form of data, copy itself onto a computer via
portable backing storage or across the network. There are various
different ways of preventing a computer system from being
infected by a virus.
You can, as in some schools and colleges, prevent users from using
floppy disks to transfer data. Several organisations buy PCs without
a built-in floppy disk to reduce the risk of virus infection.
Another form of infection is via e-mails, specifically with

attachments. In recent years there have been several well-
publicised examples of viruses being spread via attachments on e-
mails. To combat this risk, organisations use filtering software to
scan incoming e-mails for potentially dangerous virus attachments.
The advice that users are given to prevent infection is not to open
any attachments or e-mails from e-mail addresses that they do not
recognise.

Detection
If a user does not have any anti-virus software installed on their
computer system, they may not detect a virus until it causes
damage to their computer or someone else receives an infected e-
mail or file from them.
To detect viruses on a computer system a user needs to install anti-

virus software that is capable of scanning incoming data for viruses.
Virus scanning involves looking at each file for a known virus
signature. If the anti-virus software has not been updated recently,
there may be new viruses (and their signatures) that the system is
unable to recognise.
Most anti-virus software can be configured to scan floppy disks or

other portable media for viruses, when they are inserted into the
computer. If a virus is detected it will either refuse to read the disk
or ask the user if they wish to repair the infected file.
Repair
It is generally a good idea to scan the hard disk of the computer
system on a regular basis to ensure no viruses have managed to
infect the system. If a virus is discovered the anti-virus software can
offer to quarantine or repair the files. Quarantining involves
coping the files into a secure sub-directory on the hard disk.
Repairing a file involves the anti-virus software deleting the part of
the file that it believes contains the virus infection.
Firewall
A firewall is an intelligent device or software item that is used to

prevent unauthorised access to an organisation’s network. The
firewall is placed between the network file server and the Internet
connection (usually a router). The firewall checks all messages
sent to the fileserver from outside and filters the contents. Access
may be blocked for certain applications whilst being restricted for
others. The firewall is a method of preventing unauthorised access
to the workstations or servers in an organisation’s network, from a
computer external to the organisation. It will check any requests to
join the network with validated user accounts on the server and
will only grant access to authorised users.

Encryption
When someone tries to buy goods on the Internet they usually

have to give their credit card number. Hackers can monitor the
servers used by the companies accepting credit cards and use
‘packet sniffer’ software to intercept the 16-digit credit card
numbers and store them for later use. Internet retailers therefore
use encryption techniques to protect their customers (which they
must do if they are to maintain credibility). Encryption is the
method of scrambling or coding messages so that anyone who
intercepts them cannot understand the message, and it can only be
recovered by people authorised to see it. When the data is to be
used it needs to be decrypted. The usual method is called 32-bit
encryption (64-bit also exists) and is thought to be virtually
impossible to crack.
Access rights
Users of an information system usually have different kinds of

access rights to their own and shared areas of the system. These
rights involve how files can be accessed, modified and erased.
Folders can be set so that files can be read only in the folder, files
can be created, deleted or not, and so on. The main actions are
explained below:
• Read – relates to files and the user can read the file. Files can be
made ‘read only’, which means users cannot save changes made
to them.
• Write – Usually refers to folders where users have the right to
write or save files to that folder.
• Create – Again in folders groups of users have the right to create
files.
• Erase – Similarly groups of users may be able to erase files.
• Modify – Groups of users can be given rights to modify files.
It is usual for these access rights to be grouped so that a user will

have Read/Write/Create/Erase on their own drive. Maybe students
have ‘read only’ access to a folder containing sample files where
staff have full access.
In another example, a group of users may be given access to a

central file space that they can all share. In this case access rights
may be restricted to read and write access, but not to erase.

Other users, such as a Network Administrator, will have full access

(super user access) to all areas of the system. This allows them to
fix any problems with the system and configure the system for new
users.
Backup strategy
Archive, recovery and storage methods
Every computer user and certainly every network and MIS should
have a strategy in place to back up their (often irreplaceable) data.
Backing up is the process of making a copy of data stored on fixed
hard disks to some other media. This can be tape, external
portable hard disks, writeable CD-ROM or DVD. The purpose of
backing up data is to ensure that the most recent copy of the data
can be recovered and restored in the event of data loss.
What can cause this data loss that so many companies worry about?
Firstly, there are the natural perils of fire, flood, and building
collapse. Secondly, there are electronic disasters. A simple
example of the latter is when the hard disk becomes corrupted by
a disk-head crash; this is usually due to the computer being
suddenly moved when the disk is rotating, causing the disk head to
crash into the surface of the disk and can render the whole disk
instantly useless. Another example is when files are accidentally
erased, or whole areas of the disk are attacked by a virus. This list
is not exhaustive but identifies some of the main worries of a
computer user.
There are different types of backup procedures and we shall

examine only one or two different situations.
Archive
Archiving data is the process of copying data from hard disk drives
to tape or other media for long-term storage. This is often used to
free hard disk space by off-loading seldom-used data to backup
tape or other media. An example of this would be to archive last
year’s accounts when they had been finalised. This year’s accounts
have already been started with carry-forward figures and it is only
accountants and VAT inspectors, for example, who wish to see last
year’s. They can usually be easily recovered for that purpose. But
accounts for the previous 10 years are usually archived and

anything older than last year is said to be a long-term archive.

Long-term archives are usually stored in a fireproof safe away from
the main site. Banks offer a long-term archiving service at a cost.
Recovery
Data verification is an important, if often forgotten, aspect of

backup strategy. After the backup process has been completed it is
important to check the backup has been successful. It is important
to check that the data stored on the backup media can be
recovered. It would be extremely foolish to wait until the data in
the information system was corrupted before testing the backup
media to see if it could be recovered.
Assuming that the backed-up data can be recovered it is usually a

fairly simple task to recover the data. The relevant tape is brought
from the off-site storage facility and the backup and recovery
software will restore the data. Usually the software can be set to
archive mode when the backup is taken and this means that
archive data can be restored without overwriting the current data.
Another method of backup is to make a full backup of the entire

computer at a fixed point in time. Thereafter an incremental
backup is made at predetermined times (daily, weekly, termly
even). This means that only files that have been added or
amended since the last full or incremental backup are backed up.
Again, the recovery software can be set to ‘full’, ‘incremental’ or
‘full and incremental restore’.
Storage methods
Most servers have built-in tape drives to allow backup to take place
easily. The mention of tape does not mean large reel-to-reel tape
machines with ½-inch data tape moving from reel to reel. Such
tapes were essentially analogue tapes (like VHS video and audio
tapes) and nowadays we use digital tapes called DAT tapes. The
older ones store around 2 or 4 GB of data and are like an audio
cassette, but the modern ones can store around 20 or 40 GB and
are more like a short video cassette in size and shape. Some
organisations backup onto USB hard drives which plug into the
computer’s USB port (USB2 is very fast). The advantage of these is
that they are often the same capacity as the drive they are backing
up.

Frequency and version control
The duration of a backup (backup window) is another important

aspect. If a backup is carried out each night after close of business
(out of hours), it is important that the backup method can be
completed before the start of business the next morning. A full
backup is usually taken at the end of a working week on Friday or
Saturday night (automatically under software control – the
operator does not spend all Friday or Saturday night watching the
backup happening). Several sets of full tapes will be required for a
6-week rotation. A tape will be required every night for an
incremental backup, which usually does not take too long.
A version of a week’s work will then be the full backup set plus the
incremental tapes made during the week. It is important that
these tapes are kept together and clearly labelled. If using the
Grandfather, Father, Son method then a set of tapes is required for
each generation. A generation may last longer than a week; a
month is quite common, with weekly incrementals. A school may
keep four generations of a full backup and then weekly
incrementals and that way a pupil’s work can be recovered right
back to the start of the year when they accidentally deleted the
most important essay they have ever written. When the rotation
period is complete then the rotation starts again.
Upgrade strategy
Future proofing
This concerns finding ways of making sure that a system has a

reasonable life and does not need to be totally replaced too soon.
‘Too soon’ are the operative words, as any computer will have to
be replaced eventually. Look at the systems at GCHQ now
compared to the Enigma Code Cracker of 1944. That computer
worked but eventually would not run programs that the
management wanted to run, and was far too slow.
Computers have developed so rapidly that machines which are

four or five years old seem slow and their operating systems
cannot cope with recent versions of the application software. It is
usually the operating system which cannot run updated software
(Windows ME will not run the latest software written for XP). The
older hardware will not accept the upgraded operating system so

you are into a cycle and the only option is to upgrade. It is not
possible to predict the future other than to say it is unpredictable.
Future proofing hardware is a bit of a wish and really means that

you try and buy a computer that has more features than you
actually need. You try and buy a more advanced and faster
processor, the maximum amount of RAM that you can and the
biggest hard disk you can fit into the computer. In a year or so
then the super new future-proofed computer will be the standard
that everyone else is buying.
Software is a slightly different story as there is software that has

been running for several years and works perfectly well and does
not need upgraded. On the other hand some software needs to be
upgraded almost immediately and is always in a state of flux. There
is a happy medium and this is probably where most software is.
Software is either written by a software house for a client’s needs
(call-centre, bank, telephone ordering system, etc.) or is an
application (like Microsoft Office). A software house will generally
respond to individual customers’ requests for upgrades, while an
application developer will always try and improve the product to
keep it ahead of the competition.
When upgrading an information system two main areas of

hardware and software updating need to be investigated
thoroughly. This investigation is called integration testing, and it
ensures that any new hardware or software can work with all the
other parts of the information system.
Integration testing – there are several inter-connected elements

that need to be tested to ensure that new developments in the
information system work with the old. When considering the
information system you need to ensure that all its elements are
compatible. Here are some of the questions that need to be
considered:
• Are the peripheral devices compatible with the hardware and

operating system?
• Does the network software support the hardware and operating
system?
• Is the application software compatible with the operating system
and computer?
• Is the hardware compatible with the operating system?

Over the lifetime of the information system various elements will

be updated as new technology is purchased.
Legacy systems – Old information systems running on out-of-date

hardware and operating systems are often referred to as ‘legacy
systems’. These were originally characterised by old mainframe
systems but now often refer to very old micros whose specification
is less than the minimum specified by the company. The reasons
companies and organisations continue to use legacy systems are
that the cost of buying new hardware and re-writing the
application software for the new hardware is so costly that it does
not make financial sense to move to the new system. Problems
then arise because the old hardware companies stop building and
supporting their information systems. This means that if any
problems arise, or if the hardware breaks down, there are no
specialists available to fix the problem; however, when a central
computer system is upgraded it is necessary to try to maintain the
legacy systems.
These problems with legacy systems led to many computer

companies developing software that conformed to Open
Standards. This meant that applications would be developed for
non-proprietary systems. An application running on one
manufacturer’s hardware could easily be moved to another
(portable) because it was designed to work with open systems.
Open Standards are exemplified in Linux OS, various
Communications software programs, and languages like Java.
Emulation – A problem occurs when changing to a new hardware

platform if the use of the old system is still required. If a change to
incompatible new hardware is made, it may be possible to run old
software using a software emulator. This is system software that
acts as an interface between the hardware of a system and any
applications running on that system in order that the application
software can run on a hardware platform other than the one for
which it was designed. Thus the original software can be run. The
computer gives the appearance of being a different platform.
Using software emulation allows access to a greater range of

applications that might not be available on the given hardware
platform. The use of an emulator allows data to be transferred
between platforms.

However, software emulation may not provide full functionality of

the software and will not exploit all the facilities of the new
hardware. As an extra layer of software is in place this will often
cause the application software to run slowly.
Software strategy
Every organisation with an information system needs to consider

very carefully the following points when writing and implementing
a software strategy. It needs to take account of several important
issues:
• evaluating the software for use, using several key criteria

• the user support for the software
• the training supplied for end users of the software
• the upgrade path of the software.
Software evaluation
Functionality – This refers not only to the number of features an

application program has but the number of useable features it has.
Also the tasks to be completed need to be evaluated against the
features in the software.
Performance – The performance of software can be measured by

several different criteria depending on the type of software:
Speed – A database program could be measured for the speed it

takes to search through, say 10,000 records, by a variety of criteria.
A spreadsheet’s speed may be measured by the time it takes to
recalculate a complex formula over a set number of cells.
Usability – This can be simply the look and feel of the software,
whether tabs or buttons are used and whether standard menus or
specific menus are used. Usability can also mean what choices one
has in the menus (e.g. you expect to find cut, copy and paste in
the edit menu and no other) and also whether the software does
what you expect it to.
Compatibility – Is the software compatible with other software on

the system and also the intended hardware. The commonest
compatibility problem is with operating systems. As software
becomes more modern and up-to-date it is likely not to run on

older operating systems. Developers write routines that they know

are supported by the newest operating system, but not by a version
several years old (e.g. trying to use the USB port – Windows 98
onwards supports USB, but try to use the software on Windows NT
and it will not work).
Data migration – The process of translating data from one format

to another. Data migration is necessary when an organisation
decides to use a new computing system or database management
system that is incompatible with the current system. Typically, data
migration is performed by a set of customised programs or scripts
that automatically transfer the data.
Reliability – Reliable software does the job it is supposed to do,

and gives the expected results to test data supplied to it. It can be
a long process devising suitable test data and running reliability
tests but this is a very important area of testing. For example a
program dealing with small decimal parts of numbers may only be
accurate to 10 decimal places when the requirement is for 12
places.
Resource requirements – Software must be investigated to see

whether or not the computer going to operate it has adequate
resources. This means questions must be asked about whether the
processor is fast enough and has the correct type of processor, and
how much RAM is required to run the software and deal with
associated data files. The next level is to look at the hard disk
space required and the type of monitor and graphics adapter.
Other considerations will be more peripheral, such as sound
capability and other storage requirements, CD-ROM, DVD, USB
devices.
Portability – When used to describe software, portable means that

the software has the ability to run on a variety of computers or
operating systems. ‘Portable’ and ‘machine independent’ mean the
same thing – that the software does not depend on a particular
type of hardware.
Support – This usually means customer support, the assistance that

a vendor or technical support desk offers to customers or users.
Support can vary widely, from nothing at all to a phone hotline to
on-site calls. The level of support usually depends on how much
money the organisation is paying for the support.

Training
On-the-job – This type of training comes when a new user starts

using an information system. A new user needs to be introduced to
the software; this usually takes the form of working through a
tutorial to become familiar with the functions of the software. It
will either be an online tutorial program or tutorial manual that
teaches the user about the software.
In-house – This is when small groups of staff, within the company

or organisation, receive a training course usually delivered by IT
staff. This allows staff to become fully familiar with the information
system; if they have any complex or unusual questions relating to
using the system, the IT staff have the expert knowledge to answer
them.
External – This type of training is used when an organisation does

not have in-house IT specialists to deliver the training internally. It
is offered by specialist training providers for popular application
software, such as software created by Microsoft, Macromedia and
Adobe.
User support
There are numerous sources of user support that allow a user to

solve a problem when using a piece of software.
Manuals
There are several types of manuals available for application
software:
• Installation guide – gives advice on how to install the software

and how to configure it to work with various hardware.
• Tutorial guide – gives step-by-step instructions on how to use
the software.
• Reference manual – Is an indexed guide detailing all the
functions of the software.
On-line help – This is usually a facility associated with a piece of

software that explains to the user what each feature of the software
does. Importantly, it is a part of the program situated on the
computer and is not on the Internet

On-line tutorials – This is usually a facility associated with a piece

of software that teaches the user how to use the software. Users
are led through a set of steps that illustrate how the software works
and this is usually very similar to the paper-based tutorial manual
(replacing it very often). This facility is also situated on the
computer and is not on the Internet.
Help desk – There are two types of help desk: internal and
external. They both provide support information on how to use
the information system or software. Sometimes the company that is
the end user of the software and focuses on solving low-level user
problems operates an internal help desk. These problems can
usually be solved very simply and do not require a complex
understanding of the information system.
An external help desk is usually associated with the software

company that provided the software. They deal with complex high-
level user problems. They provide detailed technical information
to the user and are also responsible for logging any bug reports for
the software, which would require the programming team to fix.
Newsgroups – A newsgroup allows users of a piece of software to

post e-mail messages to the wider user community. Users subscribe
to a newsgroup and when a message is posted there it is sent to all
members of the group. If it is a problem that another user has
experienced then they may reply with helpful advice. A newsgroup
helps support a user by allowing the user group to share the
knowledge of the community. It is also common for the moderator
of a newsgroup to create an FAQ (see below), which is updated
and posted on a regular basis.
FAQs – This stands for Frequently Asked Questions. It is usually a

file that contains a list of commonly asked user queries about a
piece of software. These FAQ files are often posted on newsgroups
or on a website to allow users to access them easily. They can be a
simple starting point when trying to find a solution to a problem. If
the user can’t find the answer in the FAQ then they can try one of
the other sources of support.
Decisions to upgrade software
There are several reasons why an organisation may decide to

upgrade their software, as it is usually a large step to take and care
must be taken to ensure that the upgrade is not a costly mistake.

Data files, which may be more valuable than the computer system,
must be compatible with upgraded software, and upgraded
software must be compatible with the current hardware, or else
that will need to be upgraded also; and so the cycle continues.
Lack of functionality – At some time the organisation will evolve

and change. For example, a mail-order company might move over
to telephone ordering. The mail-order software will not be able to
cope with telephone ordering. In the case of an application
package there may be new features in the software that the users
want to use or need to use. An example was Web Authoring
software that worked perfectly well but did not support MP3 files
(which came out after the software was released), so the different
companies released upgrades to cope with these and other new
file formats.
Hardware incompatibility – It may be that an organisation has to

upgrade its computers and the new computers have an operating
system that will not support the original software, so upgraded
software will need to be ordered or bought.
Software incompatibility – Likewise, an organisation may have to

upgrade its software for operational reasons and finds that the
upgraded software will not run on the version of the operating
system installed. The next step is then to upgrade the operating
system.
Perfecting the software – If a software company releases software

and it discovers there are bugs in the software, the company will
try and remove those bugs and release an update. This may well
be free, but users should check that their data files are upwardly
compatible.
Centralised and distributed databases
At the heart of most organisational information systems will be found a

very large and powerful centralised database. The database program is
often called the database engine and it saves and indexes files in tables
and manages the relationships between the tables. The other functions
such as data entry screens, querying and reporting are part of the
database shell and are often seen as peripheral tools for handling the
data.

