Information Systems Flashcards
- Aim
The general purpose or function of a system.
To keep a record/track of…
E.g. To keep track of the students going into the detention room with reason why they are there.
- Output / Outcome
The specific information produced by the system.
Provide answer then example.
- *To provide a list of…**
- *To provide a data entry form to…**
- *To provide a record…**
Think about: specific date, reason, no. of times, age, year level
Output: Data entry form
E.g. A data entry form to record the borrowing of a book by a student from the library.
Output: Simple query
E.g. In a golf database, list members who have nominated to play on a particular day.
Output: Complex Query
Includes ‘And’ / ‘Or’
- E.g.* In a sports day database, list the sprinters who have broken 14 seconds in the 100m sprint, with a calculation showing by how much they broke this margin.
- E.g*. Spans over period of time
- E.g.* Date and year level
Output: Statistical
- E.g.* Group by service and count how many need that service
- E.g.* In a retail database, group by the products and count the numbers of products sold over the last 12 months to determine popularity.
- E.g.* Count, average
Output: Calculated
E.g. Percentage
- Elements
The entities that make up the system, such as:
- *- People
- Procedures
- Software
- Hardware
- Data**
i.e. Who?, what?, when?
Element: People
E.g. Students, administrator, supervising teacher
Element: Procedures
How the elements/components work together to gather, input, and update data to achieve the outcomes.
Element: Procedures - Selection
Involves searching a system using a query, for a specific set of records.
E.g. Certain… item, person, set of people
Element: Procedures - Summarising
Groups data and provides summary statistics for each group in a report.
- *Statistics:**
- E.g.* Max, Min, Average, Mean, Medium, Total
Element: Procedures - Calculating
Involves the derivation of new value from one or more existing ones.
Element: Procedures - Sorting
Involves rearranging data into a specific order
E.g. Smallest to largest, alphabetical order
Key words: order, arrange, categorise, rank, classify, group
Element: Procedures - Updating
Involves changing an existing data item to reflect a new value or change in status.
- Constraints and resulting problems
Factors that limit the scope of the information system
Constraint: A factor that affects the system in way that can prevent the system objectives from being achieved.
Problem: Results when a system’s constraints prevent one or more of its outcomes from being achieved.
E.g. Not having enough time to fill out data sheets is a constraint that can lead to the problem of inaccurate or incomplete data.