information systems
- the characteristics of an information system, namely:
- the organisation of data into information
- the analysing of information to give knowledge
- the different types of and purposes for information systems, including systems used to:
- process transactions
- provide users with information about an organisation
- help decision-making
- manage information used within an organisation
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- identify the type and purpose of a given information system
- represent an information system using a systems representation tool
- identify the purpose, information processes, information technology and participants within a given system
- represent diagrammatically the flow of information within an information system
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database information systems
- school databases holding information on teachers, subjects, classrooms and students
- the Roads and Traffic Authority holding information on automobiles and holders of drivers licences
- video stores holding information on borrowers and videos
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- identify participants, data/information and information technology for the given examples of database information systems
- describe the relationships between participants, data/information and information technology for the given examples of database information systems
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organisation
- non-computer methods of organising including:
- telephone books
- card based applications
- computer based methods of organising, including:
- flat-file systems
- database management systems
- hypermedia
- the advantages and disadvantages of computer based and non-computer based organisation methods
- the logical organisation of flat-file databases, including:
- files
- records
- fields, key fields
- characters
- the logical organisation of relational databases, including:
- schemas as consisting of:
- entities
- attributes
- relationships
- one to one
- one to many
- many to many
- tables as the implementation of entities consisting of:
- linking tables using primary and foreign keys
- user views for different purposes
- data modelling tools for organising databases, including:
- data dictionaries to describe the characteristics of data including:
- field name
- data type
- data format
- field size
- description
- example
- schematic diagrams that show the relationships between entities
- normalising data to reduce data redundancy
- the logical organisation of hypermedia, including:
- nodes and links
- uniform resource locators
- metadata such as HTML tags
- tools for organising hypermedia, including:
- storyboards to represent data organised using hyperlinks
- software that allows text, graphics and sounds to be hyperlinked
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- choose between a computer based or non-computer based method to organise data, given a particular set of circumstances
- identify situations where one type of database is more appropriate than another
- represent an existing relational database in a schematic diagram
- create a schematic diagram for a scenario where the data is to be organised into a relational database
- modify an existing schema to meet a change in user requirements
- choose and justify the most appropriate type of database, flat-file or relational, to organise a given set of data
- create a simple relational database from a schematic diagram and data dictionary
- populate a relational database with data
- describe the similarities and differences between flat-file and relational databases
- create a data dictionary for a given set of data
- create documentation, including data modelling, to indicate how a relational database has been used to organise data
- demonstrate an awareness of issues of privacy, security and accuracy in handling data
- compare and contrast hypermedia and databases for organising data
- design and develop a storyboard to represent a set of data items and links between them
- construct a hypertext document from a storyboard
- use software that links data, such as:
- HTML editors
- web page creation software
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storage and retrieval
- database management systems (DBMS) including:
- the role of a dbms in handling access to a database
- the independence of data from the DBMS
- direct and sequential access of data
- on-line and off-line storage
- centralised and distributed databases
- storage media including:
- hard discs
- CD-ROMS
- cartridge and tape
- encryption and decryption
- backup and security procedures
- tools for database storage and retrieval, including:
- extracting relevant information through searching and sorting a database
- selecting data from a relational database using query by example (QBE) and Structured Query Languages (SQL) commands, including:
- select
- from
- where
- order by
- tools for hypermedia search and retrieval, including:
- free text searching
- operation of a search engine
- indexing and search robots
- metadata
- reporting on data found in hypermedia systems
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- search a database using relational and logical operators
- output sorted data from a database
- generate reports from a database
- construct an SQL query to select data from a given database, matching given criteria
- calculate the storage requirements for a given number of records (given a data dictionary for a database)
- summarise, extrapolate and report on data retrieved from the Internet
- use search engines to locate data on the World Wide Web
- describe the principles of the operation of a search engine
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other information processes for database information systems
- displaying
- reporting on relevant information held in a database
- constructing different views of a database for different purposes
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- design and create screens for interacting with selected parts of a database and justify their appropriateness
- design and generate reports from a database
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issues related to information systems and databases
- acknowledgment of data sources
- the freedom of information act
- privacy principles
- quality of data
- accuracy of data and the reliability of data sources
- access to data, ownership and control of data
- data matching to cross link data across multiple databases
- current and emerging trends in the organisation, processing, storage and retrieval of data
(See Course Specifications Document)
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- identify and apply issues of ownership, accuracy, data quality, security and privacy of information, data matching
- discuss issues of access to and control of information
- validate information retrieved from the Internet
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