Information held by the company can be found fairly easily by querying

its centralised database. Usually a multi-user or network system is used
which means that any user on the system can have access to the
database. It can usually be configured to allow different operators
different but relevant views of the information (sales screens, account
screens, stock screens, etc.).
The advantages of the database being centralised are that it is much

easier to organise, edit, update and back-up the data. Communications
are easier if the data is held on one central computer rather than spread
over several and there are no real disadvantages to having a centralised
database.
A centralised database holds all of an organisation’s data on a central

computer, whether mainframe or server. Dumb terminals on a
mainframe system and PCs on a network system can access it. These
terminals and PCs can be some distance from the central database, but
the point is that all the data is together at the same place.
The main advantage of a centralised database is that it is far easier to

manage and control if all the data is in one location. For example, in an
ordering system, a customer may phone orders and gives notice that
their address has changed; when the order operator changes that
address it has been changed across the system. If the accounts
department then wish to send a statement to the customer they will
have the customer’s new address.
Another advantage is that the database is far easier to back up when it is

centralised than if it was kept on different computers; a suitable backup
strategy can easily be implemented.
A distributed database is a database that consists of two or more files

located at different sites on a computer network. Because the database
is distributed, different users can access it without interfering with one
another. The DBMS must periodically synchronise the scattered
databases to make sure they all have consistent data.
Traditionally a distributed database was a collection of data and files,

which actually belonged to a system but was physically distributed to a
number of computers that were connected via some communication
network. Nowadays it is more likely to be independent database systems
with facilities for exchanging data.

Data warehousing and data mining
As you can imagine with data files with different structures, users
wanting different reports from their data, some users wanting to
use archived data for analysis and other users only being interested
in the immediate transactions, different techniques for archiving
and interrogating the data have been developed. These are data
warehousing and data mining.
Data warehouse
Data warehousing has been around since the 1990s. The idea
behind data warehousing is that historical data, mainly from past
transactions and orders that the company has carried out, are
separated out from the business.
The data is re-organised in such a way as to allow it to be analysed,

the newly structured data is then queried and the results of the
query are reported.
Data warehousing could be used as a predictive tool, to indicate

what should be done in the future. However, the main use of data
warehousing is not as a predictive tool but as a review tool, to
monitor the effects of previous operational decisions made in the
course of a business. For example, if Marks & Spencer decided to
open stores in Asia, data could be collected over the first few
months as the stores opened. This could then be passed to a data
warehouse. The wisdom of opening stores in Asia for the business
as a whole could then be reviewed and conclusions backed up with
statistical evidence.
Data mining
Data mining has been defined as ‘The non-trivial extraction of
implicit, previously unknown, and potentially useful information
from data’. It uses machine learning, and statistical and
visualisation techniques to discover and present knowledge in a
form that is easily comprehensible to humans.
Data mining is the analysis of data and the use of software

techniques for finding patterns and regularities in sets of data. The
computer is responsible for finding the patterns by identifying the
underlying rules and features in the data.

It is possible to ‘strike gold’ in unexpected places because the data-

mining software may extract patterns not previously discernible or
so obvious that no one has noticed them before.
The mining analogy is that large volumes of data are sifted in an

attempt to find something worthwhile, and (as in a mining
operation) large amounts of low-grade materials are sifted through
in order to find something of value.
Data-mining software allows users to analyse large databases to

solve business decision problems. For example, consider a
catalogue retailer who needs to decide who should receive
information about a new product. The information surveyed by the
data-mining process is contained in a historical database of
previous interactions with customers and the features associated
with the customers (such as age, post code, their responses, etc.).
The data-mining software would use this historical information to
build a model of customer behaviour that could be used to predict
which customers would be likely to respond to the new product.
By using this information a marketing manager can select only the
customers who are most likely to respond. The results of the
decision can then be fed to the appropriate marketing parts of the
organisation so that the right customers receive the right offers.

Higher questions on Organisational Information Systems
1. Explain the difference between a Local Area Network and

a Wide Area Network. 2
2. What does a distributed network mean? 1
3. Explain the difference between a client server network

and a peer-to-peer network. 2
4. What functions does a network adapter card give to a

computer on a LAN? 1
5. What advantage does a fibre-optic cable give over a

twisted pair or co-axial cable? 1
What additional piece of hardware is required in an
Ethernet network when longish distances need be
covered? 1
6. Explain why a file server and a network computer both

require a network operating system, and explain the main
difference between the two versions. 2
7. What is the main function of network auditing and

monitoring software? 2
8. Why might an organisation decide to implement a security

strategy on its network? 1
9. Describe what is meant by data security, integrity and

privacy; and highlight the differences between these three
terms. 3
10. How may a virus be transmitted to a computer and

subsequently activated, and what is the likely effect of a
virus on a computer system? 3
11. Hacking is gaining unauthorised access to a computer

information system. How may an organisation protect
itself from hackers, and what offence is actually committed? 2
12. Explain what is meant by a denial-of-service attack. 1

13. Explain how having a code of conduct in place can help

enhance the security of an organisation. 1
14. Explain how having a code governing password guidelines

can help enhance the security of an organisation. Give
an example of the rules which may be in place. 2
15. How may a virus be prevented from attacking a network?

If present, how may it be detected and infected files be
repaired? 3
16. A firewall is a method of preventing unauthorised access

to a network. Explain how it operates. 3
17. Explain why Internet retailers use encryption and describe

a popular system. 2
18. Access rights involve how files may be accessed on a

network. Describe the main actions that can be applied to
files. 5
19. Explain why an organisation should have a backup strategy. 1
20. Describe what is meant by:
(a) Data archiving

(b) Data recovery
(c) Storage methods, including frequency and version
control 3
21. Explain why an organisation should have an upgrade

strategy in place. 1
22. What is meant by integration testing? 2
23. What problems can legacy systems give a network manager? 1
24. What does the term emulation mean in the context of

organisational information systems? 1

25. As part of a software strategy an organisation may wish to

evaluate software. Explain how the software can be
evaluated with reference to the criteria of functionality,
performance, usability, compatibility, data migration,
reliability, resource requirements, portability and support. 9
26. Describe the methods of providing training in using

information systems software including on-the-job training,
in-house and external courses. 3
27. Identify and describe the means of obtaining user support. 5
28. Explain the factors that need to be considered if an

organisation decides to upgrade its software. 4
29. Explain the essential differences between a centralised and

a distributed database. Mention the advantages or
disadvantages of both. 3
30. What does data warehousing mean and why may a company
decide to warehouse data? 2
31. (a) What is data mining defined as?

(b) Describe how data mining operates.
(c) Describe a business situation where data mining may
be very useful. 3
Total marks 76


INFORMATION MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
SECTION 3
Information management software
Up until now we have really only considered the use of database

software in management information systems. But while this may be at
the core of many organisations, most users of personal computers will
use a range of software particularly at tactical and strategic levels. So in
this section we will look at the different types of software that people
are likely to use and the use they are likely to make of each type.
Word processing
Word processing is probably one of the most widely used pieces of

application software available on a computer. It is likely to be used at all
levels in an organisation with clerks and typists using word processing at
an operational level, e.g. for typing. Its main use is for editing and
manipulating text on a page. Originally it was simply a piece of software
that allowed the user to use the computer like a typewriter. Over many
years it has developed, with more complex features and facilities being
added. Word-processing application software is used for writing reports,
letters, memos and worksheets like this. Arguably the best-known word
processing software is Microsoft Word.
Spreadsheet
A spreadsheet package allows the user to arrange information on the

screen as a table made up of boxes called cells. As well as laying
information out in a table, the spreadsheet also has the facility to carry
out calculations using formulae. Spreadsheet application software is
used for laying out financial information like budgets, cash-flow
forecasts, profit-and-loss tables. It can also be used to lay out statistical
data in tables, or even simple budgets such as household or
departmental expenditure. Spreadsheet software can also use the tables
of data to create a range of graphs and charts. There are two pieces of
spreadsheet software that are popular on computers. These are Lotus 1–
2–3 and Microsoft’s Excel.

Database
A database package allows the user to organise and store information,

which the computer will sort, search and navigate (browse) for the user.
Databases contain files or tables, which may be related. The files or
tables contain records and each record is made up of fields, which
contain single items of data. We have already discussed several large
applications of database software but on a personal or small business
level, database application software would be used to store information
about pupils in a school, customers for a video shop, criminals and
crimes for the police, or any other collection of data. There are many
powerful pieces of database software available on the market to meet the
needs of an organisation. The two common pieces for desktop machines
are Access from Microsoft and FileMaker Pro from FileMaker.
Graphics design
A graphics package allows the user to create and manipulate pictures.

This type of software can include packages that allow you to draw
pictures, create 2D and 3D graphic images, create animations or films, or
create and present slides of graphical information. Many professional
organisations use graphic design software as a means to an end and will
spend a lot of time creating and editing images prior to using them in
web design, publishing or even in creating animations, movies and
computer games. If you are looking for a professional drawing package
you might choose Adobe Illustrator, Paintshop Pro or Corel Draw. If you
wanted to edit scanned photos you might select Adobe Photoshop or
Corel Photo–Paint.
Browsers
Browsers are programs that allow users to retrieve information from the
Internet. You may think it strange that we use the plural when the only
browser you may ever have seen is Explorer, but there are others. A
browser’s main use is to display and navigate the World Wide Web by
displaying web pages as text, graphics, animations and hyperlinks, all of
them written in code (actually HTML and XTML). Browsers support
other functions such as allowing the user to bookmark favourite web
pages for quick retrieval at a later time and they also maintain a history
of websites visited. There are also navigation functions such as forward
and back buttons, and a stop and refresh buttons.
Originally the dominant web browser was Netscape (where terms like
‘bookmark’ as opposed to ‘favourite’ originated), which eventually lost

out to Microsoft Explorer. However, when any product is dominant

commercial competitors will develop what they think are better
products. Both AOL and BT Broadband use their own browsers, which
make functions like e-mails and bookmarking easier, and they also plug
security gaps which are not standard in Explorer, such as Pop-up
blocker, anti-virus, anti-spam and parental controls. There is also an
alternative culture that swears by browsers such as Safari, Opera and
Mozilla, which again offer more and better functions.
E-mail client
This is a program which allows a user to write, send, receive and read e-
mail messages.
There are in fact two different ways of using e-mail, on-line and off-line.
In an off-line e-mail program like Outlook Express you can compose and
read e-mails without connecting to the web, but in order to send and
receive messages you need to log on. The messages are then sent and
any new messages are downloaded into the mailbox where the user can
read them after disconnecting from the web. The disadvantage of this
method is that there is usually not much security and viruses can be
downloaded along with the e-mails. The advantage is the low cost of
connection time.
The other method is to connect to an on-line provider such as Hotmail,

AOL and BT. All three of these providers make the user log on and stay
online while they are reading and sending e-mails. The e-mail is never
stored on your own computer and the security is much higher. The
provider usually scans and traps viruses before letting the user read the
mail, and spam can also be trapped. The disadvantage is that the user
must be on-line all the time but with cost-inclusive deals and Broadband
this is not a problem for many people.
Chat client
This is a program which allows users who are connected to the Internet
to send and receive messages interactively. There are several
generations of chat client. The first allowed written conversations in
which participants entered their comments using the keyboard and read
the replies in a window on their screen. A development on this
generation was the introduction of Instant Messaging; allowing users to
be informed immediately when a friend on their chat list logged on to
the Internet. Another development of chat clients was the introduction
of voice-based messaging. This allowed users to communicate through
the chat client in a similar way to using the telephone.

The most recent generation of chat clients allows video-based messaging

using web cams. Now users can see and hear the messages from their
friends or colleagues.
Examples of these types of program are MSN Messenger, IRC (Internet

Relay Chat) and Yahoo Messenger.
Desk-top publishing (DTP)
This software is used to create documents that can be printed on paper.

It allows you to lay out text and graphics on a page for professional
printing. It allows text and graphics to be positioned precisely on a
page, and it allows a great deal of control over multi-page documents
and different formats such as A3 foldable leaflets and A5 booklets. DTP
also allows the user to prepare the pages for professional use by printers
and publishers. There are various DTP packages in common use and
you are more likely to come across Microsoft Publisher, Adobe
PageMaker, In-Design or Quark Express than some of the other
packages.
Presentation
This is software which allows the user to create slide shows that can be
shown on a large screen via a data projector. Current versions of the
software can incorporate text, graphics (real photos, clip art, etc.),
sound clips and animations. Slides can be printed onto paper with 3 or
6 to a page so that the audience can have a copy of the presentation.
The slides can also be printed A4 size onto acetate slides for use on an
overhead projector. If you wanted to create a graphic slide presentation
you might buy Microsoft PowerPoint or Apple’s Keynote.
Reference
Reference software is any program that can be used to help someone

learn new facts, skills or information. In the early 1990s many CD-ROMs
were released covering almost every subject under the sun and many
schools were given free CDs covering History, Geography and Science,
etc. The Internet has superseded the subject matter of many of these.
Probably the most famous reference book, Encyclopedia Britannica, has
moved from being a paper-based collection of some 30 books costing up
to thousands of pounds to a CD-ROM costing around £100. The CD-ROM
has now become defunct and for around a £10 subscription you may log
on to Britannica Online. Examples of this kind of software, which have
survived on CD, are the Encarta Encyclopedia and Dictionary CD–ROM
and other language-based software like a Thesaurus.

Financial
Financial software can be used to help manage and control money as

well as to perform calculations relating to money. Budgeting at home or
for a company is an example of a job a financial package may be
designed to solve. They can also help control the transfer of money from
one bank account to another and from one person to another. Some
examples of financial application software are Microsoft’s Money 2003,
Quicken’s QuickBooks Pro and MYOB. Most businesses use a small
business accounting package, which deals with customer and supplier
accounts and produces invoices, statements and payment advices. They
can also keep the actual records up to date and handle stock control,
order processing and other functions. Some companies purchase
financial software that has been either written from scratch especially for
their use or modified for them, whereas smaller businesses tend to
purchase packages like Sage or Pegasus Accounting suites.
Web authoring
This type of program allows users to create web pages very easily
without needing to know how to use the programming language HTML.
It has developed to a level where whole websites (sometimes involving
hundreds of pages) can be managed and designed very quickly and
simply. Web pages and sites can incorporate text, graphics, animations,
audio files and full video. However, one problem is that new file formats
can be introduced and the web-authoring software cannot recognise
them. An example of this was when MP3 overtook Real Player format
audio files and all the packages had to release new versions with support
for MP3, which also tidied up lots of other loose ends. Examples of web-
authoring software are DreamWeaver from Macromedia, Adobe Go-Live
and FrontPage from Microsoft.

Intermediate 2 questions – Personal and organisational uses of

Information Management Software
1. What type of software would you use for editing and

manipulating text on a page? 1
2. What type of software would allow the user to create and

manipulate pictures? 1
3. What type of software would be used to lay out financial and

statistical data in tables and apply formulas and calculations to
the data? 1
4. What type of software would allow the user to create and store
information? 1
5. (a) What is e-mail client software used for? 1

(b) Describe the two different methods of using e-mail. 2
(c) Give an advantage and a disadvantage of using an on-line
e-mail provider. 2
6. (a) Describe what browser software is used for. 1

(b) State the navigational functions supported by most
browsers. 2
(c) Describe what is meant by bookmarking. 1
7. Describe the three generations of chat client software. 3
8. Describe three ways DTP software can be used. 3
9. What type of software would be used to create a slide show that

could be used with a data projector? 1
10. What type of software is an encyclopaedia supplied on a

CD-ROM? 1
11. (a) What may financial software be used for in a home

environment? 1
(b) What may financial software be used for in a business
environment? 2
12. What does web-authoring software allow the user to do? 1

13. If a company was making websites commercially what types

of software would they need and why? 3
14. If a teacher wished to make a slide show to help deliver a

lesson, which type of software would s/he use? 1
15. What type of software allows the user to create and maintain
customer and supplier accounts? 1
Total marks 30

Tasks for Intermediate 2
You will have to complete a practical assessment using several different

types of software in order to complete the unit. As a preparation for
this work it will be necessary for you to know how to operate your
chosen packages to a reasonably high level. You have to use software to
process and retrieve information and also to create and store
information. Your tutor will supply you with resources to teach you how
to use your chosen packages:
• Database
• Word Processor
• Desk Top Publisher
• Presentation Software
• Web Authoring Software
• Spreadsheet
There is nothing to stop you learning how to use all the packages and
then make your mind up which one to use.
Choose at least one task from List A and at least one from List B.
For the two tasks you have to submit for marking, hard-copy evidence in
the form of printouts should be included.
List A
Task 1
Make up one A4-sized page which is a newsletter about your favourite
celebrity, sporting hero or team. Your page should have three columns,
a suitable heading or title, and at least one graphic. Use the Internet to
help gather your information and graphics. After your graphic has been
placed on the page ensure that it is resized (either larger or smaller).
Plan out your page on paper before you start looking for information.

Task 2
You have been given the task of setting up a database to track and
analyse customer details for a large mail-order store. Here is some
sample data:
Customer Address Branch Goods Order

name value
Mr G Davis 12 North Road, Aberdeen Philips 28' TV £799.00
Aberdeen
Mrs H Evans 268 Long Street, Edinburgh Bosch washing £525.00
Perth machine
Miss H Smith 10 Warren Road, Edinburgh Zanussi freezer £356.00
Edinburgh
Mrs D Carnegie The Firs, Edinburgh NEFF microwave £799.00
Dunfermline
Mr I James 12 Panmure Place, Glasgow Philips PC bundle £398.00
Glasgow
Mr H Wragg 6 Garthdee Rd, Aberdeen Sony music centre £648.00
Peterhead
Ms H Wyness 2 New Perth Rd, Aberdeen Playstation + FIFA £299.00
Inverness
Miss F West 4 New Street, Glasgow Food processor £99.00
Stirling
• You have to enter the data into a database application.
• Sort the data by branch alphabetically ascending and value

descending.
• Print a report or layout of your sorted data.
• Can you sort the data alphabetically by customer surname? If not,

what change would you have to make to your data? Make the change;
and when you have finished reorganising the data sort the data by
customer surname.
The next tasks are probably quite difficult to perform using database
software and you may wish to try the entire task in a spreadsheet and
compare the functionality of the two packages.
• Calculate the total and average order value for each branch and
overall.
• Show the total branch orders in a pie chart.

