REPRESENTING DATA AND INFORMATION

MODULE 1: OBJECTIVES 6-8

OBJECTIVE 6: INFORMATION IN DECISION MAKING
 INFORMATION IN DECISION MAKING
• Information is a very important component in any decision-making process

• In a business environment, different types of information are required at

different levels within an organization

• The three levels we will be looking at are:

• Operational Level
• Tactical Level
• Strategic Level
 INFORMATION IN DECISION MAKING
❖ Operational Level:

• The operational level of decision-making is the lowest level of decision-

making

• Within a factory or office, supervisors or foremen guarantee that certain

tasks are scheduled and executed appropriately

• The information must be very detailed and relevant to the current

operations

• Consists of heads of small departments, individuals with specific areas of

responsibility
 INFORMATION IN DECISION MAKING
❖ Tactical Level:
• The tactical level of decision-making is in the middle

• Middle management will select how the organization's resources should be used to
attain the lower strategic level goals

• At this level, periodic, one-time, or what-if reports are usually the information
required

• It will be more specific than at the strategic level, but not as much as at the
operational level

• Consists of heads of large departments, functional supervisors, project

coordinators, etc.
 INFORMATION IN DECISION MAKING
❖ Strategic Level:

• The highest level of decision-making is the strategic level

• The highest level of management is responsible for determining the

organization's long-term objectives

• Overall reports, such as the profitability of the company or specific

segments or areas, future marketing prospects, human resource
requirements, and existing levels, will be the type of information required.
After that, the data is summarized.

• Consists of Chief Executive Directors, Leadership Teams etc.

 Type Of
Level Of
Role Of Manager Characteristics Of the Decisions Made Information Characteristics Of the Type of Information
Management
Required

Strategic
· Opposite of structured
· Complex · Highly summarized
Long range
Top Manager planning and · Rarely based on predetermined set of procedures Unstructured · Data required is historical, current, futuristic
direction or rules
· Data gathered from internal as well as
· May involve the subjective element of decision external range of processes.
making

Tactical
Organising and · Not based on any clearly defined set of A mixture of both unstructured and
Middle Manager Semi- Structured
staffing informational procedures structured type of information
· Requires further analyses and computations

· Information is detailed
Supervising and Operational
Lower or · Based on accurate, factual, current data that is
controlling day-to-
Supervisory · Predictable Structured generated from the organization internal
day routine
Manager · Based on well defined procedures or rules activities associated with a particular business
operations
such as payroll.
OBJECTIVE 7: REPRESENTING DATA AND INFORMATION
 REPRESENTING DATA & INFORMATION
Ways of representing data include:

• Character – used to represent letters eg A, or a

• String – used to represent a word eg, man, dog

• Numeric – used to resent numbers eg 0, 1. 9

• Aural (for example, Morse Code, dots and dashes)

• Visual (for example, the individual frames of a movie, fingerprints)

 REPRESENTING DATA & INFORMATION
• Morse code is a character encoding for transmitting telegraphic
information, using standardized sequences of short and long elements to
represent the letters, numerals, punctuation and special characters of a
given message

• The short and long elements can be formed by sounds, marks, or pulses,
in on off keying and are commonly known as "dots" and "dashes" or
"dits" and "dahs"
 REPRESENTING DATA & INFORMATION
Ways of representing information include:

• Text
• Graphics
• Sound
• Video
• Special purpose notation (mathematical, scientific and musical
notation)
• Graphical representation (graphs and chart)
• Tables
OBJECTIVE 8: INFORMATION SOURCES
 TYPES OF INFORMATION SOURCES
❖ Primary vs Secondary Sources
• There are two types of information sources: primary and secondary

• Primary sources include information that comes directly from the source

• Primary sources are analyzed in secondary sources

• You can use an autobiography as a primary source for your life if you
write one. This is a supplemental source for your life if someone reviews
or criticizes that autobiography
 TYPES OF INFORMATION SOURCES
❖ Primary vs Secondary Sources

• A secondary source would also be if someone wrote a biography about you

• In literature, an author's works are main, and criticism of those works is
secondary
• Letters, diaries, and contemporaneous accounts are primary sources for
historical concerns, but anything written after the occurrence is a secondary
source
• The primary source in the sciences is the output from original research on the
issue (an article on a survey conducted or a study conducted), while any
analysis or summaries of research done by others are secondary sources
 TYPES OF INFORMATION SOURCES
❖ Books vs Periodicals
• Books and periodicals are two other ways to organize written information

