UNIT 1: Introduction to Information Systems

How to get the best from this course

In distance learning the study units replace the university lecturer. This is one of the great advantages of
distance learning; you can read and work through specially designed study materials at your own pace,
and at a time and place that suit you best. Think of it as reading the lecture instead of listening to a
lecturer.  In the same way that a lecturer might set you some reading to do, the study units tell you
when to read your set books or other material. Just as a lecturer might give you an in-class exercise,
your study units provide exercises for you to do at appropriate points.
Each of the study units follows a common format.  The first item is an introduction to the subject
matter of the unit and how a particular unit is integrated with the other units and the course as a whole.  
Next is a set of learning objectives. These objectives enable you know what you should be able to do
by the time you have completed the unit. You should use these objectives to guide your study. When
you have finished the units you must go back and check whether you have achieved the objectives. If
you make a habit of doing this you will significantly improve your chances of passing the course.
Remember that your tutor’s job is to assist you. When you need help, don’t hesitate to call and ask
your tutor to provide it.
1.                  Read this Course Guide thoroughly.
2.                   Organize a study schedule.  Refer to the ‘Course Overview’ for more details.  Note the
time you are expected to spend on each unit and how the assignments relate to the units.
Whatever method you chose to use, you should decide on it and write in your own dates for
working on each unit.
3.                  Once you have created your own study schedule, do everything you can to stick to it. The
major reason that students fail is that they lag behind in their course work.
4.                 Turn to Unit 1and read the introduction and the objectives for the unit.
5.                  Assemble the study materials. Information about what you need for a unit is given in the
‘Overview’ at the beginning of each unit. You will almost always need both the study unit you
are working on and one of your set of books on your desk at the same time.

6.                  Work through the unit.  The content of the unit itself has been arranged to provide a
sequence for you to follow. As you work through the unit you will be instructed to        read
sections from your set books or other articles. Use the unit to guide your reading.
7.                   Review the objectives for each study unit to confirm that you have achieved them. If you
feel unsure about any of the objectives, review the study material or consult your tutor.
8.                   When you are confident that you have achieved a unit’s objectives, you can then start on
the next unit. Proceed unit by unit through the course and try to pace your study so that you
keep yourself on schedule.
9.                   When you have submitted an assignment to your tutor for marking, do not wait for its
return  before  starting  on  the  next  unit.  Keep  to  your  schedule.  When  the  assignment  is
returned,  pay  particular  attention  to  your  tutor’s  comments,  both  on  the  tutor-marked
assignment form and also written on the assignment. Consult your tutor as soon as possible if
you have any questions or problems.
10.              After  completing  the  last  unit,  review  the  course  and  prepare  yourself  for  the  final
examination. Check that you have achieved the unit objectives (listed at the beginning of each
unit) and the course objectives (listed in this Course Guide).
Tutors and Tutorials

There are 15 hours of tutorials provided in support of this course. You will be notified of the dates,
times and location of these tutorials, together with the name and phone number of your tutor, as soon as
you are allocated a tutorial group.
Your tutor will mark and comment on your assignments, keep a close watch on your progress and on
any difficulties you might encounter and provide assistance to you during the course. You must mail or
submit your tutor-marked assignments to your tutor well before the due date (at least two working days
are required). They will be marked by your tutor and returned to you as soon as possible.
Do not hesitate to contact your tutor by telephone, or e-mail if you need help. The following might be
circumstances in which you would find help necessary. Contact your tutor if:
•                 you do not understand any part of the study units or the assigned readings,
•                 you have difficulty with the self-tests or exercises,
•                  you have a question or problem with an assignment, with your tutor’s comments on an
assignment or with the grading of an assignment.