Task 3
Make up a small website of between three and five pages on a topic that
interests you. Include as many graphics as you need and try to
manipulate at least one graphic using graphics software (change the
brightness and contrast or apply a filter or texture to the graphic).
Remember to include links to allow navigation between pages.
If you are going to submit this task for assessment please print out your
finished pages.
List B
Task 4
Using presentation software, create a presentation of several slides using
text and graphics and, if possible, sound. Some ideas are:
• A sales presentation to sell a new product (computer, magazine, etc.)

• A presentation about Information Systems to persuade students to
enrol next year.
• The different sports a person can play in your school or college.
• Some holiday destinations either at home or abroad.
Task 5
Create a spreadsheet to track a small league of eight teams over three
weeks. You will also need to make a small table to show the results of
each week’s games.
Each week the league must be updated with the points and goals scored
and sorted in order of points and goal difference.
The headings you need are: Team Name, Games Played, Wins (3 points),
Draws (1 point), Losses, Goals For, Goals Against, Goal Difference,
Points.
Again, if you wish to submit this task for evidence then include a
printout of each week sorted as evidence that you have completed the
task.

Classes of software
An attempt has been made to classify software into different types

and we want to look at five classes of software and what we use
each class for.
Presenting information for print media
Virtually all the applications described on pp 73–7 are designed to

produce printed output except for graphics and web authoring
which tend to be more visual. However only word processing
(WP) and desk-top publishing (DTP) are classed in this group.
The real differences between the two are that WP tends to be used
mainly for generating text, while DTP tends to use pre-prepared
text. Although a package like Word has very good graphics
facilities and can handle a mixture of text and graphics reasonably
well, DTP manages to handle text and graphics far more easily. WP
can deal with multi-page documents but when working with a large
document it can take a while to move between pages and text
tends to spill onto pages when you don’t want it to. DTP handles
multi-page documents far better with a display whereby a click
takes you to a page and what is placed on that page stays there
until you decide to move it. DTP files tend to be very large
especially if real pictures are used.
If an organisation is producing a brochure, magazine or catalogue

that is created in PageMaker, commercial printers can use the file
directly in their typesetting equipment. This can cut the cost of
printing considerably.
Presenting information for on-line media
Probably the largest growth area in personal computer applications

recently has been in the use of software to create presentations
and web pages.
Mostly the reasons are to do with cost and availability in that the
cost of data projectors, used to project presentations on a screen,
has tumbled dramatically in recent years to the extent that
electrical retailers are aiming them at the domestic market.
When it comes to web authoring software, not only has the choice
of packages increased and the cost dropped but many more people

and businesses are connected to the Internet. Also, many more

people are good at creating websites so it is cheaper to have them
built for a company (many companies employ students to build
their websites).
Presentation software tends to allow the user to create a slide

show. Slides can hold a variety of multimedia objects, text,
graphics (clip art, charts, real photos and animations), sound
(noises like applause, etc., clips of speech or music, and full music
files) and video (short clips can be incorporated into a slide).
Slides do not have to be shown sequentially, but can be sequenced
and jumped to directly using hyperlinks. Without doubt the most
popular package is Microsoft PowerPoint, although other packages
are popular in areas such as education, with HyperCard and
HyperStudio being popular with Apple users. PowerPoint,
however, also allows slide shows to be saved as HTML and
consequently attached to websites.
Web-authoring software allows users easily to make up web pages

by dragging and dropping objects onto the screen, clicking on
icons to link graphics and other media files, and deal easily with
linking. Underneath all this, however, the software is writing the
file as HTML or XTML code. There may be a menu option or tab
on your package to allow you to see and edit the HTML code.
When you see it you will be glad that the software did all that
boring coding for you and you can use your expertise to add the
little tweaks that will make your site different. One example of this
is copying in code (available on the net) to give cascading menus if
the software will not allow you to create them directly. Some
packages such as Microsoft Front Page and Adobe Go-Live are very
easy for beginners to use; Dreamweaver is probably agreed to be
the most powerful package, but also the hardest to learn of the ‘big
three’.
Data handling – spreadsheet
There is a separate unit on database software, so to avoid

repetition here we will only briefly look at spreadsheet software in
this classification. Spreadsheets are probably the most important
microcomputer class of software as it was the invention of a
spreadsheet program (VisiCalc), which caused sales of Apple and
Commodore computers to really take off worldwide. Apple used
the sales revenues for research and development with the

Macintosh computer being unveiled in around 1983. The success

of Apple and Commodore caused IBM to rethink their Mainframe-
only strategy and the IBM PC was born also around 1983; the
phenomenal growth of the computer industry then began, and it
was the spreadsheet that started it all off. Why? Because it is a tool
used by accountants and managers and the people with money to
spend on these early computers.
Spreadsheet software is used in a variety of different situations in a

business context, such as financial applications, modelling and
simulating, and statistical analysis. Spreadsheets are used
extensively in education for recording and analysing marks and
results and also keeping track of budgets and other financial
information, and in a home situation people keep track of
household expenditure, track share values and even keep track of
contacts. Spreadsheet packages are very good at formatting output
and many people use them for printing address labels.
We will now look at these areas of financial applications, modelling

and simulating, statistical analysis, education and home use in a bit
more depth. We will also look at charting and the use of macros in
spreadsheets.
Financial application – Common examples are producing cash

flow forecasts, statements of accounts, invoices, sales orders,
purchase orders, customer quotations, managing travel expenses,
and project management.
Modelling and simulation – This involves creating a numeric

representation of an existing situation (modelling) or predicting a
new situation (simulation). In both cases the input data (variables)
of the numeric representation can be manipulated to investigate
different situations. This ability to experiment with the numeric
model is often referred to as ‘what-if? analysis’.
Statistical analysis – All spreadsheets applications provide

numerous features for the analysis of numerical information. Two
main examples are Descriptive Statistics and Goal Seeking.
Descriptive Statistics are the functions built into the spreadsheet

application that allow the user to summarise large blocks of data.
Examples of these functions are: Average, Maximum, Minimum,
Sum, Count, Standard Deviation and Variance.

Goal Seeking describes a way of automatically changing the values

in a formula until a desired result is achieved. An example of this is
when a formula is used to calculate the profit made on sales of
various items. Goal seeking could then be used to calculate the
level of sales required to produce a specified level of profit.
Education – In education many teachers and lecturers use a

spreadsheet to record marks and results. These can then be added
to give reporting information and used as a mail-merge file with a
word processor to produce pupil and student reports. Heads of
department may use a spreadsheet to keep account of their budget
expenditure and photocopying or printing usage.
Home – At home many people use spreadsheets, primarily to keep

track of household expenditure, both what they spend their
money on and a record of money going into and out of their bank
account so that they can hopefully avoid getting overdrawn and
incurring financial penalties.
Another use often made of spreadsheets by people who are not

confident with database software is to keep name-and-address lists.
They can enter the name and address into a cell, format it nicely,
sort the cells alphabetically, easily amend data and format it so that
it neatly fits onto an address label, and then print the file onto
address labels.
Macro use – A macro is a sequence of instructions that can be used

to automate complex or repetitive tasks. Spreadsheets were the
first software packages to incorporate macro use within themselves
and the preferred method of creating a macro is the ‘learn and
use’ method. A user switches on the macro recorder and follows
the sequence of events through. When the recorder is stopped
the macro is saved with that data file; when the file is opened and
the user wants to run the sequence of events they simply run the
macro. This can include selecting cells and all the functions of the
package.
Project management
This is software used specifically to help manage a project: the

planning, monitoring and control of the various activities or
resources that contribute to its success.

Project management involves identifying and assigning the

activities that need to be carried out to complete the project.
Duration, cost, resources, employees, inter-relationships – all need
to be factored in. The project leader can use the software to
schedule the activities to ensure the project is as efficient and
effective as possible.
Some examples of project management software are: Microsoft

Project; CA SuperProject and Hoskyns Project Managers
Workbench.
When a project is under way, its objectives must be closely

monitored. This involves comparing the actual activities with those
planned. This should happen on a daily basis for small-scale
projects and weekly for larger projects. The software can be used
to automate the collection of progress data and output progress
reports.
Once all the activities have been defined, the software can output
the project plan in a variety of formats. Two of the most common
are Gantt and PERT.
Personal information management
Personal information management software (PIM) is a type of

software application designed to help users organise random bits
of information. Although the category is fuzzy, most PIMs enable
you to enter various kinds of textual notes – reminders, lists, and
dates – and to link these bits of information together in useful
ways. Many PIMs also include calendar, scheduling, and calculator
programs. Microsoft Outlook is a good example; Lotus Notes is
another.

Document-processing software
We often define software in terms of the data objects it handles, the

operations that can be performed on these objects and the formatting
functions that can be applied to them.
Word processing deals with the basic entering and editing of text and
the data objects associated with a word processor are characters,
words, paragraphs (between two return characters) and graphic objects
embedded in the text.
Operations
If we look at the menu options in Microsoft Word then we can see

where we are going to find the operations that can be performed.
File menu – contains operations that can be performed on whole files.

Edit menu – has options like select all, cut, copy and paste on selected
text.
View menu – lists the ways in which you can view the file, including
headers and footers.
Insert menu – page break, date/time, picture, etc.
Format menu – contains options whereby you can format text (quite an
extensive menu).
Tools menu – mail merge, spelling and grammar, options and
customisation.
Table menu – insert table then table operations.
Window and Help menus – much as in other Windows applications.
Basic operations are usually to be found in the Edit menu. After

selecting some text, you can choose to cut it, copy it, paste what was cut
or copied or delete the text.
Formatting functions are found mostly in the Format menu and also on
the icons on the menu line with B I U on it. You can format the text by
changing its font, size, colour and style. Paragraphs can be centred, left
or right ranged, or fully justified and numbered, and bullet lists can be
created.

Desk-top publishing
This is a screenshot of the PageMaker menus and opening toolbars.
As you can see we now have the basic File, Edit, View, Window and
Help menus, which contain very similar functions to Word.
However we now have Layout, Type, Element and Utility menus,
which contain most of the formatting functions. There is also a
Toolbox with the very important arrow and Text tools as well as
basic drawing tools, and a colour palette.
If you can it is a good idea to have a look at a DTP program and

study the different options within the different menus. You will
see more publishing terms and specialist terms like tracking and
kerning and more object control than in word processing.
Beyond these basic functions most word processors and desk-top

publishers offer a good selection of advanced operations and
functions, a few of which are described below.
Page layout – deals first with the size and aspect of the page and
the size of page margins. Within a document it then deals with
setting margins, inserting headers and footers, and the number of
columns of text on a page. This can be global (affecting the whole
document) or local to a particular page.
Headers and footers – In the header and footer section, which

usually fits in the white space above and below the text, you can
insert text, page numbers, time and date and in some cases
autotext like ‘page x of y’. It is more usual to put chapter headings
and so on in the header and page numbers in the footer although
there is no rule that says you must do this.

Columns – You can set up columns in a document, although in a

word processor you cannot choose just one page in a multi-page
document to apply the columns to. DTP programs do handle the
use of columns and placing graphics, like a newspaper masthead,
across the columns, without affecting the text.
Multi-page layout – Most document production software, whether

a word processor or a DTP program, allows the user to define
different page layouts (formats) within the one document. Both
handle multi-page documents well, but DTP allows for more
precise control over where text is placed. Generally experienced
users find a DTP package better for dealing with multi-page
documents once the text has been entered.
Pagination – There are actually two types of pagination within

word processors and DTP software. The first kind refers to
numbering pages in a document, and is often performed within
the header or footer section. You can usually specify on what page
you want the page numbering to start and the format of your page
numbering.
The second kind refers to dividing a document into pages. Most

word processors automatically paginate documents based on a
page size that you specify. Some word processors enable you to
avoid widows and orphans during pagination.
Contents and indexing – Most modern document processing

software provides a feature to automatically create contents or
index pages. Generally, if you use the built-in headings feature (in
Word, headings 1 to 9) you can then use the Table of Contents or
Index features (in the Insert menu in Word) and the contents will
be laid out with page numbers for you. Generally you will use a
contents list at the start of a document and an index at the end.
Inserting graphics – Most modern document processing software

allows the user to insert graphics into the document. These
graphics can be pasted into a document from the clipboard or from
a file. Some software supports clip-art libraries that allow the user
to search for a graphic from this extensive library either on CD-
ROM, the hard disk or from the Internet.
There are different ways in which the graphic can behave on the
page. It can sit all by itself with white space above, below and to
either side, but sometimes that is not the desired effect.

This effect is called ‘text wrapping’. The graphic below has been
formatted with ‘Tight’ selected from the Layout Tab in the Format
Picture box in Word. The text then flows around the graphic and
allows us to describe what is happening in the picture around it or
down the side.
Style sheets – The style-sheet feature allows the user to vary font
styles, which can then very quickly and easily be applied to sections
of the document. Usually some styles (such as headings and body
text) are predefined, but users should be able to amend these
styles and add their own.
When creating a document some thought should be given to the

choice of font; their styles and the sizes that are to be used for
headings, body text and sub-headings.
Text formatting – Document processing software allows the user

almost unrestricted choice of text – fonts, styles, and sizes.
If you are producing professional-looking text you should limit

your use of font styles to two, Bold and Italic.
Size of text can vary depending on the context of its use. If you
need a heading or headline you want your text to be large and eye-
catching. If you have a document, such as a newspaper, which has

multiple columns, then you need to reduce the font size slightly to
allow enough words to fit on each line, to make it legible and easy
for the reader to absorb.
Font selection – Two basic categories of font are serif and sans
serif. Serif fonts are typefaces characterised by short marks
stemming from the upper and lower strokes of the letters; for
example, the thin-to-thick stroke transitions that can be seen on a
Times font. Sans-serif fonts do not have this feature: the stroke of
each character is of an equal thickness, as seen on a font like Arial
or Helvetica.
Times Times Arial Arial

When selecting fonts you need to be aware of two issues relating to
producing text documents; these are readability and legibility.
Readability refers to how easy extended sections of body text are
to read. Legibility refers to how easy short pieces of text (such as
newspaper headlines) are to decipher at first glance.
Common rules when selecting fonts are:
1. Choose a serif font for extended body text to make it as easy

to read as possible.
2. Choose a sans-serif font for headings that you want to stand
out from the rest of the page.
Colour use – On most occasions using colour when word

processing will be unnecessary, as you will be outputting to a black-
and-white printer. But on some occasions you may wish to create
a poster or similar eye-catching display, and document-processing
software gives you a wide choice of colour options. You can select
the font colour, the colour of lines in graphics, the fill colour of
graphics and different gradients and mixed patterns. Use of colour
is one of the strongest features of DTP and WP software.
A standard combination of font, style, layout and colour used

regularly within an organisation is called a house style.

Multimedia production – Web authoring and presentation
Page structure
Web authoring – Most web-authoring packages allow the user to

make up either an individual web page or a complete website.
When making up a web page users have to consider the layout they
want and how they will incorporate text and graphics. When
making up a website (two or more web pages) the question of
structure arises regarding linkage. The pages can be linked to
form a hierarchical structure, or they may be linked to form a
linear structure. It is usual to offer a home or index page that links
to all other pages.
Presentation – Generally when making up a slide-show the slides

follow each other in a linear fashion from top to bottom, although
it is possible to hyperlink from one slide to another. A slide show
is usually meant to be worked through in a linear fashion, but in a
large show it may be desirable to link from one section to another.
In Microsoft PowerPoint a certain area of the slide can be given
over to a heading and it is usual to have a title running up the side.
This of course reduces the area left in the slide for content.
Incorporation of graphics
Web authoring – Good web pages rely on graphics for their impact
and to exemplify the text. However, the author has to be careful
that the graphic is not included simply because there is an area of
the page or screen that is empty. It is best to avoid this temptation.
The rule to follow is only to insert a graphic if it adds to the
meaning of your web page. Do not be tempted to include silly clip-
art. Graphics cannot be placed directly on a web page. Space
needs to be set aside by whatever method the software requires
and a link established to the graphic. All graphics in web pages are
linked to that page and you cannot copy and paste them in. For
this very reason it is also possible to link to sound, animation and
video files, although care must be taken with these too, as they can
be very large and for many Internet users low bandwidth is still a
problem (e.g. dial-up as opposed to Broadband). Because the files
are linked to the website, it is important to keep them in the same
relative position, for example keep the pages and all files in the
same folder, if they are then to be put onto the Internet as a
website.

Presentation – The same rules of inserting static and animated

graphics apply to presentations as well as web pages, but the
method of inserting graphics is different as the graphic is usually
incorporated into the slide. There is a method of linking graphics
to a slide but unless the slide show is going onto the web it is not
usually so important to do that. The usual method is to insert a
picture from file and that is what happens; the picture is inserted
into the show and stays there wherever it is subsequently taken.
Presentation style
Your goal as a writer is to communicate with the reader whether

on a web page or a slide show. People may not take you seriously if
your writing contains flagrant spelling errors or uses abstruse and
confusing language. In other words, watch your spelling and don’t
use words you don’t understand. Please do not write confusing
sentences. And before you start writing, you need to organise your
thoughts, so that you know what you want to say.
On a practical level there are considerations of presentation style

to do with font selection and colour use. Not every font is
available in web-authoring software and you need to experiment
with your chosen software to see what is available. Presentation
software is probably able to use all the fonts in your system.
Font selection – The best category of font for legibility (ability to be

seen from a distance) is a sans-serif font like Arial or Helvetica.
They have a constant stroke, the lines in each letter have a
constant width, and there are no thick-to-thin transitions. Good
serif fonts include Times New Roman.
Colour use – When choosing a background colour it is best to

choose a dark background with a light foreground or text colour
or vice versa (very light background and dark text). This makes it
easier to read the text on screen or when projected. One colour
scheme to avoid is Red and Green. This colour combination cannot
to be seen by people who are colour blind, so no matter how
much you like the colours don’t put them together. A good plan is
to visit several websites looking very carefully at the colours used
for background and text. Ask yourself: how legible are they?
Navigation – Web pages can be linked together and when they are
displayed in a browser the main method of moving between pages
(or different parts of a page) is by hyperlinking. When you are on

the web you can set yourself a home page to which your browser
returns when you click on the icon for home. You can also use the
forward and back buttons on the browser and favourites
(bookmarks) and history icons to help navigate. (It is good
practice to include a home link on every page of a website to take
the reader back to the home page of the site.) Presentation
software usually lets you move on to the next slide by clicking the
mouse. You can also use the navigation button to select a slide to
go directly to. Depending on whether transitions have been used
the mouse click will usually invoke the transition.
Templates/page masters – There are no templates as such in web

authoring packages but any page can be used as a template by
opening it up and then saving as to a different file name. Style
sheets are used in web authoring and they can be used to apply
certain styles to pages as you make them up. Presentation
packages come with a vast array of templates and presentation
styles that can be used to base your presentation upon. You can
also set up a master slide as a template. This background
information is then applied to every new slide that is made up.
Spreadsheets
Spreadsheets deal with the basic entering of numbers and text into cells
or groups of cells. Formulae can be applied to cells or groups of cells
and the data objects associated with a spreadsheet are cells which can
contain text, numbers or a formula.
Operations
If we look at the menu options in Microsoft Excel then we can see where
we are going to find the operations that can be performed.
File menu – contains operations that can be performed on whole files.