• Books themselves come in a variety of shapes and sizes

• Monographic books, also known as monographs, are books that are "written
once" or standalone rather than being part of a series. However, the
monographic format is not followed by all books

• Some of them are collections of essays or articles by various authors

 TYPES OF INFORMATION SOURCES
❖ Books vs Periodicals
• While the articles are related in some way, the issues addressed in each one
can be much more focused on a specific aspect of the problem

• Bibliographies, on the other hand, are books that simply cite sources of
information on a topic

• Bibliographies can be comprehensive for a specific issue (within a specific date

range) or selective, citing only the "best" sources of information (within a
specific date range), but most bibliographies in book format are
comprehensive
 TYPES OF INFORMATION SOURCES
❖ Books vs Periodicals
• Any written information that is published on a regular basis is referred to as a
periodical

• Periodicals include publications like newspapers, magazines, and journals

• In comparison to monographs, articles in periodicals are more specific and

focus on specific aspects of an issue
 TYPES OF INFORMATION SOURCES
❖ Books vs Periodicals
There are many different types of periodicals including:

• Newspaper Articles: These are typically factual accounts of events, but they
can also be analyses of trends or issues. Newspaper articles aren't usually
written by experts in the field, and they don't usually include suggested
readings or sources of information. Current events and primary source
material can be found in newspaper articles.

• Popular Magazines: These contain the least amount of scholarly content and
are primarily intended for entertainment. Articles usually contain general
tips or advice, as well as celebrity interviews.
 TYPES OF INFORMATION SOURCES
❖ Books vs Periodicals
There are many different types of periodicals including:

• Trade magazines are those published by associations and/or aimed at

practitioners in a specific field, with a focus on practical, how-to articles or
industry news. If the magazine appears to be scholarly but the articles are
clearly not, it is most likely a trade publication. Advertising Age,
Computerworld, Progressive Farmer, and other publications are examples.

• News magazines are more like newspapers in that they provide factual, up-
to-date information and analysis. The Economist, Maclean's, Newsweek,
Time, and other publications are examples.
 TYPES OF INFORMATION SOURCES
❖ Books vs Periodicals
There are many different types of periodicals including:

• Opinion magazines only provide analysis of issues and trends, with a

political agenda in some cases. Christianity Today, The Nation, National
Review, New Republic, and other publications are examples.

• A journal is the term used to describe a scholarly periodical. Articles are

written by academics or researchers and should include citations to sources
used. The way an article appears in a journal is determined by the type of
journal.
 TYPES OF INFORMATION SOURCES
❖ Scholarly vs Non-Scholarly/Popular
• Popular sources of information are intended for a broad audience that
does not necessarily include experts in the field

• They are presented in such a way that anyone can get a general idea of
the information

• Scholarly sources of information are meant for a more specialized audience

of experts in the field

• There are a few criteria you can use to determine if something is popular or
scholarly
 TYPES OF INFORMATION SOURCES
❖ Scholarly vs Non-Scholarly/Popular

THE TREATMENT OF THE TOPIC/ WRITING STYLE

Scholarly:
• Tend to deal with very specific topics
• Long in-depth articles
• Are usually original research
• Uses technical language or jargon

Popular:
• Tend to deal with more broad topics
• Short overview articles
• Not original research
• Uses plain everyday language
 TYPES OF INFORMATION SOURCES
❖ Scholarly vs Non-Scholarly/Popular

AUTHORS

Scholarly:
• Experts in the field (Scientists, doctors, professors...)
Popular:
• Journalists, not necessarily experts (magazine staff, freelance writers...)
 TYPES OF INFORMATION SOURCES
❖ Scholarly vs Non-Scholarly/Popular

AUDIENCE

Scholarly:
• Scholars, researchers, practitioners... other members of the field
Popular:
• General public. Anyone can read the material and understand it
PUBLISHER

Scholarly:
• Often a scholarly or professional organization
Popular:
• Commercial Companies
 TYPES OF INFORMATION SOURCES
❖ Scholarly vs Non-Scholarly/Popular

EDITING

Scholarly:
• Peer-reviewed / Refereed - edited or reviewed by other
experts in the field
Popular:
• NOT peer-reviewed - edited by one editor, or editorial board,
for readability and popularity, they are not necessarily experts
in any field other than journalism
 TYPES OF INFORMATION SOURCES
❖ Scholarly vs Non-Scholarly/Popular