MODULE ONE

UNIT 1:                                  Introduction to Information Systems
UNIT 2:                                  Introduction to Basic SQL
UNIT 3:                                  SQL Syntax I
UNIT 4:                                  SQL Syntax II
UNIT 5:                                  More SQL Statements
UNIT 6:                                  Database Programming and JBDC

UNIT 1          Introduction to Information Systems

Table of Contents
1.0              Introduction
2.0              Objectives
3.0              Main Content
3.1              Definition
3.2              Overview
3.3              History
3.4              Types of Information Systems
3.5              Information System Department
4.0              Conclusion
5.0              Summary
6.0              Tutor Marked Assignment
7.0              Further Reading and Other Resources

1.0      INTRODUCTION

Having read through the course guide, you will have a general understanding of what this unit is about
and how it fits into the course as a whole. This unit describes the general concept of Information
Systems (IS), types and its application areas.

2.0              OBJECTIVES

By the end this unit, you should be able to:
•        Explain the term information system
•        Identify the various types of IS.
•        Have good knowledge of the history of IS
•        Describe IS department

3.0              MAIN CONTENT3.1      INFORMATION SYSTEMS

The term Information System (IS) refers to information technology that is used by people to
accomplish a specified organizational or individual objective. The technology may be used in the
gathering, processing, storing, and/or dissemination of information, and the users are trained in the use
of that technology, as well as in the procedures to be followed in doing so.   The specific technologies
that collectively comprise information technology are computer technology and data communications
technology. 
Information system (IS) sometimes refers to a system of persons, data records and activities that
process the data and information in an organization, and it includes the organization's manual and
automated processes. Computer-based information systems are the field of study for information
technology, elements of which are sometimes called an "information system" as well, a usage some
consider to be incorrect.
Advances in computer hardware, software, and networking technologies have spurred an evolution in
the structure, design, and use of corporate information systems.

3.2      OVERVIEW

The term "Information System" has different meanings:
Genarally, Information System is described by three objects: 
Structure: 
 Repositories, which hold data permanently or temporarily, such as buffers, RAM,
hard disks, cache, etc. 
 Interfaces,  which  exchange  information  with  the  non-digital  world,  such  as
keyboards, speakers, scanners, printers, etc. 
Channels: which connect repositories, such as buses, cables, wireless links, etc. A Network: is a set of 

logical or physical: an introduction to informatics in Organizations. 
The most common view of an information system is one of Input-Process-Output. 

3.3      HISTORY OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS

The study of information systems originated as a sub-discipline of computer science in an attempt to
understand and rationalize the management of technology within organizations. It has matured into a
major field of management that is increasingly being emphasized as an important area of research in
management studies, and is taught at all major universities and business schools in the world. Börje
Langefors introduced the concept of "Information Systems" at the third International Conference on
Information Processing and Computer Science in New York in 1965. 
Information technology is a very important malleable resource available to executives. Many
companies have created a position of Chief Information Officer(CIO) that sits on the executive board
with the Chief Executive Officer(CEO), Chief Financial Officer(CFO), Chief Operating Officer
(COO) and Chief Technical Officer(CTO).The CTO may also serve as CIO, and vice versa. The Chief
Information Security Officer(CISO), which focuses on information security within an organization,
normallyreports to the CIO.

3.4      TYPES OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS

From prior studies and experiences with information systems there are at least four classes of
information systems:
3.4.1   Transaction Processing Systems 
These record and track an organization's transactions, such as sales transactions or inventory items,
from the moment each is first created until it leaves the system. This helps managers at the day-to-day
operational level keep track of daily transactions as well as make decisions on when to place orders,
make shipments, and so on.
3.4.2    Management Information and ReportingSystems(MIS) 
These systems provide mid-level and senior managers with periodic, often summarized, reports that
help them assess performance (e.g., a particular region's sales performance in a given time period) and
make appropriate decisions based on that information. MIS is a subset of the overall internal controls of
a business covering the application of people, documents, technologies, and procedures by
management accountants to solving business problems such as costing a product, service or a businesswide strategy. Management Information Systems are distinct from regular information systems in that
they are used to analyze other information systems applied in operational activities in the organization.
Academically, the term is commonly used to refer to the group of information management methods
tied to the automation or support of human decision making, e.g. Decision Support Systems, Expert
systems, and Executive information systems.
3.4.3    Decision support systems
These systems are designed to help mid-level and senior managers make those difficult decisions about
which not every relevant parameter is known. These decisions, referred to as sem-structured decisions,
are characteristic of the types of decisions made at the higher levels of management. A decision on 