Edit menu – has options like Select all, Cut, Copy and Paste on selected
cells, also options like Paste Special, which allows links to be established,
Fill Down and Fill Across.

View menu – the ways in which you can view the file, including headers
and footers.
Insert menu – rows, columns, worksheet and most importantly
functions.
Format menu – contains options whereby you can format cells including
numeric formatting like currency.
Tools menu – Spelling, Protection Macros and of course options and
customise.
Data menu – Sort, Filter and Pivot Tables.
Window and Help menus – much as in other Windows applications.
Operations in a spreadsheet are what can be done to cells or groups of

cells. The main power of a spreadsheet is the ability to replicate
formulae by use of Fill Down and Fill Across. Formulae, which are found
in the Insert menu, can be inserted in cells or typed in on the entry line
(next to the = sign in the graphic). The chart menu is accessed via an
icon on the menu bar and a wide range of charts can be drawn.
Formatting functions are found mostly in the format menu and also on
the icons on the menu line with B I U on it. You can format the text by
changing its font, size, colour and style. Cell contents can be aligned
left, right or centred and one of the most powerful menu functions, the
autosum, is one of the icons. Numeric cells can be formatted in a wide
variety of styles to do with numbers (percentages, currency, fractions,
etc).
Advanced functions
All spreadsheet applications provide a large number of built-in

functions that can be used to simplify the construction of a
spreadsheet. Functions are normally divided into several
categories: Date & Time, Financial, Logical, Lookup, Mathematics,
Statistical and Text.
Features of spreadsheet software often used are goal seeking and

forecasting, lookup tables, advanced functions such as, nested ifs
and count, and the use of macros to perform what are often
thought of as advanced functions. We shall examine each of these
in a bit more depth.
Goal seeking describes a way of automatically changing the values

in a formula until a desired result is achieved. An example of this is
a formula used to calculate the profit made on sales of various

items. Goal seeking could then be used to calculate the level of

sales required to produce a specified level of profit.
Forecasting calculates, or predicts, a future value by using existing

values. The predicted value is a y-value for a given x-value. The
known values are existing x-values and y-values, and the new value
is predicted by using linear regression. You can use this function to
predict future sales, inventory requirements, or consumer trends.
There is a Forecast function in Microsoft Excel, the syntax of which
is FORECAST (X, known_y’s, known_x’s)
X is the data point for which you want to predict a value.

Known_y’s is the dependent array or range of data, such as a
column of figures.
Known_x’s is the independent array or range of data.
The mathematics is quite complicated but the example given in

Excel’s help shows:
FORECAST(30,{6,7,9,15,21},{20,28,31,38,40}) equals 10.60725
Lookup tables – This type of function is used when complex

conditions are required to be checked when performing a
calculation. It can also be used to code and decode values from
numeric (quantitative) data into text (qualitative) data. An example
of this would be using a lookup table to convert a percentage
scored in a test into a grade.
Count – This counts the number of cells that contain numbers and
numbers within the list of arguments. We can use COUNT to get
the number of entries in a number field in a range or array of
numbers.
Closely associated with COUNT is COUNTA that counts the

number of cells that are not empty and the values within the list of
arguments. Use COUNTA to count the number of cells that contain
data in a range or array. An example of that is counting the
number of names in a list such as a class list.
Nested Ifs – The standard IF function has the form

=IF(expression,value if true, value if false). This is often not
enough for us because we may want to say that ‘value if true’ is an
IF statement as well. Consider the example that a student will pass
the course if they pass an exam out of 70 with 35 or more and if

they pass a practical test with 15 or more out of 30. This will give
us:
=IF(exam mark>=35,IF(practical mark>15,pass,fail),fail)
This is a nested IF function because we have used an IF function

within an IF function.
Macro use. A macro is a sequence of instructions that can be used

to automate complex or repetitive tasks and a brief explanation has
already been given, but a slightly more technical explanation of
macros in spreadsheets is exemplified here.
If you perform a task repeatedly in a spreadsheet, you can

automate the task with a macro. In Microsoft Excel a macro is a
series of commands and functions that are stored in a Visual Basic
module and can be run whenever you need to perform the task.
When you record a macro, Excel stores information about each
step you take as you perform a series of commands. You can store
the macro under a keypress (for example Shift+Alt+1-9 allow you
up to nine macros without interfering with any other commands).
You then run the macro to repeat, or ‘play back’, the commands.
Project management
The main features of project management software are that when

all the data has been input and collated then differing forms of
output can be produced. These are timelines, resource allocation,
Gantt and Pert charts, and optimisation and critical path analysis.
Timelines – These are a simple way of showing how and when

certain tasks in a project have to be completed before the next one
can be started. A good example is a design and build project of a
school. The design phase must be completed before the build
phase can start and it must be completed before the fitting out
phase, then the decorating and furnishing and finally the
occupation. This can be exemplified in a chart.
May 2003 April 2005 May 2006 Jan 2007 April 2007
Design Build Fitting out Decorating Occupation
and
furnishing
This chart is well behaved, as each phase must be finished before

the next one is started but sometimes we get overlap.

Resource allocation – There are software tools that help users find
the best way to allocate scarce resources. The resources may be
raw materials, machine time or people time, money, or anything
else in limited supply. The ‘best’ or optimal solution may mean
maximising profits, minimising costs, or achieving the best possible
quality.
The tools are generally called a resource allocation solver and are
found with a good project management package. To use a
resource allocation solver, the user must build a model that
specifies the resources to be used using decision variables, the
limits on resource usage called constraints, and the measure to
optimise called the objective. The solver will find values for the
decision variables that satisfy the constraints while optimising
(maximising or minimising) the objective.
Gantt chart – This is a type of bar chart showing the timings of

each activity in the project. It can be used to monitor the progress
of the project by indicating the start and stop dates for each
activity. Some activities are called Milestones; these are significant
events in the project, such as the completion of a prototype date
or a customer inspection date.
Task Duration 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Define the Problem
Feasibility Study
Gather Data
Analyse Data and Develop
Logical Design
Write systems analysis report
PERT chart – This can be used to show the relationship between

activities. It shows the activities that must be followed in sequence,
and those which can be carried out in parallel. The main route
through the project, which defines the total duration of the
project, is called the critical path. If there are any delays or
slippages in an activity on the critical path, it will lead to delays in
the completion date of the project.
Optimisation and critical path analysis – Critical path analysis is a

highly effective and useful mathematical process, which is
becoming more widely used today, mainly in the world of industry.
It is a technique concerned with optimisation of time, which has an
obvious effect on cost and workforce utilisation in industrial
processes. Critical path analysis can be used to reduce the duration

of a process, for quicker production, the motivation behind its use

being economisation, and reducing staff numbers involved in a
task.
It can be used for very complicated processes, such as managing a

steel production line, as well as any other type of manufacturing,
or for very simple sets of actions, such as getting yourself ready for
school or work in the morning.
Personal information management
Personal Information Management (PIM) software has been around

for quite a long time, and was actually one of the first personal
applications produced. Back in 1986, when filofaxes were all the
rage there was a program that organised all your meetings and
diary events, contacts, and a ‘to-do list’. These sections could all
be printed out on special paper which when trimmed fitted into
the filofax. The paper was roughly A5 size with a strange
arrangement of punched holes. Nowadays most computers that
are fitted with Microsoft Office also have Outlook installed.
Microsoft Outlook is PIM software as opposed to Outlook Express,
a dedicated e-mail program.
As you can see, Outlook has several section such as Contacts,

Calendar, Tasks List and Outlook Today. The Communication
section lets the user have access to e-mail facilities.

Contacts – This part of the PIM software lets the user record all the
important details that allow him/her to contact a person. It can be
thought of as a very comprehensive address book.
Calendar – This part of the PIM application lets the user keep a
diary of events, meetings, appointments and activities.
Task list – This is also called a ‘To-do list’. It keeps a list of all the
tasks that require to be carried out and reminds the user when
each task is due to be completed.
Communication – An important part of the PIM application is the

ability to communicate effectively, using e-mail, with those
individuals or organisations the user of the PIM needs to deal with.
Most PIM applications support sending, receiving and management
of e-mails.
Evaluation of software
Before an application package is bought it is common for individuals,

businesses, schools and colleges and any other organisation to acquire a
demonstration or evaluation copy of the software. This can usually be
downloaded from the Internet or copied from an evaluation CD-ROM.
Once installed users usually have 30 days in which to make up their
mind whether to purchase the software or not.
To aid them in their evaluation exercise it is common to refer to several

criteria and try the evaluation over a range of packages using these
criteria. Commonly these are: the range of data objects supported, the
range of operations, formatting functions, the Human–Computer
Interface (HCI) and any on-line help and tutorials available. We shall
examine these criteria in a bit more depth.
Range of data objects – Each type of software will deal with different
objects as we have seen already above. But even with a word processor
or database one may be interested in the type of graphics files that can
be used in documents or records. Graphics programs would need to
support bit-mapped, JPEG, GIF and even animated graphics files. Web
design software would have to support graphics and then audio and
video with formats such as MP3 and QuickTime video needing to be
considered.

Range of operations – Again, the operations available will depend on the

genre of software but in general you would look carefully at what you
want to achieve with the software before considering the operations.
Database would need good search, sort and report facilities, whereas
web design software would look at the way in which text and graphics
could be arranged on the page, how linking is achieved and how audio
and video files are handled.
Formatting functions – Again the text-handling and graphics-oriented

packages will look at fonts, styles, paragraphs, alignment, text wrap and
so on, whereas a spreadsheet will also have all the formatting of cells to
consider (percentage, currency, etc.).
Human–computer interface (HCI) – Users of all packages will have to

consider the menus (are they complete, can they be reconfigured, etc.)
and toolbars and icons (can new icons be added to the toolbar and so
on). Another area is that of keyboard commands (how easy are they to
learn, can keys be programmed, are all functions available on the
keyboard).
On-line help and tutorials – On-line help and tutorials are nowadays
found in most packages. Paradoxically enough, on-line here does not
mean on the Internet; it means within the program and contained on
the computer. The picture is clouded somewhat with much on-line help
now being displayed as web pages in your browser but locally on the
computer and not on the Internet. Both help and the tutorial should be
examined closely to see how good they are. Some manufacturers
effectively provide the software manual as a help file, which is
searchable. This can save you having to buy a manual.
If you can download the software you want to evaluate, perform a

satisfactory evaluation, then you can buy a licence over the Internet and
you have saved the cost of the media, manual and postage and of course
a delay in receiving it.

Higher questions – Personal and organisational uses of

Information Management Software
1. What type of software would be required to produce a 32-

page magazine? Describe at least two differences between 1
word-processing and desktop-publishing software. 2
2. What are the main differences between presentation and

web-authoring software? (Outline at least two.) 2
3. Describe what spreadsheet software can be used for in

both business and education. 2
4. What are the main uses of project management software? 2
5. What functions are likely to be found in PIM software? 1
6. (a) What are the data objects likely to be found in word-

processing software? 1
(b) What operations can be performed on these data
objects? (Describe three.) 2
(c) What formatting functions can be applied to these
data objects? (Describe three.) 2
7. (a) Explain what is meant by each of these features of

word-processing and desktop-publishing software:
(i) Multi-page layout, columns, header and footer,
and pagination. 2
(ii) Use of a contents and index page. 1
(b) Describe what is meant by text wrapping around

graphics. 1
(c) How can style sheets be used to implement a house
style? 1
(d) What is the difference between serif and sans-serif
fonts? 1
(e) Describe how the use of colour and formatting of
text can enhance the appearance of a document. 1

presentation and web-authoring software:
(i) The structuring of pages and slides. 1
(ii) The incorporation of graphics including
animations. 1

(iii) A presentational style including the selection

of fonts and use of colour. 1
(b) Describe how hyperlinks aid navigation. 1

(c) How can page transitions be used to enhance a slide
show? 1
(d) How can templates and masters be used to implement
a house style? 1
9. (a) What are the data objects likely to be found in

standard spreadsheet software? 1
objects? (Describe three.) 2
(c) What formatting functions can be applied to these
data objects? (Describe three.) 2
10. Explain what is meant by each of these features of

spreadsheet software:
(a) Goal seeking and forecasting 1

(b) Lookup tables 1
(c) Nested IF and Count functions 1
(d) How may macros be created and used? (Describe
two methods.) 2
11. Explain what is meant by each of these features of project

management software:
(a) Timelining 1
(b) Resource allocation 1
(c) Gant and PERT charts 2
(d) Critical path analysis and optimisation 2
12. Explain what is meant by each of these features of personal

information management software and describe how each
may be used:
(a) Communication 2
(b) Contacts 2
(c) Calendar 2
(d) Task lists 2
Total marks 52

Tasks for Higher
You will have to complete a practical assessment using several

different types of software in order to complete the unit. As a
preparation for this it will be necessary for you to know how to
operate your chosen packages to a reasonably high level. Your
tutor will supply you with resources to teach you how to use your
chosen packages:
• Word processor
• Desktop publisher
• Presentation software
• Web authoring software
• Spreadsheet
There is nothing to stop you learning how to use all the packages
and then make your mind up which ones to use.
Complete all three tasks below but only provide printed evidence
of one of them. This could be the entire document for task 1; or a
printout of web pages or slides (6 to a page would be adequate) in
task 2; or in task 3 two printouts of your spreadsheet showing the
data in one and the formulas in the other. Your tutor may give you
alternative or equivalent tasks instead of the suggested tasks below.
Task 1 – Presenting information for print media using word

processing or desktop publishing. Choose one of the following
tasks.
(a) Using a word processor construct a short (4 or 5 pages)

guide to using the word processing software. Use features
such as columns and headers and footers and use different
levels of headings to allow you to make up a contents list and
index pages. Make sure you use some graphics and use text
wrap features on them. Ensure that a suitable header and
footer appear on each page.
(b) Make up an A5 magazine of two A4 pages (giving you 8 pages

in your booklet) on a subject which interests you. This could
be a sport or activity you enjoy, a musical act you admire, a
guide to your school or college, or any subject you like
within the bounds of decency and reason. Make good use of
colour and graphics and ensure that you use columns,

headers and footers, and text wrapping around graphics. If

your software allows, also include either a contents or index
page as appropriate.
Task 2 – Presenting information for on-line media using

presentation or web-authoring software.
Produce either a slide show or website consisting of several slides

or web pages making sure that you use a template or style sheet as
appropriate to the software and as graphics and animations as
appropriate. Make sure there is a home page and suitable
navigational structure using hyperlinks in a website and a structure
using hyperlinks and page transitions if making a slide show. In
either case the use of audio and video clips is acceptable but not
necessary.
Task 3 – Handling information using spreadsheet software.
A spreadsheet is required to help a teacher keep track of marks

gained in an exam and allocate grades. Students sit an exam
marked out of 80 and complete a practical test marked out of 50.
The pass mark for the exam is 35/80 and for the practical test 25/80.
Students must pass both sections to pass the exam and the overall
mark must be greater than or equal to 50%. Grades should be
allocated on the basis of C >=50%, B>=60% and A >=70% and
should be allocated automatically by the use of a lookup table.
Even if the overall mark %>=50% but the student has failed one
component, the grade should be F. A section of the spreadsheet is
shown below:
Forename Surname Exam Practical Mark Result Grade

George Smith 38 42 62 Pass B
Helen Smart 32 46 60 Fail F

Intermediate 2 – Task on evaluating software
Using the criteria below, evaluate either Word Processor and DTP,
Presentation and Web Design, or Database and Spreadsheet, comparing
the two chosen packages to find out which was better for the task
chosen above.
Criteria
• Range of data objects

• Range of operations
• Formatting functions
• HCI (including use of keyboard commands, menus and toolbars/icons
• Online help and online tutorials
Use the Software Evaluation sheet that your tutor will give you to help
you complete this task. You may be asked to write your evaluations by
hand or the form may be made available to you electronically so you can
fill it in on your computer.