DOCUMENTATION

Scholarly:
• Does include References or Bibliography
• Often several pages of references
Popular:
• No references
• Sometimes mentions of experts, but no bibliographies
 TYPES OF INFORMATION SOURCES
❖ Scholarly vs Non-Scholarly/Popular

APPEARANCE

Scholarly:
• Plain covers, few pictures - maybe some graphs and charts,
matte paper, few if any advertisements
Popular:
• Glossy covers, lots of color pictures, lots of advertisements
 TYPES OF INFORMATION SOURCES
❖ References vs General Collection

• Another distinction between information sources is between reference

sources and general collection books

• Reference works are resources to which you only want to "refer" to a small
section of the work, either to find a quick fact or to get a general
overview of an issue
 TYPES OF INFORMATION SOURCES
❖ References vs General Collection

The information sources in the reference collection vary greatly, but here are a
few examples:

• Encyclopedias are the best places to get a general overview of a subject.

There are general encyclopedias, which attempt to summarize all
knowledge, and subject-specific encyclopedias, which focus solely on a
general topic, such as health or the environment, and provide overviews of
various aspects of that general topic. Most subject-specific encyclopedias
will also include a brief bibliography or recommendations for additional
reading.
 TYPES OF INFORMATION SOURCES
❖ References vs General Collection

The information sources in the reference collection vary greatly, but here are a
few examples:

• Dictionaries provide abbreviated definitions and summaries of terms.

Dictionaries, like encyclopedias, can be general or subject specific. To add
to the confusion, some reference works are titled Dictionary of something
but are, in terms of scope and length of entries, encyclopedias.

• Handbooks/Manuals/Guides are written works that provide quick facts,

formulas, equations, or names and addresses for a specific subject.
 TYPES OF INFORMATION SOURCES
❖ References vs General Collection

The information sources in the reference collection vary greatly, but here are a
few examples:

• Atlases provide information in the form of maps. While you may think of
atlases as simply maps of countries or states in the United States, some
atlases use maps to describe historical events or social issues, such as the
changing borders of European countries or the percentage of people
living in poverty around the world.
 TYPES OF INFORMATION SOURCES
❖ Print vs Electronic
• Finally, there is the issue of print vs. electronic information

• Electronic information, like print, encompasses all of the formats

mentioned above. There are electronic books, electronic periodicals,
electronic reference works, and so on

• Print, on the other hand, is not extinct for a variety of reasons

• Publishers have been wary of going completely digital, and some have
packaged electronic versions with the purchase of print copies
 TYPES OF INFORMATION SOURCES
❖ Print vs Electronic
• Libraries have centuries of print information, and much of it will not be digitized anytime
soon, if ever, because digitizing it would be unprofitable.

• Because of current technology, some types of information do not lend themselves to being
read on a computer, and it is not cost effective for individuals to print out the information.

• The majority of e-books, e-journals, databases, and online encyclopedias do not come for
free. The library purchases them and then provides free access to patrons who have paid
for library resources, either through tax dollars in the case of public libraries or tuition in
the case of academic libraries.
 TYPES OF INFORMATION SOURCES
❖ Print vs Electronic
• Then there are all of the free websites. There's a lot of useful information out there in
cyberspace, but there's also a lot of unsubstantiated, useless information. If someone
bothered to create the website, you can find information on any topic. So, why would
someone put in the time and effort to create the website?

• Commercial enterprises were bothered because they wanted to sell you something or
attract your attention in order to generate advertising revenue.
 TYPES OF INFORMATION SOURCES
❖ Print vs Electronic
• Because mainstream news organizations and publishers are already set up to make money
through advertising, they may be able to offer free content. However, they may only have
a week's worth of articles available, or they may only have selected articles to entice you
to subscribe

• Federal and state governments have a legal obligation to disseminate information obtained
with tax dollars to the public. As a result, the Internet is seen as a less expensive method of
dissemination than print

• Non-profit organizations want to "get the word out" about their cause, and the Internet is an
ideal medium for them to do so
 TYPES OF INFORMATION SOURCES
❖ Print vs Electronic
• Scholarly information generated by academics can be found, but we are still in the
early stages of using the Internet for this purpose. There have been a number of
major pushes to increase the number of e-journals in order to offset the costs of
scholarly journals, particularly in the United States.

