1. Information Systems &
Databases
2.1) Information Systems

2. • Information systems are created to
provide access to information for an
organisation or individual.
• They perform a set of information
processes involving participants,
data/information and information
technology.
• In a large number of information
systems, the data is held in a
database and accessed through a
database management system
(DBMS).

3. • The characteristics of an information
system are:
• organisation of data into
information – careful thought is
required to sort and link large
amounts of data (e.g. data
dictionary)
• analysis of data to give knowledge
– analysed data should be output
into useful forms, such as tables,
charts, queries and forms.

4. • There are many different types of
information systems, including:
• transaction processing systems
• decision support systems
• expert systems
• management information systems
• office automation systems
• Transaction processing systems
(TPS’s) deal with the daily
transactions of an organisation.

5. • This could include buying and selling
of goods and services, banking,
shares and point-of-sale (POS)
transactions.
• Organisations rely heavily upon their
TPS, a breakdown will disrupt
operations, so they must be well
designed with solid backup and
recovery procedures.
• TPS’s use both real-time and batch
processing, depending upon their
circumstances.

6. • Decision support systems (DSS’s)
assist people by providing
information, models and analysis
tools.
• E.g. stockmarket analysis software
• A DSS creates a mathematical model
utilising the variables of the situation
and then uses various tools to answer
‘what-if’ questions.
• These tools could include statistical
tools, databases, spreadsheets and
graphics.

7. • The reliability of the DSS depends
upon the accuracy of the model and
the manager’s ability to formulate
good questions.
• An expert system is a special kind of
DSS.
• They are used to provide information
and solve problems that would
otherwise require a person
experienced in that field.

8. • They are useful in diagnosing,
monitoring, selecting, designing,
predicting and training.
• An expert system asks a series of
questions and compares the answers
to a knowledge base.
• A knowledge base is a set of facts and
‘if-then’ rules supplied by an expert or
team of experts.
• E.g. online medical diagnosis.

9. • The answers provided by an expert
system are sometimes incorrect,
since the logic of the knowledge base
is not always followed.
• Management information systems
(MIS’s) provide information for the
organisation’s managers.
• An MIS provides an overview as to
how the organisation is faring.
• E.g. reports on sales, inventory,
payroll, orders and budgets.

10. • Office automation systems provide a
means to completing routine
administrative tasks.
• They use a range of tools including
word processing, databases,
spreadsheets, desktop publishing
(DTP), presentation programs and
project management software.
• They also utilise communications
technology such as web browsers,
email, instant messaging and
telepresence systems.

11. • Regularly published newsletters and
memos are both examples of this kind
of system in action.
• Another suitable example is quickly
producing large numbers of letters
and documents through a mail-merge
process.
• Most of these different kinds of
information systems use a database.
• Databases are accessed through a
software package known as a
database management system
(DBMS).

12. • A DBMS has no data in it, but rather
accesses and manipulates the data
found within a database file.
• A database is an organised collection
of data that can be sorted and
searched for information.
[Read MovieTime case study (p.39)
and then answer Exercise Q.9]