THE SOCIAL, LEGAL, ETHICAL AND ECONOMIC IMPLICATIONS
SECTION 4
Implications of ICT
In this section, we are going to investigate some of the social, legal,

economic and ethical implications of using IT and Information Systems.
Social implications
Ease of access and availability
Many of us have very easy access to information systems both at school,

college or work and at home. These are not just computer systems
connected to the Internet, but digital TV with its comprehensive news
channels and the ready availability of books, magazines and newspapers,
all made more available by the use made of information systems.
We can have access to the Internet in our social lives as well with
libraries having Internet access points and Internet cafes still being
popular. Bars often have Internet access points and if you have stayed
in a ‘big’ hotel lately you will find that the rooms have Internet access
points for your laptop to plug into.
Many people expect Internet access when they go on holiday and many
hotels and apartment complexes advertise Internet access as a desirable
feature, but many of us think that we go on holiday to get away from it
all and are willing to let the e-mails pile up until we get home.
An interesting fact emerged in the late 1990s that ‘there are more
telephones in the city of New York than in the entire continent of
Africa’. After a little research it was found that now the gap has not
narrowed but widened, presumably because of mobile phones.
Information rich/information poor
There is some concern that the widespread use of computers is dividing

society into two kinds of people – the ‘information rich’ and
‘information poor’.
The information rich have easy access to computers and electronic

communications. They get information and news from the Internet and

buy the latest products through on-line shopping. They are able to
follow computer-based learning and skills training courses at home, and
look for jobs that are advertised solely on the Internet. They tend to
find it easier to get well-paid jobs and will enjoy a more comfortable and
secure life-style.
The information poor don’t have easy access to computers and don’t
have the IT skills and confidence to take part in teleshopping,
telebanking, Internet chat and news groups. As corporations like the
BBC seek public opinion on current matters increasingly via the
Internet, the voices of the information poor may not be heard. The jobs
on offer to them will be less skilled, paid less and much more insecure.
The information poor will have to work longer hours just to survive and
will have less leisure time. Gradually the difference in access to
information may create a real social divide between the materially rich
and materially poor.
One effect of high levels of unemployment has been that families feel
more secure with two wages coming into the family. This has meant that
more and more mothers have careers. As a result, they may not have
any children till they are thirty or older and even then they may only
have one child because they do not want, or are afraid, to interrupt their
careers.
Although this change in family patterns may only be indirectly and partly
caused by computerisation, are there any risks to the family and to
society as a whole from this development?
More and more families enjoy television, computers and electronic

games in their homes. Father may be watching television; mother may
be teleshopping over the Internet while the children are in their
bedrooms playing arcade games. Research has shown that families are
spending less and less time together. In addition, with the growth of
teleworking, fewer people are meeting with colleagues to discuss
business matters during the day.
Is there a risk that computers are having an adverse effect on human

communication skills and relations within the family and in society in
general?
Another less obvious effect of computers and IT on the family is the

change that banks have made to our lives. Before banks were
computerised, mainly relatively wealthy, middle-class professional
people used them. Most workers were paid weekly and in cash, and

they did not need a bank account. With the introduction of

computerisation, banks started to persuade companies, government and
local authorities to pay employees by cheque. In order to cash cheques
it was much more convenient to have a bank account. Once a large part
of the population had opened accounts, banks persuaded companies to
pay their staff by transferring funds from the company account directly
into their employees’ accounts. As a result, very little cash is in
circulation now compared with the 1950s and 60s. Once people had
become comfortable with carrying less cash, it was only a small step to
persuade them to work with ‘plastic money’ – the current widespread
use of debit and credit cards.
Educational qualifications and ICT
There have been qualifications in computing since the early 1960s, but
these were solely in universities and colleges. And it was well into the
1980s before there was enough content to teach computing degrees that
were able to concentrate on computing subjects and not need lots of
Maths, Physics and totally unrelated courses like Philosophy and Law to
fill out the degree course. It was not until the mid-1980s that computing
was available in schools and not until 1999 that the two strands of
software and hardware divided into Computing and Information
Systems. Now there are many different courses offered at degree and
NC level all related to ICT.
Look at how modern ICT allows citizens today to communicate and

participate in society. We use text messaging to vote on TV shows, enter
competitions and have our opinions broadcast on national TV and radio.
We use digital TV to order goods, vote on TV shows like ‘I’m a computer
teacher – get me out of here’, and many other functions. The most
unlikely people are using ICT either because they have to or want to –
teachers, lawyers, shop assistants, nurses ... the list is endless. Even
grannies and aunties are downloading digital photos of the
grandchildren and nephews and nieces, manipulating those photos with
graphics software and saving them and producing lovely prints.
Knowledge workers
The term ‘knowledge worker’ describes someone who adds value by

processing existing information to create new information that could be
used to define and solve problems. Examples of knowledge workers
include lawyers, doctors, diplomats, law-makers, software developers,
managers and bankers. We can probably say that knowledge workers use
their intellect to convert their ideas into products, services, or
processes.

A knowledge worker could be a problem solver rather than a production

worker, or a person who uses intellectual rather than manual skills to
earn a living, or someone who uses knowledge and information to add
to existing knowledge and information.
There are thought to be two main types of knowledge worker: ‘core

knowledge workers’ and ‘everyone else’.
Core knowledge workers are those in specific ‘knowledge management’

roles. Examples include Chief Information Officers, Knowledge
Managers, Librarians, Content Managers, Information Officers,
Knowledge Analysts, etc.
‘Everyone else’ constitutes all the other knowledge workers. In health

care for example, that means doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists,
managers, technicians, administrators, etc. In short, everyone in the
NHS is engaged in some form of ‘knowledge work’.
Of course there is not always a clear dividing line between the two, but
the distinction can be a useful one when starting out. It can be
particularly useful in helping people to understand that everyone is a
knowledge worker to some degree, and knowledge work is everyone’s
responsibility, not just that of a few people with ‘information’ or
‘knowledge’ in their job title.
Online retail
For many of you reading this, Internet shopping is already here. When
eighty 16–18 year olds were sampled recently, sixty of them (that is
75%) admitted to buying something online. In the same survey eighty
adults (aged 24–60) were sampled and only 17 admitted to buying
something online. The young people went for music, DVDs and the top
buy was hair straighteners. The adults’ top buy was holiday-related
items.
Regular and repeat orders were for grocery shopping and books among
the adults whereas the young people tended to make one-off purchases
(apart from some games and skateboard-related merchandise).
Why the huge difference? What is happening to our traditional shops? It

appears that many on-line shoppers buy goods they find difficult to
source. It has been suggested that the shopping malls have fuelled the
on-line frenzy. If the national chains, which make every shopping centre
almost identical, do not carry what someone wants then people now
turn to the web as their first port of call.

There are recognised advantages and disadvantages to the consumer

and the retailer.
Advantages for the consumer

• More choice of goods on-line
• Cheaper prices
• Home delivery – grocery shopping on-line very useful for young
families
Disadvantages for the consumer

• Often long delivery times
• Temptation to spend more than intended
• Social isolation (supermarkets are the new social scene)
Advantages for the on-line retailer

• Can reach a far wider audience
• Don’t need expensive showrooms
• Don’t need to employ trained sales staff
Disadvantages for the on-line retailer

• Must spend money on a website with a secure payment system
• Must accept a high rate of returns
• Never meets customers
The changing relationships between retailer and customer
Internet shopping has changed to a large extent the way we shop,

and the relationship between retailer and customer is changing
too.
As shoppers we are becoming intolerant of goods being unavailable

or out of stock and very wary of over-pricing. If you live in a rural
or even non-Central Belt city in Scotland you will have heard the
phrase ‘Oh it hasn’t reached here yet I’m afraid.’ Wherever you
live you may have heard yourself utter the words ‘How much? It’s
half that price on-line’ or ‘Out of stock and it will take three weeks
to get it – I’ll go on-line and get it in three days’.
As consumers we are far more willing nowadays to go on-line and

order from whatever retailer we find with our favourite search
engine. Of course, you need a credit card to buy on-line so that
cuts out all the under 18s buying goods without their parents’

consent (or at least credit card) and we seasoned Internet

shoppers know the stress of waiting for goods bought when
presents fail to turn up on time.
We still maintain relationships with local newsagents, corner shops,

post offices and specialist butchers and bakers; but we never really
know the staff in the local supermarket even though we have a
loyalty card, trading a few points for all the information they want
to know about us. And some customers who buy their groceries
on-line and have the same delivery driver every week often build
up a good relationship with the driver.
Some retailers have a very positive relationship with the Internet,

with staff at both national electrical retail stores often telling
customers that it will be easier and cheaper to order goods from
their website rather than place an order at the shop. Similarly a
bookshop chain’s staff will search really hard to find a particular
book, and if they can’t find it they’ll happily just refer you to
Amazon.
Although the relationships between retailers and customers has

changed, there is a feeling that the two types of shopping can
complement each other, opening up new markets to specialist
retailers and giving more choice to customers.
Globalisation and the impact of IS on business and societies
Globalisation, the growing integration of economies and societies

around the world, has been one of the most hotly debated topics
in international economics over the past few years. Rapid growth
and poverty reduction in China, India, and other countries that
were poor 20 years ago, has been a positive aspect of globalisation.
But globalisation has also generated significant international
opposition over concerns that it has increased inequality and
environmental degradation.
Multinational companies responsible for globalisation are as

diverse in their operations as Coca-Cola and offshore oil
technology, but they have only been able to achieve their
globalisation through the use of information systems. Originally
this was confined to just a few large companies with mainframe
computers in North American and European cities. Their names
would be familiar to most of you and you can probably think of
several who advertise on TV now.

Nowadays smaller, specialised companies can also have a global

presence through the use of IT. They cannot afford mainframe
computers, but they can afford a computer and modem at every
location and even satellite technology where phone lines don’t
exist. They can afford their own private web space and with
specialist software they can publish memos, reports, etc., onto
areas of their web, password-protected so only the employees with
the correct access see what is meant for them. There is actually a
company based in Aberdeen, with only about 13,000 employees
based in around 80 countries, running just that sort of technology,
administering their core business of oil supply and ancillary
operations such as personnel management.
The impact on business organisation of an IS-driven business

model
Traditional businesses surviving today have, on the whole,

embraced IT either with open arms or as a necessary evil. In the
1970s many businesses that did embrace the new technologies
foundered, as did whole industries. Businesses like banks and
older insurance companies, oil companies, national retailers and
so on have IT systems that have evolved and grown with the
business. As a result many of these systems are a hotch-potch of
new technology (point of sale systems, cash-points, etc.) and old
but proven systems like mainframe accounting. At no time was all
the old thrown out and replaced with the new.
Modern businesses often exist because of an IS-driven business

model. New-style insurance companies who advertise heavily and
do most of their business by telephone are examples. Another
would be a new bank, such as the Virgin One Account that opened
in 1997, based on a call centre and totally computerised system
and complemented by the launch of an Internet banking operation
in February 2000. Call centres are another business existing
because of and depending on an Information System that is
actually a type of expert system (Trainline, Dell Computers, NHS
direct are good examples).
Identities and personas
As society adapts to use the Internet as a medium for

communication, these changes are having a dramatic impact on
people’s lives. The ability to communicate with all – regardless of
age, sex, location or knowledge – is having a liberating effect on

people’s Internet identities and the personas they project.
The Internet allows people to develop different identities when

communicating in different forums. People do not need to be
experts or have specific knowledge to offer an opinion on a
specialised newsgroup or chat-room.
The downside of this is of course the now-criminal offence of

‘grooming’, where an adult, usually male, pretends to be a young
male keen to meet young girls. There has been much of this on
the news and many parents are frightened to let their teenagers on
the Internet without either supervision or some software which
blocks dubious sites.
You can investigate the stories of Jonathan Lebed and Marcus

Arnold on the Internet at the following site. The stories are
summarised here in case they are removed from the site or your
Internet access is unavailable.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/static/in_depth/programmes/2001/
future/tv_series_1.stm
Wall street wonder
Schoolboy Jonathan Lebed got into big trouble – for making a

fortune in his bedroom. Working from his computer, the 15-
year-old did his homework on the US stock exchange and
made $800,000 by the time he was fifteen. In one day alone,
Jonathan banked nearly $70,000 after posting hundreds of
messages on the Internet, urging people to buy shares in a toy
company.
The price shot up and he then sold his own shares at a huge
profit, but the US financial authorities were not happy,
claiming Jonathan had manipulated the market. Jonathan
eventually settled out of court with the authorities – he paid
back $300,000 of the money he had made, but kept half a
million dollars.
Jonathan claims he was only doing what the professionals do

every day. He says: ‘I think that, with the technology we have
today with the Internet, it makes everybody equal and they
definitely do have a chance of being right up there with the
Wall Street professionals.’

Legal eagle
Teenager Marcus Arnold, 15, started giving legal advice on the

Internet just six months ago, initially telling people he was 20.
During that time, he answered almost a thousand queries,
including giving advice to the mother of a man charged with
first-degree murder.
So highly-rated was his advice, that the users of one

prominent website voted him the best legal expert out of a
field of over one hundred offering advice, many of them much
better legally qualified. Marcus, whose ultimate ambition is to
be a Supreme Court judge, has attracted criticism from some
lawyers.
But he says: ‘I’m just like everyone out there, I want to be

noticed. I mean I’m 15 right now; I want people to know who
I am. I’m not there to take business away from other people,
that’s not my job.’
Privacy
We nearly all believe that our private communications across the

Internet are secure and safe. We rightly feel that it is our right to
have this privacy. Our e-mails and the websites we visit should be
our own private business. But what about when national security
is at stake or criminal actions may have been perpetrated. Should
the security services not have the power to intercept and read our
e-mails to prevent terrorist activities? Should the police not have
the power to check servers up the line to see if they can find out
who is responsible for Internet banking crimes?
In fact they do have the power, and the security services generally
do scan our e-mails, text messages and mobile phone calls, by
using computers which look for the digital patterns representing
key phrases used in terrorist and criminal activities, thus allowing
the police to apprehend suspects based on these calls and mails.
When the FBI announced that they had found over one thousand
paedophiles living in Britain because they had accessed Internet
sites in the USA and traced them by tying in their computer’s IP

address with the phone number that had been dialled from, there
was general disbelief that they had managed to do that, and then
delight that such people could be caught in this way.
Celebrities and stars believe they have a right to privacy on the

Internet and the same laws that protect them in the press protect
them on the Internet. One pop singer won a court case and
damages against a website that had published pictures of her that
she had no knowledge of and that she totally disapproved of.
Although we believe in having privacy on the Internet we generally

approve of measures taken by the security services to monitor
terrorists and catch criminals.
Legal implications of information systems
The Data Protection Act
The original Data Protection Act was introduced in 1984 to set out key
principles (rules) to regulate the collection, storage and use of personal
data. This law was introduced to protect and give rights to individuals
who might feel their personal data was either incorrect or being
misused. The law was updated in 1998 to cover some of the
inadequacies of the original act and in the light of new technology and
political circumstances relating to European legislation.
A Data Commissioner was appointed and from an office on the outskirts

of Manchester dealt with all complaints from all over the country.
Companies that individuals and businesses complained against were
investigated and if the complainant’s case was upheld then sanctions
could be made against the company misusing the data.
‘Data subjects’ were defined as being people or organisations about

which data was held in electronic form. ‘Data users’ (or controllers)
were defined as the companies and organisations that held the data
concerning the data subjects.
The 1998 Data Protection Act
The Act contains eight principles, which apply to all personal data
processed by data controllers (the people who hold the data).

• Personal data shall be processed fairly and lawfully.

• Personal data shall be obtained only for lawful purposes, and shall not
be further processed in any manner incompatible with those
purposes.
• Personal data shall be adequate, relevant and not excessive in relation
to the purposes for which it is processed.
• Personal data shall be accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date.
• Personal data processed for any purpose shall not be kept for longer
than is necessary.
• Personal data shall be processed in accordance with the rights of data
subjects.
• Appropriate measures shall be taken against unauthorised or unlawful
processing of data and against accidental loss or destruction of, or
damage to, personal data.
• Personal data shall not be transferred to a country outside Europe,
unless that country ensures protection for the rights of data subjects
in relation to the Act.
There are some unconditional exemptions and these are:
• Data related to national security

• Data which by law has to be made public (e.g. the voters’ roll)
• Data held by the police and National Health Service.
There are some types of data that were and still are exempt from
Registration. These are known as conditional exemptions and are:
• Mailing lists (names and addresses) that allow the data subject to
receive information
• Data used for calculating and paying wages
• Information used for club memberships
• Data used by a data subject at home.
Rights of data subjects – As well as the eight principles, the Act gives
rights to individuals (data subjects) in relation to personal data which is
held about them by data controllers. An individual has the right to see
any personal data stored either electronically or manually about them.
The data controller may ask that a small fee be paid to cover their costs
in providing the data. As well as the right to see their personal data, data
subjects have the right to have their data corrected if it is inaccurate.
They also have the right to prevent their data being used by companies
to send them junk mail.

Responsibilities of data users – data users have to register with the

Data Protection Registrar if they wish to hold personal information
about data subjects. They must be willing to let data subjects see data
held about them, and are entitled to charge a small fee, but they must
amend any false data without charge. Data users must also be willing to
remove subjects’ names and addresses from mailing lists if asked to.
Changes from 1984 Act – The 1984 DPA had certain shortcomings
that unscrupulous companies exploited. For example it only
covered data in electronic form and companies used printed
mailing lists and photocopied names and addresses onto labels to
circumvent the DPA. It also had no European or worldwide
dimension and there was no obligation on any data user to tell the
data subject that they held any data about them. The 1998 Act
covers the transmission of data in electronic form, which was not
really an issue in 1984, and harmonised the European Union data
protection legislation. It also made it a requirement of the Act to
ask for the prior consent of data subjects to have data held about
them, and that included paper-based records.
The Computer Misuse Act 1990
During the 1980s as the use of computers and telecommunications

systems in society grew rapidly, so did incidents of computer-related
crime. The law as it stood was unable to deal with the new crimes being
committed involving computers. The Government set up a Royal
Commission to look at the whole area of computer misuse, and this
resulted in the introduction of the Computer Misuse Act 1990.
The Act contains three sections covering various misuses:
• Unauthorised access to computer material

• Unauthorised access with intent to commit or facilitate commission of
further offences
• Unauthorised modification of computer material.
The first section deals with ‘basic hacking’, which is getting access to a
computer system, data or a program without permission. If for example
a pupil finds the teacher’s password and uses it to access the school
computer system, even though no damage to files or data has been
done, that is still a crime. This section of the Act only covers

unauthorised access of a computer system, so viewing or printing out

another user’s word-processed file without permission is also a crime.
The second section applies to situations when a computer system is

being used to help in committing another crime. If a computer is being
used to steal money from a bank account or help disable an alarm
system to aid a robbery, that is a crime covered by this section of the act.
The third section of the Act covers ‘expert hacking’, which is the
modification of data on a computer system without permission. It is this
section that covers the deliberate planting of viruses on a computer
system. It also covers the deletion or modification of another user’s file.
It could also apply to a person who changes the system setup files on a
computer, without permission.
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act
Earlier in this pack the issue of software copyright was introduced. The
copyright laws also apply to other published materials as well, whether
in the form of music, film, pictures or books, etc. so this is actually a very
large and complex act. We only really need to concern ourselves here
with a part of the Copyright section of the Act.
There are three methods of licensing software and slightly different

copyright laws apply to each kind.
1. Software can be legally bought and installed on as many computers

as the licence permits. Home and small business users usually buy
a single user licence, whereas schools, colleges, local authorities
and large businesses generally buy multiple licences
2. Shareware is generally downloaded from the Internet and can be
legally installed for, usually, 30 days after which time a payment
should be made to the author or the software taken off the
computer.
3. Freeware is similar to shareware except that there is no need to
pay and therefore no trial period. It can be downloaded and
installed free of charge.
In short, commercial software must be licensed before it is installed on a

computer and it is illegal to copy software without a licence.

