The Art of Information Processing – SS1 Data Processing Lesson Note (Second Term)

Information processing is the acquisition, recording, organisation, retrieval, display and dissemination of information.

Behavioural objectives

By the end of the lesson, students should be able to:

1. define information processing;
2. explain collation and state its advantages;
3. describe information organisation;
4. explain information analysis;
5. explain information interpretation.

What are the stages of information processing?

There are six stages of information processing: acquisition, recording, organisation, retrieval, display and dissemination.

What does information processing mean in computing?

In computing, information processing is the manipulation of digitised information by computers and other digital electronic equipment.

• Information technology: the name given collectively to computers and other digital electronic equipment used for this work.
• Information processor: a computer program or device that processes information to produce understandable results.
• Example: an information processor translates and formats digital information for printed form.

What is collation of information?

Collation is the assembly of written information into a standard order.

• Numerical order: items arranged by number, such as admission numbers 001, 002, 003.
• Alphabetical order: items arranged by letters, such as names in a class register.
• Combinations: many systems extend or combine these two orders.

Where is collation used?

• Office filing systems: files are arranged so that any file can be found quickly.
• Library catalogues: book records are arranged by title, author or subject.
• Reference books: dictionaries and directories list entries in alphabetical order.

What are the advantages of collation?

The main advantage of collation is that a user can find an item in a list quickly, or confirm that it is absent.

• Fast searching: a user can find an element in a list, or confirm that it is not there.
• First and last items: these are easy to find, which is most useful for numerically sorted data.
• Range searching: items within a given range can be found easily, which is useful for numerical data.
• Partial searching: alphabetical order helps when only the first few letters of the item are known.
• Automatic searching: computers can use a binary search algorithm or interpolation search on collated lists.
• Manual searching: people use a roughly similar method, often without noticing.

How does a binary search work?

A binary search finds an item in a sorted list by repeatedly halving the part of the list being searched.

1. Look at the middle item of the sorted list.
2. If it is the item wanted, stop.
3. If the wanted item comes before it, discard the second half of the list.
4. If the wanted item comes after it, discard the first half of the list.
5. Repeat with the remaining half until the item is found or no items are left.

What is information organisation?

Information organisation (IO) is the process of ordering, surrogation or description of information and information objects.

• Ordering: arranging information objects in a planned sequence, as in collation.
• Surrogation: using a record to stand in for an information object, as a library catalogue entry stands for a book.
• Description: stating the features of an information object, such as its title, author and subject.

These three tasks identify the tangible elements of IO. They apply across areas of information research:

• Retrieval: finding stored information.
• Interaction: the way users work with information.
• Personal information management: how individuals keep and organise their own information.

What is information analysis?

Information analysis is the science of evaluating information content and refining information to build portfolios.

• Who can use it: managers who use a non-quantitative process and those who use a quantitative investment process.
• Only requirement: there must be a process.
• Nature of information: information is a fuzzy concept, so it must first be made concrete.

How does information analysis work?

1. Transform the information into something concrete, such as investment portfolios.
2. Analyse the performance of those portfolios.
3. Use the performance to determine the value of the information.

What kind of information can be analysed?

• Simple information: an analyst’s buy and sell recommendations.
• Detailed information: alpha forecasts for a broad universe of stocks.
• Focus: it studies the recommendations themselves, not the intuition or process used to produce them.

What is information interpretation?

Information interpretation is the process through which organisations make sense of new information that they have acquired and disseminated.

What shows that an organisation interprets information well?

The statements below describe the behaviour of employees in such an organisation.

1. Our employees, as individuals, are prepared to rethink decisions when presented with new and relevant information.
2. Our employees seek to deeply understand issues and concepts.
3. Our employees do not hesitate to question things they do not understand.
4. Our employees, as individuals, are interested in knowing not only what to do but also why we do things.

Evaluation

1. Define information processing.
2. What is collation? Give two places where collation is used.
3. State two advantages of collation.
4. Name the three tasks that make up information organisation.
5. What is information interpretation?

Assignment

Write short notes on information organisation and information analysis, then explain how collation helps a user to find an item in a list.