whether or not to introduce a particular (brand new) product into an organization's product line is an
example of a semi structured decision. Another example is the decision on whether or not to open a
branch in a foreign country. Some of the parameters that go into the making of these decisions are
known. The value of a Decision Support System (DSS) is in its ability to permit "what-if" analyses
(e.g., What if interest rates rose by 2 percent? What if our main competitor lowered its price by 5
percent? What if import tariffs are imposed/increased in the foreign country in which we do, or plan to
do, business?). That is, a DSS helps the user (decision maker) to model and analyze different scenarios
in order to arrive at a final, reasonable decision, based on the analysis. There are decision support
systems that help groups (as opposed to individuals) to make consensus-based decisions. These are
known as Group Decision Support Systems (GDSS).
A type of decision support system that is geared primarily toward high-level senior managers is the
Executive Information System (EIS) or Executive Support System (ESS). While this has the capability
to do very detail analyses, just like a regular DSS, it is designed primarily to help executives keep track
of a few selected items that are critical to their day-to-day high-level decisions. Examples of such items
include performance trends for selected product or customer groups, interest rate yields, and the market
performance of major competitors.
3.4.4    Expert Systems
An expert system is built by modeling into the computer the thought processes and decision-making
heuristics of a recognized expert in a particular field. Thus, this type of information system is theoretically capable of making decisions for a user, based on input received from the user. However,
due to the complex and uncertain nature of most business decision environments, expert system
technology has traditionally been used in these environments primarily like decision support systems Ӊ
€” that is, to help a human decision maker arrive at a reasonable decision, rather than to actually make
the decision for the user.

3.5       INFORMATION SYSTEM DEPARTMENT

The IS Department partly governs the information system development, use, application and influence
on a business or corporation. An IS department typically provides:
•         Technologically implemented medium for recording, storing, and disseminating information 
•         Tecniques for drawing conclusions from such information.
Nowadays, IS department is also known as MIS, IT or simply Systems department

Next UNIT 2:                                  Introduction to Basic SQL

4.0      CONCLUSION
In this unit you have been introduced to the fundamental concepts of Information Systems. You have
also learnt the different types of information systems and its areas of application. It is the basis for
information technology systems.

Next UNIT 2:                                  Introduction to Basic SQL

5.0      SUMMARY

What you have learnt in this unit concerns
•        Introduction to Information Systems which refers to a system of persons, data records and
activities that process the data and information in an organization.
•        The study of information systems originated as a sub-discipline of computer science in an
attempt to understand and rationalize the management of technology within organizations.
•        Areas of application or work which includes:
v     Information Systems Strategy
v     Information Systems Management and 
v     Information Systems Development.
•        Types of Information Systems which Management Information Systems (MIS) or Reporting
Systems, Decision Support Systems, Transaction Information System (TIS) and Expert Systems.
Exercises
Exercise 1.1    What do you understand by Information System? 
Exercise 1.2    A system built by modeling into the computer the thought processes and decisionmaking heuristics of a recognized expert in a particular field is called -----------------.

6.0      TUTOR MARKED ASSIGNMENT.
•        List and explain the different types of Information Systems.
•        Write a short note on the areas of application of IS

7.0      FURTHER READING AND OTHER RESOURCES
Dostal, J. School information systems (Skolni informacni systemy).In Infotech 2007 - modern
information and communication technology in education. Olomouc, EU: Votobia, 2007. s. 540 – 546.
ISBN 978-80-7220-301-7
Lindsay, John (2000). Information Systems – Fundamentals and Issues. Kingston University, School of
Information Systems 
Laudon, Kenneth C., and Laudon, Jane P. (1996). Management Information Systems: Organization and
Technology, 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Oz, Effy. (1998). Management Information Systems. Cambridge, MA: Course Technology.

Next UNIT 2:                                  Introduction to Basic SQL