As well as the applications themselves, the content created using a

computer application is also protected by copyright. One area of great
concern commercially is that of computer databases. They can store vast
amounts of very useful information, which may be commercially valuable
and may have cost the originators a lot of money to set up. The
copyright laws cover the database, or an extract from it.
It is also illegal to copy any published material without either the

permission of the copyright holder (creator) or the purchase of a
licence that allows copying. If you write a story on your word processor,
you as creator own the copyright to that story. It is illegal for anyone
else, without your permission, to copy and distribute that story, freely
or for financial gain. It is also illegal for you to copy anybody else’s work
without permission. This applies directly to material found on the
Internet or the World Wide Web.
It can count as plagiarism to copy material directly from Internet sites

and try to pass it off as your own original work. If you must use the
material it must be acknowledged in some way or another.
There is software available which allows the user to capture and save
complete websites. It must be borne in mind that to use that web
content for any purpose at all may be illegal.
If you are creating published material such as a web page or a poster, it

is possible to use clip art in your work. You can use copyright-free clip
art or alternatively buy a clip art disc with a licence to copy the graphics.
It is also possible to copy some parts of published material under

the ‘fair dealing’ provision of the Act. This permits copying for
private study or for research of one section from a magazine,
newspaper or journal. It also allows you to copy up to 5% of a
book or one chapter. The material must however be for personal
use.
One area of great concern is that of software piracy, where illegal

copies of software are sold or where software is installed on
machines when no licence has been purchased. So concerned are
the software houses that an organisation called FAST – Federation
Against Software Theft – has been set up to try and prevent the
large scale of software theft which is thought to exist within
organisations in the UK.

The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000
This Act provides for, and regulates the use of, a range of
investigative powers by a variety of public authorities, such as the
Police, Special Branch, GCHQ and MI5. It updates the law on the
interception of communications to take account of technological
change such as the growth of the Internet. It allows organisations
to monitor employees, e-mail and web usage. It also provides
powers to help combat the threat posed by rising criminal use of
strong encryption to try to break into electronic transactions.
The Act contains five parts providing for powers in relation to

specific investigative techniques or establishing systems of scrutiny,
oversight and redress.
1. Relates to the interception of communications and the

acquisition and disclosure of communications data.
2. Relates to the use of covert surveillance, agents, informants
and undercover officers.
3. Covers the investigation of electronic data protected by
encryption.
4. Provides for independent judicial oversight of the powers in
the Act.
5. Covers miscellaneous and supplemental matters such as
consequential amendments, repeals and interpretation.
In practice the act allows the authorities to monitor our personal

e-mail and Internet usage in terms of the sites we visit.
Furthermore businesses, local authorities and government
departments can and do monitor e-mails, even internally, and
Internet usage of staff, students and pupils. This sounds very like
‘Big Brother’, and it may enrage and disturb many people to
realise that this monitoring occurs. However, at a time when
terrorists can be anywhere in our society it may be a relief to know
that the authorities are taking active steps to catch them.
The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
The Freedom of Information Act for Scotland was passed by the

Scottish Executive on 28 May 2002 and came into force on 1
January 2005.
It gives a general right of public access to all types of ‘recorded’

information held by public authorities, sets out exemptions from

that general right, and places a number of obligations on public

authorities.
The Act applies only to ‘public authorities’ and not to private

entities. Public authorities are, however, broadly defined in the
Act, and they include not only Government Departments, local
authorities and many other public bodies, but also schools,
colleges and universities.
The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 will be enforced

by the Scottish Information Commissioner.
Responsibilities of public authorities – Public authorities are

required to adopt and maintain a Publication Scheme setting out
the classes of information available (e.g. prospectuses, almanacs
and websites) and the manner in which they intend to publish the
information, and whether a charge will be made for the
information. The purpose of a Publication Scheme is to ensure
information is available, without the need for a specific request.
Schemes are intended to encourage organisations to publish more
information pro-actively and to develop a greater culture of
openness.
Health and safety regulations
Needless to say the regulations relating to health and safety are vast and
cover every conceivable work situation, but we are only concerned here
with issues such as seating, lighting, RSI and radiation as well as
employers’ responsibilities.
The Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 has been updated to include the
Management of Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1999.
The main requirement on employers is to carry out a risk assessment.

Employers with five or more employees need to record the significant
findings of the risk assessment. Risk assessment should be
straightforward in a simple workplace such as a typical office.
As a result of a risk assessment it might be pointed out to a health and

safety officer that the seating arrangements are not only uncomfortable
but causing employees pain and discomfort due to their position.
Maybe the lighting is poor and employees are suffering eye strain. Over

time either of these complaints could lead to a much more serious

condition, so these complaints must be taken seriously by management.
One injury that is a phenomenon of modern working practices,

particularly for people working with computers, is repetitive strain
injury or RSI. The term RSI is used by some to refer to pain in the arm
when working with computers, but is actually very serious and can lead
to deformity and leave the sufferer in a great deal of long-term pain. It
is often caused by being forced to work with the same few keys over and
over again (such as number keys).
Computer monitors emit radiation! This was a discovered back in the

1970s and the levels of radiation given off by some of the really big, old-
fashioned monitors were very high. Employees, mostly female, who
were affected by the radiation complained of headaches, feeling listless
and in one or two cases actually miscarrying during pregnancy. Special
lead-lined aprons were made available to women who were worried
about the effects radiation could have on them.
By the 1980s computer monitors were smaller and working with much
lower power consumption and output. The trend has increased until
nowadays, and there have been shields built into the monitors so that
now radiation does not escape. A common point of escape was from the
back of the monitor, the screen acting as a shield; but people who faced
the back of a monitor for prolonged periods (all day, every working day)
could suffer from problems. The routes of escape have now been sealed
on modern monitors and there should be no danger of illness caused by
radiation when using modern equipment.
Economic implications of ICT
Jobs in ICT
Most jobs in ICT require that some further education and training is
carried out after leaving school. The minimum qualification for
professional jobs is probably at HND level although an IT-related degree
gives access to the best jobs. There are development personnel such as
systems analysts and programmers and operational personnel such as
operators and support staff who keep the systems running.
Starting development positions in organisations are usually:
Programmer/analyst – Responsible for program development and

modification, program and data changes, testing and documentation.

Web administrator – Responsible for developing, managing and co-

ordinating the posting of company material from departments onto the
company website.
Network administrator – Responsible for the day-to-day management
and maintenance of the network.
Salaries – As these are very responsible starting positions, salaries will
be in the region of £20,000 to £30,000 depending on the level of
responsibility.
Advanced development positions are usually of the following types:
Database manager – Responsible for identifying needs and developing

software accordingly. There is an increasing role for data mining and
data warehousing experts in this field.
Project leader and Senior analyst – Sometimes separate posts,
sometimes a joint post; the project leader will liaise with directors and
top managers and translate ideas into computer-related documentation.
IT manager – Generally in charge of the entire IT operation, staff and
equipment.
Salaries – These are senior posts and can carry very high salaries with
fringe benefits such as company cars.
The effect of new ICT on business
When a business invests in new ICT there is bound to be some effect on

individuals within the business. For example, if a small business invests
in a computerised accounting system dealing with sales and purchase
invoices, they will have spent a lot of money. Manual book-keepers will
need to be retrained to use the computerised system effectively
otherwise it will not be worth the company’s while investing in it.
Longer term, the company would expect increased productivity. This

could mean that fewer staff members are required to do the same work,
or the same staff can do far more work. In an accounting system
increased functionality would be expected (automated printing of
statements and letters about overdue accounts for example), and this
can help get money in more quickly (increased productivity).
A business would get an accountant to produce a profit-and-loss account

every three or six months at great expense, but a computerised system
can produce this sort of information at the drop of a hat, saving a lot of
money and keeping the managers better informed.

Generally a cost accountant would work out just how much more
profitable an employee became after using ICT and as we have seen this
can be a combination of earning more money (telesales as opposed to
mail order), saving the company money (producing accounting
information) and doing jobs that could not be done before (statements
and letters). All these factors build up a picture of productivity and
profitability of an individual.
Business and ICT
If a business decides to invest in an information system with all the

associated costs of equipment, software and personnel then they
must be certain that they will see a competitive advantage
compared to competitors in the same area of business who have
not made a similar investment.
A company planning this step will probably employ a systems

analyst to complete a feasibility study covering not only technical
aspects but also legal and economic feasibility.
It would have been a huge step for the first computerised but-
paper based mail-order company to move over to a call centre and
telephone ordering tied in with an ‘intelligent warehouse’. They
would have made an exhaustive economic feasibility study to see if
they would gain a competitive advantage over their rivals. Maybe
they did, but was it an even bigger leap of faith to be among the
first companies to introduce Internet ordering?
Business costs
Many businesses want to invest in new technology to help them

maintain a competitive advantage, whereas other businesses feel
forced into making that investment to keep up with their
competitors.
Some ICT projects are very large, such as setting up a

computerised production line or a just-in-time component
ordering system in a factory, or a large call centre. These ICT
investments will cost a company millions of pounds and will be
central to its running. The money spent is rightly called an
investment, as the company is investing it in the core activities of
its business.

These initial costs can be very high but the pace of competition in
the marketplace can often dictate that companies invest the money
needed.
Running costs can be as trivial as replenishing ink cartridges or

buying printer paper for an office micro, to employing a large ICT
support staff. Another area of running costs is software licences
and updates and some companies prefer to pay a fixed cost for
software licences and all updates every year so that their software
is always up to date and there are no sudden large costs.
Most organisations with a large number of microcomputers, like

financial institutions, run a rolling update program where a quarter
of their oldest micros are replaced every year so they can budget
for this cost.
Ethical implications of ICT
Netiquette
This is a user’s guide to the polite way you use the web and e-mail,
whether on the Internet or an Intranet. It should be relevant for both
personal and business users, and the more public the forum (an e-group
or office internal e-forum), the more the user should be aware of and
follow basic netiquette. It comes in the form of general and then some
particular recommendations.
Some general points are:
• Treat others the way you wish to be treated yourself.

• Make sure you do not contravene legislation regarding use of
computers and IT.
• Use accurate details when referring to other Internet resources or
sites.
• Ensure that you are not wasteful of others’ resources when sending e-
mails or in the design of your web page.
• Try and contribute to the network in your area of expertise.
• Adhere to Internet standards for production of e-mail
correspondence and web pages.
• Always identify yourself when joining in newsgroups and try not to
interject irrelevancies.

And some particular pieces of advice are:
1. Do not type e-mails all in CAPITALS. That is regarded as equivalent

to shouting. It is also harder to read.
2. Do not leave the Subject field blank. Always fill in the Subject field
with a brief and concise description of the content of your e-mail.
This is very important in helping those you communicate with to
organise and manage their e-mails.
3. Refrain from formatting your e-mail with coloured text and

background colours or images in your day-to-day communications.
Your colour and formatting choices can make your e-mails
impossible to read. In addition, formatting could make your e-
mails difficult to reply to without obliging your recipient to go
through a time-consuming procedure to convert your e-mail to
plain text first.
4. On those rare occasions where it is necessary to send a group of

people the very same e-mail, it is a courtesy to those you are
sending to, to list all of the recipients’ e-mail addresses in the BCC
field. (BCC = Blind Carbon Copy – from the old days when
typewriters used carbon paper to create identical copies of a
document when it was being typed.) When an e-mail address is
designated in the BCC field, the recipient will get a copy of the e-
mail while their e-mail address remains invisible to the other
recipients of the e-mail – some of whom they may or may not
know.
5. Do not forward any stupid joke, ‘chain letter’ or unimportant e-

mails to your friends without their permission. Never give out
phone numbers or personal information without confirming you
are communicating with a reputable party. Never give out personal
contact information of others without their specific permission to
do so.
6. Make a reasonable effort to search a website for the information

you are seeking before e-mailing a colleague for help.
7. Do not use Return Receipt Request (RR) for each and every
personal e-mail you send because you like ‘knowing’ when
someone opens your e-mail. Not only is this annoying to the
recipient, this feature is intrusive especially in an on-line discussion
forum or e-group where hundreds of people can get that RR.

8. Do not send inflammatory, highly critical or just plain nasty e-mails,

especially to a group. This is called flaming and can cause great
offence.
9. Keep in mind that all private e-mail is considered to be copyrighted

by the original author. If you post private e-mail to a public list or
board, or forward it to an outside party in whole or in part, you
must include the author’s permission to post the material publicly.
10. Always minimise, compress or ‘zip’ large files before sending as

your intended recipient may have a slow connection and not be
prepared to watch the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy again while
waiting for a download they may not even want to receive. Better
still, ascertain that they actually want the file before sending it.
11. Do not forward hoax virus warnings – enough said.
Intellectual property rights
Intellectual property is a form of knowledge that society has decided can

be assigned specific property rights. These rights have some
resemblance to ownership rights over physical property or land. With
recent scientific and technical advances, particularly in ICT, knowledge
has become, more than ever, the principal source of competitive
advantage for both companies and countries.
Much original work is regularly published on the Internet, such as

newspaper articles, university papers, reports from interest groups, and
information from companies. All original work so published is protected
by intellectual property rights.
Intellectual property rights in relation to information also relate to

musicians and the sites where music can be downloaded. There is
usually no problem with listening to music over the Internet but if
anyone tries to download copyright music without either paying or
agreeing to the copyright conditions then they, and the site they have
found the music on, could both be sued for breach of copyright. In
truth, the main infringement is likely to be the website’s and it is likely
to be closed down, like Napster was in 2003.

Censorship
Current legislation already deals with unacceptable material,

whether written or visual, as far as censorship is concerned.
Control of what is ‘shown’ on an organisation’s premises is already
in force. However, there are ongoing discussions on the possible
control and censorship measures that could be applied to the
Internet as its uses grow. These controls could hinder freedom of
speech.
There are socially unacceptable sites on the Internet of varying

degrees of unacceptability, dependent on perception. For
example, you may have arachnophobia and find a website on
exotic spiders wholly offensive.
Can you visit these web pages by accident? Sometimes fairly

innocuous searches through the Internet can produce a list of
available sites with links to unusual and apparently unrelated sites.
In such instances, however, it is normally very clear from the
summary or titles what the contents of these sites are likely to
include. So if you visit these sites, that is deemed to be a deliberate
action and you are accountable for using any information you view.
But sometimes the description of the site bears no resemblance to
the actual contents, in which case you may plead ignorance.
There is also the problem of unsolicited e-mails. This is becoming a

major problem on the Internet. It is caused by ‘spammers’, people
who send out mass mailings of junk e-mail. Your software can
dispose of some of this junk by applying filtering rules but the
spammers are getting more devious in their quest to ensure that
your mailbox is bombarded with junk mail. There have already
been several recent successful prosecutions of junk e-mailers in
America, but can this be regarded as a form of censorship? Should
these people have the right to send e-mails to anyone they wish?
Regulating the content of the Internet
If there is concern that users of computer equipment in

organisations will access ‘offensive’ or ‘unacceptable’ material,
software can be installed that will monitor what access is made and
from which terminals, when and by whom. Internal organisational
procedures should deal with this type of situation.

The Internet is no different from other media in this respect, and

any of these can contravene legislation on sensitive matters. There
have been successful libel cases taken out against bulletin board
operators for the materials that were published on their boards.
Still the question will arise, is current legislation enough?
Presumably only time will tell. Future governments and public
opinion will influence new legislation.
Privacy and encryption
Where can we expect privacy when using ICT? Already we have

seen that text messages, mobile calls, e-mail and Internet usage can
all be monitored by security organisations, but it is even more scary
to think that criminals are using technology to try and intercept
and read personal information.
If we are to trust on-line shopping, which demands that we pay by

credit or debit card, then the on-line vendors must apply security
to their site. To do this they have to ensure that the card number
is encrypted when it leaves the shopper’s computer until it arrives
safely at the vendor’s website.
There are different encryption methods available but probably the

best is provided by software called PGP (Pretty Good Privacy)
which uses a 32-bit encryption procedure. This is generally agreed
to be unbreakable and is used by good on-line retailers who will
usually advertise the fact. They may also subscribe to a code of
practice (like the Which? Code for Internet Shopping) that is based
on PGP and 32-bit encryption.
ICT and global citizenship
The study of citizenship in schools and colleges gives students the

knowledge, skills and understanding to play an effective role in
society at local, national and international levels. It helps them to
become informed, thoughtful and responsible citizens who are
aware of their duties and rights. It promotes their spiritual, moral,
social and cultural development, making them more self-confident
and responsible both in and beyond the classroom. It encourages
them to play a helpful part in the life of their schools,
neighbourhoods, communities and the wider world.

Global citizenship is generally thought of as awareness of global

issues such as environment, commerce, politics and society in
general. If a student is studying citizenship then the use of the
Internet means that information and discussion papers can be
found and studied very easily.
It is possible to find newsgroups about a wide range of topics in

relation to the citizenship topics mentioned and in these serious
newsgroups the discussion is usually interesting and informed and
contributors are likely to use their own identities.
Many UK schools and colleges have e-mail links with schools

abroad, where many overseas students want to improve their
English and are happy to discuss in English issues that help
improve our and their understanding of citizenship.

Implications of ICT – Suggested tasks
Your tutor will tell you if and when s/he wants you to undertake these
tasks (maybe after the questions). The tasks are suitable for
Intermediate 2 and Higher candidates, but a greater depth of coverage
of the topic is expected from Higher candidates.
Task
Higher – Either on your own or in a small group make up a
presentation or website. Aim to produce about 20 to 30 slides or 5 to 9
web pages and give examples.
Intermediate 2 – Aim to produce about 12 slides or 4 web pages on

one of the following topics. Work through one of the topics fully or give
an overview of all of them.
Pick either a topic, concept or particular Act and explore it fully –

examples might include:
• The social implications of ICT

• The legal implications of ICT
• The economic implications of ICT
• The ethical implications of ICT
• E-commerce
• The Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002
• Competitive advantage and initial costs versus running costs
• Censorship and freedom of speech.

Intermediate 2 questions – Implications of ICT
1. Describe what is meant by ease of access and availability of ICT

and give an example (preferably not from the notes). 2
2. Explain the difference between information rich and information

poor. Illustrate your answer with examples. 2
3. Why must citizens now be IT aware and have an educational

qualification in IT? 2
4. Name three jobs that are filled by knowledge workers. 1
5. Give one advantage and one disadvantage both to the retailer

and to the customer of on-line shopping. 4
6. Under the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998 explain what is
meant by:
(a) Data protection principles

(b) The rights of the data subject
(c) The responsibilities of the data controller
(d) The role of the Information Commissioner 4
7. What are the three misuses covered by the Computer Misuse Act?
(Do not answer in terms of ‘hacking’, etc.) 3
8. In terms of computer usage what offence is covered under the

Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1998? 1
9. How do the health and safety regulations cover seating, lighting,

RSI, eye strain and radiation with regard to computer usage? 5
10. Describe the type of work carried out by someone in a starting

position and also of someone working in an advanced position
within an IT organisation (1 job from each level). 2
11. Explain how new ICT in a business can affect the productivity
and profitability of individuals and the company. You may need
to write a paragraph about this. 4
12. Netiquette is very important to both individuals and businesses.