• There are also several digitization projects of historical, primary documents on the
Web, many of which are sponsored by academic institutions.
 INFORMATION SOURCES
ENCYCLOPEDIAS
• Provide a useful starting point for authoritative information.

• May cover a broad range of topics or a specific topic area.

• Entries in high-quality publications are typically written by an expert.

• Useful for gaining an understanding of various aspects of a topic, as well as

related issues and concepts.
 INFORMATION SOURCES
DICTIONARIES
• Provide definitions of terms

• Are especially useful when dealing with subject-specific terminology (e.g.. A

concise dictionary of business)

• Meanings can help you understand how a word is commonly used

• Provide synonyms - this is useful for ensuring thorough keyword searches

• The Library has both print and electronic dictionaries

 INFORMATION SOURCES
BOOKS
• May provide a good overview of a topic

• At the time of publication, the information contained in books is rarely less than 12
months old. If currency is critical, take careful note of the date of publication and
consult other sources, such as recent journals

• Books are also referred to as "monographs" at times

• The complexity and dependability of the information contained in books varies

greatly
 INFORMATION SOURCES
JOURNALS
• Also referred to as serials, magazines, or periodicals.

• Provide information on the most recent research and developments in a field.

• It could be useful for tracing an idea from its inception to the present day.

• Are released on a regular basis.

• Generally, articles on specific topics are included. Short news items, letters, and
classified advertisements are also included in some.
 INFORMATION SOURCES
JOURNALS
• Can be classified as scholarly, commercial, or popular

• A scholarly journal is typically written by and for subject matter experts. Many scholarly
journals are peer reviewed, which means that the articles are evaluated and reviewed by
other experts before publication and are of high quality

• Trade journals are published for a specific industry group and should be evaluated
accordingly

• Popular journals range from general interest publications like The Bulletin to those that
specialize in a specific subject area like Scientific American. These have not been peer
reviewed

• It is critical to assess information in journals, including sources.

 INFORMATION SOURCES
NEWSPAPERS
• Contain up-to-the-minute information, usually reflecting public interest and reaction, but
which frequently becomes out of date.

• Newspapers may have a specific audience or focus (for example the Financial Times or The
Land).

• Reliability varies, with broadsheet newspapers (e.g., the New York Times or The Australian)
generally considered more reliable than tabloids (e.g., the Daily Mirror in the United
Kingdom).

• Broadsheets are likely to concentrate on political and economic issues. Some newspapers
have a political bias or are used as propaganda tools.

• When reviewing information from newspapers and magazines, use evaluation criteria.
 INFORMATION SOURCES
INTERNET
• The Internet offers a vast amount of information of varying complexity and dependability

• A website can be created by a child, a government agency, or a person or organization

with an explicit or implicit agenda or bias

• The Internet offers a wealth of high-quality information that is widely and freely accessible

• Information provided by government agencies, as well as reputable organizations and

institutions, can be extremely valuable

• Although information on the Internet is often up to the minute, this is not always the case

• Information obtained from the Internet should always be evaluated using criteria that are
specific to that source
 INFORMATION SOURCES
GOVERNMENT PUBLICATIONS
• Government publications can be a reliable source of high-quality information such
as statistics, reports, plans, and activities in almost all fields of science, economics,
and social activity

• Much government information is now available on the Web, but there is also a
wealth of valuable information available in print or on microfiche

• Some government information may be skewed due to the political climate of the
country that publishes it
 INFORMATION SOURCES
CONFERENCE PROCEEDINGS
• Recent conference proceedings provide information about recent research and
developments in a field

• They are usually regarded as authoritative sources of information

• Over time, it is useful for tracing the evolution of an idea

 INFORMATION SOURCES
EXPERTS
• Experts in a particular field will frequently use the Internet to discuss and debate issues.
Experts can also be consulted at the University, in industry, business, and special interest
groups

• Self-proclaimed "experts" are readily available and willing to provide information and
advice on almost any topic imaginable, both online and offline. While there is a wealth of
useful information available, it is critical to understand what credentials a person has to call
themselves an expert, as well as what institutional or organizational affiliations they have.
Other reputable people or organizations with knowledge of the topic should be able to
support their ideas

• When consulting a subject expert, always make sure you have done thorough research on
the subject first; this allows you to ask pertinent questions and make the most of the time you
have with them.
OBJECTIVES 6 - 8
COMPLETE!