GENERATION OF INFORMATION

GENERATION OF INFORMATION

The process of generation of information involves a series of activities, which are as follows:

A.       Data acquisition: data are facts expressed with the help of symbols such as alphabets, digits, graphs, diagrams, pictures, etc. Data may describe an event or it may represent the status of an element of the environment. Whatever may be the sources of data; it may be initially recorded and later verified for accuracy and authority. This activity is called data captured.

Most of the data captured for business information systems are organized in data files. Each file contains records relating to various data element (fields) expressed with the help of different symbols (characters).

B.       Data transformation: data transformation may be done by performing any of the following operations on data:

·         Re-arranging: rearranging data in some specific order is a very common data processing activity.

·         Classifying: data may be classified on the basis of the selected variables/factors.

·         Calculating: data is processed only by calculating.

·         Summarizing:  it is a process of aggregating various data elements, reducing the bulk of data to a more meaningful form.

C.       Management of information: once acquisition or transformation is done the processed data may either communicated to and the user may be stored for future use. When the information is to be communicated to the user, the format for the reporting may include simple, columnar, tabular format or visual formats, such as charts, diagrams, graphs, etc. In case the information generated is to be used in the future it may be stored on some mass storage medium. Such activities of communicating and storing information may be termed as managing information.