Explain why typing e-mails in capitals, flaming and sending very
large files are contrary to good netiquette. 3

13. Explain why intellectual property rights are important and give
an example of where this is important. 2
Total marks 33
Higher questions – Implications of ICT
1. Explain how a company operating in several countries can

use ICT and the web to aid communications. 1
2. Describe how a new type of business is likely to use an IS-

driven business model. 1
3. Explain how the relationship between business and

customers has changed as result of e-commerce and the
Internet. 2
4. Give an advantage and a disadvantage of developing

identities and personas when communicating via the
Internet. 2
5. Is the right to private communications across the Internet

under threat by the security issues involved? Discuss this
question making two points for and two against. 4
6. Explain how the 1998 version of the Data Protection Act

differed from the 1984 version. 3
7. Explain how the Copyright Designs and Patents Act relates to

web content and digital media. 2
8. How does the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (2000)

affect our use of the web and e-mail? 2
9. How has the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

affected how we can find out about decisions made and
meetings held in the public sector? 2
10. Summarise the employers’ responsibilities in the UK’s

Health and Safety regulations. 2
11. What impact does the use of ICT have on a business

organisation in relation to competitive advantage? 2


organisation in relation to business costs including initial
and running costs and the cost of investing in the business? 3
13. Explain how ICT can be involved in censorship and

freedom of speech. 2
14. Explain how ICT can be involved in privacy and encryption. 2
15. Explain how ICT can be involved in global citizenship. 2
Total marks 32


USEFUL RESOURCES
SECTION 5
Web links
www.bsa.org
The Business Software Alliance provides reports and information on
international software piracy.
http://cyberethics.cbi.msstate.edu
Cyberethics: A good selection of resources on computer ethics,
including case studies.
www.nd.edu/~rbarger/cases.html
A large selection of case studies regarding ethics, posing some excellent
questions and discussion points.
http://library.thinkquest.org/26658
An interactive guide to computer ethics.
http://www.school.za/teachers/index.htm
The ten commandments of computer ethics.
www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1998/19980029.htm
The text of the Data Protection Act 1998.
www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1997/1997050.htm
The Police Act 1997. Describes the role of the National Criminal
Intelligence Service, which is entitled to authorise activities such as
tapping telephone lines.
http://www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/20000007.htm
Information on the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act.
http://www.legislation.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts1996/1996031.htm
The Defamation Act 1996.
http://www.hmso.gov.uk/acts/acts2000/20000007.htm
The Electronic Communications Act 2000.
http://www.bcs.org/
The British Computer Society’s code of conduct and practice.

USEFUL RESOURCES
www.cio.com/forums/ec
CIO Magazine: An e-commerce resource centre.
www.ecommerce.ac.uk
E-commerce innovation centre at Cardiff University provides interesting
case studies and basic explanations of concepts and terms.
www.ft.com/ftit
Financial Times IT surveys: An excellent set of monthly articles based on
case studies.
http://ecommerce.about.com
About.com is a portal for all aspects of e-commerce.
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/
Internet FAQ Archive. This archive contains Usenet Frequently Asked
Questions (FAQ) postings in HTML format and in text format.

USEFUL RESOURCES
Bibliography
Recommended texts
Doyle, Stephen, Information Systems for You, 2nd edition, Cheltenham:

Stanley Thornes, 1999
Heathcote, P M, A Level ICT, 3rd edition, Ipswich: Payne-Galloway

Publishers, 2003
Lucey, T, Management Information Systems, 9th edition, London:

Continuum, 2005
Mott, Julian and Leeming, Anne, Information and Communication

Technology for Advanced Level, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2003
Mott, Julian and Leeming, Anne, Information and Communication

Technology for AS Level, London: Hodder & Stoughton, 2002
Suggested useful texts for background reading
Business Information Systems: Technology, Development and

Management for the e-business, edited by Dave Chaffey, Harlow: FT
Prentice Hall, 2003
Curtis, Graham and Cobham, David, Business Information Systems:

Analysis, Design and Practice, Harlow: FT Prentice Hall, 2002
Laudon, Kenneth C and Laudon, Jane P, Essentials of Management

Information Systems: Managing the Digital Firm, Prentice Hall US,
2003
Lewis, Michael, The Future Just Happened, London: Coronet, 2002
Weinberger, David, Small Pieces Loosely Joined (a unified theory of the

web), New York: Perseus Publishing, 2002

USEFUL RESOURCES
Software Evaluation Form Name
Class of software:
Names of the two packages:
A short description of the task:
Range of data objects
Range of operations
Formatting functions
HCI – Use of keyboard

commands
HCI – Menus and toolbars/icons
On-line help
On-line tutorials
Which package better suited

the task you described?
Summarise the important
reasons why you chose this
package.

ANSWER SECTION
ANSWERS
Suggested answers to questions embedded in the text
Higher – Questions and tasks for data and information (pp27–

8) – Answers
1. Describe the differences between data and information.

Data is just raw facts and figures whereas information is
processed data with structure, organisation, context or
meaning.
2 marks if well explained, 1 mark if poorly explained, or
something missed out
2. (a) Explain the relationship between knowledge and

information.
Knowledge is derived from information – 1 mark
(b) Explain the difference between explicit and implicit

knowledge, giving an example of each and of the kind
of information that made that knowledge possible.
Explicit is rules, processes or decisions that can be
recorded on paper or in an information system, Implicit
exists in the minds of humans. Examples – any
appropriate, e.g. almost any written v ideas, concepts,
etc.
2 marks if well explained, 1 if poorly explained, 1 for
examples
3. What is meant by metadata? Give an example of metadata.

Metadata is data describing data – 1 mark
Data dictionary, directory on a disk, card index system, etc.
– 1 mark
4. For each of the following situations say whether the

information is primary or secondary and internal or external.
• the minutes of a golf club committee meeting – Primary &

internal – 1 mark
• a till roll showing the day’s transactions in a corner shop –
Secondary & internal – 1 mark
• a university prospectus – Primary & largely external – 1
mark

ANSWER SECTION
• the published accounts of a large public business –

Secondary & internal – 1 mark
5. Describe the differences between:

• formal and informal communication – presenting
information in a structured and consistent manner, for
e.g. external or formal letter, etc. v less well structured, for
e.g. internal – e-mails and memos.
2 marks for well explained and examples, 1 if less well
explained
• quantitative and qualitative information – numerically
expressed information, prices, statistics, etc. v information
expressed using words.
explained
6. There are three levels of information, strategic, tactical and

operational. State the characteristics of:
• information used for decision making at the strategic level
– top level of management, long-term plans, little or no
detail using mainly external sources. – 2 marks for well
explained and examples, 1 if less well explained
• information used for decision making at the tactical level –
middle level of management, medium-term plans, medium
level of detail using mixture of internal and external
sources.
explained
• information used for decision making at the operational
level – pitched at lowest level of management or workers,
short-term plans, function related, using mainly internal
sources.
explained
7. Explain the differences between information categorised by

time:
• Historically – information gathered over a period of time –
1 mark
• In the present time – during current work window, e.g.
temperatures – 1 mark
• In the future – Uses historic and present data to predict
future trends – 1 mark

ANSWER SECTION
8. Information can be used in planning, control and decision

making. Describe how information can be used in:
• Planning – helps process of deciding in advance what has
to be done and how it is to be done. – 1 mark
• Control – helps with monitoring and evaluation of current
progress against the steps of a predefined plan. – 1 mark
• Decision-making – helps process of selecting actions from
those possible based on the information available. – 1
mark
9. There are three forms of information, written, aural and

visual. Explain with the use of examples the difference
between the three forms.
Any written communication; meetings and phone calls;
presentations, video clips, etc.
1 mark for each point well explained with examples (3 in
total)
10. The type of information one may receive can be detailed,

sampled or aggregated. Explain the differences between the
three types of information with regard to the level of the
information.
Detailed at operational level showing every piece of info, e.g.
transactions; sampled is selected records from a database;
and aggregated refers to totals created when detailed info is
summed. 1 mark for each point well explained with
examples (3 in total)
11. For each of the following characteristics of information

explain why that characteristic affects the quality of the
information:
availability or accessibility – ease of access
accuracy – need for accuracy explained
completeness – contains all the details required
reliability or objectivity – relevance explained
timing – info must be on time for purpose intended
conciseness – no extraneous information
presentation – aesthetically pleasing, etc.
value – relative importance of the info, no reference to cost
1 mark for each point well explained with examples (8 in
total)

ANSWER SECTION
12. Explain the distinction between value and the cost of

information.
Value to the company of the information regardless of cost;
cost is how expensive it is to obtain or set up the information
– 2 marks if well explained
Total marks for questions 44
Higher – Questions on organisational information systems

(p36) – Answers
1. What is an information system?

A system that deals with input and processing of data and
output and storage of information.
1 mark
2. Describe the functions likely to be performed by a Data

Processing System, giving an example to illustrate your
answer.
Any manual system replaced by computerised system, e.g.
banking and statements.
1 mark for function description, 1 mark for example
3. Explain why a Data Processing System is classed as being at

the operational level of an organisation.
It’s usually at the transaction processing end, and covers all
the day-to-day transactions.
1 mark for timescale, 1 mark for type of data
4. For what purposes is a Management Information System

usually used?
To summarise and report on an organisation’s basic
operations.
2 marks if well explained
5. Explain why a Management Information System is classed as

being at the tactical level of an organisation.
Because it’s used by middle management (1 mark), usually
to a regular timescale i.e. monthly, etc. (1 mark)
6. Why would the management of a company like to see a

Decision Support System in place?
Because it will allow management to explore a range of

ANSWER SECTION
alternative strategies to help with decision making.

7. Explain why a Decision Support System is classed as being at

the operational level of an organisation.
Because it will use operational data to provide information
at the tactical and strategic levels.
8. Explain the purpose of an Executive Information System,

giving an example to illustrate your answer.
It will allow senior managers to make tactical and strategic
decisions, e.g. providing summarised reports showing trends.
1 mark for explanation, 1 mark for example
9. Explain why an Executive Information System is classed as

being at the tactical level of an organisation.
It provides senior managers with information using data
processed by operational systems.
10. An Expert System is made up of three parts, a knowledge

base, an inference engine and a user interface. What is the
purpose of each of these three parts?
KB stores all the facts, rules and information; IE interprets
rules and facts (chaining, etc.); UI allows user to enter
knowledge and query the system.
1 mark for each section fully answered (3 in total)
11. Describe two reasons why an Expert System would be used in

business.
It provides a knowledge base employees can examine
(1 mark) and creates an objective mechanism not subject to
human feelings (1 mark)
Total marks 22

ANSWER SECTION
Intermediate 2 – Concepts in relation to Organisational

Information Systems (pp45–6) – Answers
1. How may the speed of a computer be calculated and expressed?

By the number of calculations it can perform per second.
1 mark
2. On what factors can the accuracy of a computer system be based?

The accuracy depends firstly on the software written and secondly
on the human accuracy.
1 mark for each factor
3. What is meant by the volume of transactions in a computerised

system?
The number of transactions handled in a given period of time.
1 mark
4. How could the efficiency of a computer system be measured?

By a combination of its speed, accuracy and volume of through-
put, e.g. the number of accurate transactions per second.
1 mark
5. (a) Explain what is meant by a turnaround document.

A document which is filled in and sent back to a company
for data processing.
1 mark
(b) What has replaced kimball tags and magnetic stripes as the
main method of collecting data from goods?
Bar codes.
1 mark
6. Explain how a bar code is used to produce an itemised till receipt.

The bar code is scanned and used to search the database for a
match. The matching description and price are then printed on the
receipt.
2 marks if well explained, 1 mark if poorly explained
7. What are the two modern methods of buying goods without

visiting a shop?
Telephone ordering via a call centre and Internet shopping.
1 mark each

ANSWER SECTION
8. (a) Explain why a hard disk is the preferred storage medium for
data processing applications.
It provides fast random access to data.
1 mark
(b) If users wish to carry quite large files from work to home,
what backing storage device are they likely to use?
A memory stick (or flash memory).
1 mark
9. There are four main types of processing which can be applied to

data. Name and describe each of them and give an example of
each.
Searching/ selecting – selecting a sub-section of the data that meets
specified criteria. Searching the lottery numbers to find a match.
Sorting/rearranging – arranging the data into some form of order.
Sorting a file into alphabetical order (any example).
Aggregating – summarising data by reducing numerous values to
one value. Looking for a total or summary such as on a bill or till
receipt.
Performing calculations – applying a formula to data to give a
new value. Calculating a utility bill.
A bit stingy but 1 mark for each complete name, description
and example. 4 marks in total
10. Name and describe the three commonest methods of outputting

data and give an example of each.
Paper – printed information onto any kind of paper, e.g. bills,
receipts, etc.
Screen – information output on to a screen, e.g. reports for
managers, etc.
File – part of a database output and saved to a separate file – any
example.
Still stingy so 1 mark for each name, description and example.
3 marks in total
11. Explain why an organisation needs a network strategy and state the
five areas it needs to address.
It needs a strategy for planning how to set up a network and to
manage effectively its distribution of data.
The five areas are Data Transfer; Distribution/coverage; Access;
Security; Facilities.
1 mark to explain why strategy needed and 1 mark for listing
all five areas. 2 marks in total

ANSWER SECTION
12. Why does an organisation need to have a security strategy in place?

To ensure staff or competitors do not steal important data.
To keep unauthorised people from using a network.
To keep the network secure from virus attacks.
1 mark for each reason. 3 marks in total
13. Why is a backup strategy important to an organisation?

To ensure that operational data is not accidentally destroyed or
damaged.
1 mark
14. Referring to both hardware and software issues, explain why an

upgrade strategy is needed.
Advances in hardware may be needed so that a company can
continue to support its core business. Greater functionality of
applications and faster and more secure operating systems may
affect a decision to upgrade.
1 mark for each. 2 marks in total
15. Why will an organisation have a software strategy in place?

Because software may need to be changed to take account of new
features or changes in the law.
1 mark
16. What effect can a centralised database have on an organisation and

what advantages can it give?
It can make the company more efficient as the data is centralised
and users can access the appropriate section from anywhere on the
network.
1 mark
It keeps all the data in one place, it is easier to control, and it
connects files together and backs up the data.
2 marks
Total marks 33

ANSWER SECTION
Higher – Organisational Information Systems (pp69–71) –

Answers
1 Explain the difference between a Local Area Network and a

Wide Area Network.
LAN usually operates within a building or campus, WAN over
large area, WWW, etc.
1 mark each
2. What does a distributed network mean?

Multiple servers running mini-networks as part of a larger
network. 1 mark
3. Explain the difference between a client server network and a

peer-to-peer network.
The first is a central server to which workstations (clients) are
attached for network services, whereas P2P is when all stations
have equal status, no server cheaper, etc.
1 mark for each
4. What functions does a network adapter card give to a computer

on a LAN?
Allows the computer to send and receive messages across the
network. 1 mark
5. What advantage does a fibre-optic cable give over a twisted pair

or co-axial cable?
Much faster/ greater bandwidth. 1 mark
What additional piece of hardware is required in an Ethernet
network when longish distances need be covered?
A repeater to boost the signal. 1 mark
6. Explain why a file server and a network computer both require

a network operating system, and explain the main difference
between the two versions.
File server to control users, keep data secure, NC to connect to
the network.
1 mark for each version fully explained
7. What is the main function of network auditing and monitoring

software?
Keeps track of user activity (1 mark) and workstation and
printer activity (1 mark )

ANSWER SECTION
8. Why might an organisation decide to implement a security

strategy on its network?
Because the loss of data is a serious problem. 1 mark
9. Describe what is meant by data security, integrity and privacy;

and highlight the differences between these three terms.
Security is keeping the data safe from physical loss; integrity is
correctness of stored data; privacy is keeping data secret –
expect an example of each.
1 mark each (3 total)
10. How may a virus be transmitted to a computer and

subsequently activated, and what is the likely effect of a virus
on a computer system?
Usually transmitted as an attachment to an e-mail,
downloaded from the Internet or from media. Can take effect
immediately, stay dormant until triggered, or be activated
when a program or the computer starts up.
Effectively ½ mark each part rounded down (3 total)
11. Hacking is gaining unauthorised access to a computer

information system. How may an organisation protect itself
from hackers, and what offence is actually committed?
Protection is by installing a firewall, and the offence is
committed in terms described in the Computer Misuse Act.
1 mark each
12. Explain what is meant by a denial-of-service attack.

This happens when a server becomes flooded with requests and
cannot deliver, so the server crashes.
1 mark
13. Explain how having a code of conduct in place can help

enhance the security of an organisation.
A code of conduct can set out minimum standards of
behaviour, such as regular changing of passwords, etc.
1 mark
14. Explain how having a code governing password guidelines can

help enhance the security of an organisation. Give an example
of the rules which may be in place.
A code makes passwords harder to guess + suitable example of
a password rule
1 mark for an explanation, 1 mark for an example

ANSWER SECTION
15. How may a virus be prevented from attacking a network? If

present, how may it be detected and infected files be
repaired? Prevention – use of floppy disk not allowed, e-mails
scanned for viruses. Detection via anti-virus software.
Repaired by anti-virus s/ware deleting the virus part of the
file.
1 mark for each part well explained (3 in total)
16. A firewall is a method of preventing unauthorised access to a

network. Explain how it operates.
Sits between server and Internet connection and stops
unauthorised joining of network from outside.
1 mark for each point made and explained (3 in total)
17. Explain why Internet retailers use encryption and describe a

popular system.
To protect their customers and prevent fraud. 32-bit
encryption is a popular system.
1 mark for why and 1 for 32-bit
18. Access rights involve how files may be accessed on a network.

Describe the main actions that can be applied to files.
Explain read, write, create, erase, modify
1 mark for each name and explanation (5 in total)
19. Explain why an organisation should have a backup strategy.

To keep a copy of irreplaceable data safe and be able to
restore that data. (Or similar.)
1 mark
20. Describe what is meant by:

(a) Data archiving is long-term storage of data. 1 mark
(b) Data recovery is restoring backed-up data to the system.
1 mark
(c) Storage methods, including frequency and version
control: this refers to the regularity of backups and a
version is the full backup plus increments. 1 mark
21. Explain why an organisation should have an upgrade strategy

in place.
To ensure a system has a reasonable life and a planned
replacement. 1 mark

ANSWER SECTION
22. What is meant by integration testing?

Checks to ensure that new elements work with old; these cover
software, peripherals and operating systems.
23. What problems can legacy systems give a network manager?

Old hardware may not run with new software or systems.
1 mark
24. What does the term emulation mean in the context of

organisational information systems?
Software which runs on a new system and mimics the old
system so that old applications will work.
1 mark
25. As part of a software strategy an organisation may wish to

evaluate software. Explain how the software can be evaluated
with reference to the criteria of functionality, performance,
usability, compatibility, data migration, reliability, resource
requirements, portability and support.
Look for a point made about each of the criteria. Any valid
point from the notes.
1 mark for each criterion (9 in total)
26. Describe the methods of providing training in using

information systems software including on-the-job training, in-
house and external courses.
On-the-job means working through a tutorial and referring to
help while actually working on the system; in-house refers to
a company-based training unit; external courses are usually
run by the manufacturers, etc.
1 mark each (3 in total)
27. Identify and describe the means of obtaining user support.

Identify and describe manuals, on-line help and tutorials,
help desk, newsgroups and FAQ
1 mark each (5 in total; identify only 0 marks)
28. Explain the factors that need to be considered if an

organisation decides to upgrade its software.
Explain lack of functionality, hardware and software
incompatibility and perfecting the system.
1 mark each explanation (4 in total)

ANSWER SECTION
29. Explain the essential differences between a centralised and a

distributed database. Mention the advantages or
disadvantages of both.
Centralised database holds all the data on one central
computer or server making it easier to maintain and back
up. Distributed database has files spread around a network;
different users can work on separate sections without
interfering with each other.
1 mark for differences, 1 mark for advantages of each (3
in total)
30. What does data warehousing mean and why may a company
decide to warehouse data?
Historical data is removed from the main company’s
activities to free up disk space and make the system more
efficient.
1 mark for description, 1 mark for reason
31. (a) What is data mining defined as?

The non-trivial extraction of implicit, previously
unknown and potentially useful information from
data. 1 mark
(b) Describe how data mining operates.
Use of software techniques for finding patterns and
regularities in sets of data. 1 mark
(c) Describe a business situation where data mining may be
very useful.
Any business where data is held on diverse subjects
across different information systems.
1 mark if well described
Total marks 76

ANSWER SECTION
Intermediate 2 – Personal and organisational uses of Information

Management Software (pp78–9) – Answers
1. What type of software would you use for editing and manipulating
text on a page?
Word processing. 1 mark
2. What type of software would allow the user to create and

manipulate pictures?
Graphics design. 1 mark
3. What type of software would be used to lay out financial and

statistical data in tables and apply formulas and calculations to the
data?
Spreadsheet. 1 mark
4. What type of software would allow the user to create and store
information?
Database. 1 mark
5. (a) What is e-mail client software used for?

To write, send, retrieve and read e-mails. 1 mark
(b) Describe the two different methods of using e-mail.
Off-line dials up, retrieves the e-mails allowing the user to
disconnect from the Internet and read their e-mails. On-line
means that the Internet connection is kept open throughout
and the e-mails are kept on the ISP’s computer rather than the
user’s. 1 mark each
(c) Give an advantage and a disadvantage of using an on-line e-
mail provider.
Advantage: viruses and spam are trapped by provider.
Disadvantage: you have to stay connected to the Internet.
1 mark each
6. (a) Describe what browser software is used for.

It allows users to receive information from the Internet.
1 mark
(b) State the navigational functions supported by most browsers.
Forward and back arrows, Home, Stop, Refresh.
2 marks for all 4. 1 mark for less
(c) Describe what is meant by bookmarking.
Keeping a list of favourite websites which can be easily
retrieved. 1 mark

ANSWER SECTION
7. Describe the three generations of chat client software.

Written conversations in real time; Instant Messaging where user is
informed if a friend logs on; and voice-based messaging allowing
user to converse in real time over the Internet.
1 mark for each well described not just named (3 in total)
8. Describe three ways DTP software can be used.

Layout of text and graphics on a page; control over multi-page
documents and leaflets, etc.; prepare pages for professional use.
1 mark for each (3 in total; accept other valid uses)
9. What type of software would be used to create a slide show that

could be used with a data projector?
Presentation. 1 mark
10. What type of software is an encyclopaedia supplied on a CD-ROM?

Reference. 1 mark
11. (a) What may financial software be used for in a home

environment? Bugetting at home, on-line banking, etc.
1 mark for any suitable example
(b) What may financial software be used for in a business
environment?
Preparing final accounts, dealing with customers and
suppliers, statements, invoices and payments.
Any 2, 1 mark each
12. What does web-authoring software allow the user to do?

Create web pages and websites. 1 mark
13. If a company was making websites commercially what types of

software would they need and why?
Graphic design software to prepare their pictures and graphics and
web-authoring software to create the sites.
1 mark for naming and 1 mark each for reasons (3 in total)
14. If a teacher wished to make a slide show to help deliver a lesson,

which type of software would s/he use?
Presentation. 1 mark
15. What type of software allows the user to create and maintain
customer and supplier accounts?
Financial. 1 mark
Total marks 30

ANSWER SECTION
Higher – Personal and organisational uses of Information

Management Software (pp103–4) – Answers
1. What type of software would be required to produce a 32-page

magazine?
Desk-top publishing. 1 mark
Describe at least two differences between word-processing
and desk-top publishing software.
WP is better for generating text. DTP uses prepared text and
handles graphics or multi-page documents better than WP.
1 mark for each of 2 differences
2. What are the main differences between presentation and web-

authoring software? (Outline at least two.)
Presentation creating slide shows for use with LCD projectors.
Web-authoring software creates websites and pages which can
be uploaded to the WWW.
2 differences, 1 mark for each
3. Describe what spreadsheet software can be used for in both

business and education.
Business uses include modelling and simulating and
statistical analysis. Uses in education are for budgets,
forecasting, education recording and analysing marks and
exam results.
1 mark for each of business and education
4. What are the main uses of project management software?

To help with planning or monitoring (1 mark), and control of
the various activities or resources (1 mark) of a project.
5. What functions are likely to be found in PIM software?

Communications, calendar, contacts and task list.
1 mark
6. (a) What are the data objects likely to be found in word-

processing software?
Characters, words, paragraphs, graphic objects – 1 mark
objects? (Describe three.)
Any three operations – file, edit menus or specifics
described.
All 3 for 2 marks well described, 1 if poorly
described

ANSWER SECTION
(c) What formatting functions can be applied to these data

Describe formatting, style and functions.
Marks as for (b)
7. (a) Explain what is meant by each of these features of word-

processing and desk-top publishing software:
(i) Multi-page layout, columns, header and footer and
pagination.
Different page layouts within one (multi-page)
document, e.g. newspaper columns, area at top
and bottom of page containing page numbering,
chapter headings, etc., number of pages and page
numbering
4 features for 2 marks, 2 or 3 for 1 mark
(ii) Use of a contents and index page.
Contents page(s) at start and index page(s) at end
of document. 1 mark
(b) Describe what is meant by text wrapping around
graphics.
How text can be made to flow around or embed a
graphic. 1 mark
(c) How can style sheets be used to implement a house
style?
Contain formatting information that may be applied
consistently to different sections of text. 1 mark
(d) What is the difference between serif and sans-serif fonts?
Serif has ticks and tails, line thickness varies. Sans-serif
has no ticks and tails, lines are of same thickness.
1 mark
(e) Describe how the use of colour and formatting of text
can enhance the appearance of a document.
Any suitable description, probably mentioning legibility
and level of interest. 1 mark

presentation and web-authoring software.
(i) The structuring of pages and slides
Whether hierarchical or linear. 1 mark
(ii) The incorporation of graphics including
animations.
Should only be added if they enhance the meaning
of you web page or presentation. 1 mark

ANSWER SECTION
(iii) A presentational style including the selection of

fonts and use of colour.
Choose sensible colours and fonts; keep language
appropriate. 1 mark
(b) Describe how hyperlinks aid navigation.
They allow the user to jump straight to a page rather
than use browser’s buttons. 1 mark
(c) How can page transitions be used to enhance a slide
show?
Describe one or two such as fade-in, shutters, etc. 1 mark
(d) How can templates and masters be used to implement a
house style?
Set up with fonts, style and colours for all users on a
collaborative project to use. 1 mark
1 mark for each if well described
9. (a) What are the data objects likely to be found in standard

spreadsheet software?
Cells and groups of cells. 1 mark
Look for specifics, paste links, fill down and across, cut,
copy etc. All 3 must be well described for 2 marks
(c) What formatting functions can be applied to these data
Format, BIU icons, alignment of cells, font, style, etc.
Marks as for (b)
10. Explain what is meant by each of these features of spreadsheet

software:
(a) Goal seeking and forecasting
Changing values until desired result is achieved and
predicting a future value using linear regression.
Only 1 mark – copy from notes
(b) Lookup tables
Code and decode values from numeric to text.
1 mark
(c) Nested IF and Count functions
Use of an IF function within an IF function, and counts
the number of cells in a range. 1 mark
(d) How may macros be created and used? (Describe 2
methods.)
Recording a macro with learn and use, or scripting
within package. 2 marks

ANSWER SECTION
11. Explain what is meant by each of these features of project

management software:
(a) Timelining
How and when certain tasks in a project need to be
completed. 1 mark
(b) Resource allocation
Software tools that help find the best way to allocate
resources. 1 mark
(c) Gant and PERT charts
G to monitor progress using timings, P shows
relationship between activities. 1 mark for each
(d) Critical path analysis and optimisation
CPA concerned with optimisation of time to reduce
duration of a process. 2 marks if well described
12. Explain what is meant by each of these features of personal

information management software and describe how each may
be used:
(a) Communication
E-mail facility to send, receive and read e-mails.
(b) Contacts
Complex address book, etc.
(c) Calendar
Keeps a diary, meetings, appointments, etc.
(d) Task lists
Manages a ‘to-do’ list.
For 2 marks each, they should be well described, 1 mark
for poor description (8 in total)
Total marks 52

ANSWER SECTION
Intermediate 2 – Implications of ICT (pp135–6) – Answers
1. Describe what is meant by ease of access and availability of ICT and

give an example (preferably not from the notes).
Access to digital TV, internet, etc. both at home and at work.
2 marks if well explained with example
2. Explain the difference between information rich and information

poor. Illustrate your answer with examples.
Rich have access to ICT. Poor have only limited or no access.
Example might be either First World v Third World, or from within
our society.
1 mark for each of rich and poor explained
3. Why must citizens now be IT aware and have an educational

qualification in IT?
Because of the proliferation of ICT. Because so many jobs demand
it.
Both points well explained 1 mark each
4. Name three jobs that are filled by knowledge workers.

Any three from list or other source
Any three suitable workers earn 1 mark
5. Give one advantage and one disadvantage both to the retailer and
to the customer of on-line shopping.
From bullet points in notes.
1 for each advantage or disadvantage
6. Under the terms of the Data Protection Act 1998 explain what is
meant by:
(a) Data protection principles
These are basically meant to protect individuals from IT
abuses. 1 mark
(b) The rights of the data subject
These are to see data about themselves, and have it corrected
if untrue. 1 mark
(c) The responsibilities of the data controller
These are to register data, allow inspection by data subjects.
1 mark
(d) The role of the Information Commissioner
To enforce the terms of the Data Protection Act. 1 mark

ANSWER SECTION
7. What are the three misuses covered by the Computer Misuse Act?
(Do not answer in terms of ‘hacking’, etc.)
Unauthorised access; modification of data; use of computer data
to help commit a crime. 1 mark for each point (3 in total)
8. In terms of computer usage what offence is covered under the

Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1998?
Using unlicensed computer software. 1 mark
9. How do the health and safety regulations cover seating, lighting,

RSI, eye strain and radiation with regard to computer usage?
Expect a short paragraph covering all five points.
Well explained for 5 marks, etc.
10. Describe the type of work carried out by someone in a starting

position and also of someone working in an advanced position
within an IT organisation (1 job from each level).
One job from each level.
1 mark for each level of job well described
11. Explain how new ICT in a business can affect the productivity and
profitability of individuals and the company. You may need to
write a paragraph about this.
Expect a short paragraph summarising the notes covering
productivity and profitability from both individual and company
viewpoint. 1 mark each (4 in total)
12. Netiquette is very important to both individuals and businesses.

Explain why typing e-mails in capitals, flaming and sending very
large files are contrary to good netiquette.
Shouting, should not abuse fellow users of group, time required for
downloading. 1 mark each (3 in total)
13. Explain why intellectual property rights are important and in ICT
give an example of where this is important.
To protect the producers of music, journals, etc. (1 mark)
published on the web (1 mark).
Total marks 33

ANSWER SECTION
Higher – Implications of ICT (pp136–7) – Answers
1. Explain how a company operating in several countries can

use ICT and the web to aid communications.
They can have their own private web facility and can publish
memos, reports, etc. All can read them as if they were in the
same building.
1 mark if well explained
2. Describe how a new type of business is likely to use an IS-

driven business model.
They can start with a fresh IT policy, e.g. call centres.
1 mark
3. Explain how the relationship between business and

customers has changed as result of e-commerce and the
Internet.
Customers are more demanding of quick delivery times, etc.
They are less likely to speak to anyone from the company.
2 points for 1 mark each
4. Give an advantage and a disadvantage of developing identities

and personas when communicating via the Internet
Advantage: communication barriers broken down.
Disadvantage: this is likely to be abused by unscrupulous
people.
1 mark for each point
5. Is the right to private communications across the Internet

under threat by the security issues involved? Discuss this
question making two points for and two against.
For the right: e-mails and websites visited should be private.
Against the right: security services need the right to use the
technology to catch suspects, etc.
2 marks for and 2 against
6. Explain how the 1998 version of the Data Protection Act

differed from the 1984 version.
The later Act harmonised EU legislation, covered
transmission of data in electronic form, and included paper-
based records.
1 mark each for all 3

ANSWER SECTION
7. Explain how the Copyright Designs and Patents Act relates to

web content and digital media.
Web content is subject to the same copyright laws as printed
materials. Software piracy is illegal because that too is theft
of intellectual property, etc.
1 mark each point
8. How does the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (2000)

affect our use of the web and e-mail?
It allows employers and security services to monitor e-mail
and web usage.
2 marks if both web and e-mail are mentioned
9. How has the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

affected how we can find out about decisions made and
meetings held in the public sector?
All public bodies must make information available, and they
must have a publishing policy.
1 mark for availability, 1 for publishing
10. Summarise the employers’ responsibilities in the UK’s Health

and Safety regulations.
Risk assessment has to be carried and recorded if the
employers has more than five employees.

organisation in relation to competitive advantage?
If they are the first in their field to use ICT there should be a
large impact and their profitability should increase.
2 marks

organisation in relation to business costs including initial and
running costs and the cost of investing in the business?
Initial ICT costs can be very high but can significantly cut
running costs, reduce staff numbers, etc. Costs of
consumables can be high also (software licences, etc.). Must
all be taken into account by potential investors.

ANSWER SECTION
13. Explain how ICT can be involved in censorship and freedom

of speech.
This could be argued from several different angles and credit
should be given for any two well argued points.
14. Explain how ICT can be involved in privacy and encryption.

We expect privacy from our e-mail system and when we use
on-line shopping or banking we expect privacy and our data
to be kept secure. PGP and 32-bit encryption are used on
these sites to protect us.
2 marks if well argued
15. Explain how ICT can be involved in global citizenship.

Use of e-mail for correspondence with schools and colleges
around the world, websites supporting citizenship issues, etc.
2 marks if well argued
Total marks 32

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Information Systems

First published 2005

© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2005

This publication may be reproduced in whole or in part for educational purposes by

ISBN 1 84399 076 8

© Learning and Teaching Scotland

Section 1: Data and information 11

Section 2: Organisational information systems 31

Section 3: Information management software 73

Section 4: The social, legal, ethical and economic

Section 5: Useful resources

Answer section 143

USING INFORMATION (INT 2, H, INFORMATION SYSTEMS) 3

© Learning and Teaching Scotland

© Learning and Teaching Scotland

Tutor introduction (Higher and Intermediate 2)

This unit is designed to develop knowledge and understanding of the

• the corresponding unit at Intermediate 2.

The unit has two outcomes (Higher and Intermediate 2):

1. Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the principles,

2. Demonstrate practical skills in the use of contemporary hardware

Outcome 1 is assessed by a multiple-choice test. Outcome 2 is assessed

USING INFORMATION (INT 2, H, INFORMATION SYSTEMS) 5

© Learning and Teaching Scotland

Learning and teaching approaches

The materials for Higher and Intermediate 2 have been incorporated

It is recommended that the assessment of the practical element and

A mixture of student-centred, resource-based learning and tutor-led

Hardware and software requirements

• A Pentium III 800MHz Processor based PC or a 600MHz G4-based

6 USING INFORMATION (INT 2, H, INFORMATION SYSTEMS)

© Learning and Teaching Scotland

How to tackle this Unit

A standard learning pattern is suggested for your use throughout this

• A clear outline of the main teaching points

What is in the pack?

Section 1: Data and information

The difference between data and information, metadata, categorisation

Note that in a bi-level class there is only limited Intermediate 2 material

USING INFORMATION (INT 2, H, INFORMATION SYSTEMS) 7

© Learning and Teaching Scotland

Section 2: Organisational information systems

Explanation, definition, description and exemplification of

Section 3: Information management software

Explanation, definition, description and exemplification of different

Section 4: The social, legal, ethical and economic implications of

Explanation, definition, description and exemplification of social, legal,

Section 5: Useful resources

Bibliography, and useful web links summarised.

Section 6: Additional resources

Software evaluation pro-forma. Answers to questions used throughout

A PowerPoint presentation linked to this pack may be downloaded from

8 USING INFORMATION (INT 2, H, INFORMATION SYSTEMS)

© Learning and Teaching Scotland

We are said to live in an age where information and knowledge are so

We are going to examine the nature and uses of information by looking

• the differences between data and information

USING INFORMATION (INT 2, H, INFORMATION SYSTEMS) 9

© Learning and Teaching Scotland

© Learning and Teaching Scotland

Data and information

Data is raw unprocessed facts and figures that have no context or

For example, a computer operator may enter 36.41, which is data,