Oberon High School
Information Systems 3
Building
Information Systems - Fitzpatrick, Keane, Montgomery 1.7 Exercises p38
1.
What is an information system?
An information system consists of hardware, software, people, data,
and procedures.
2.Define
the term information?
Information is data that has been organised in some way so that it
has meaning and usefulness.
3.Define
the term data?
Data is an unorganised collection of facts with little or no
meaning.
4.
What are the components of an information system?
The components of an information system are data, input, processing
and storage, personnel and procedures
5.
Name the nine major steps of information processing.
The nine major steps of information processing (the Information
Processing cycle) are: Acquisition, Input, Validation, Processing, Storage,
Retrieval, Output, Communication, Disposal.
6.
Use an example of data processing to illustrate the nine steps.
Running a school swimming sports - collect results, input
place-getters, check things such as age group, sort into stroke and age
groupings, save data to disk, retrieve winners and house points, print details,
read out results, delete data after appropriate time.
7.
Name the stages of the System Development Life Cycle.
Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, Evaluation
8.
What is the relationship between the SDLC and the Program Development Life
Cycle?
Special-purpose software may need to be developed. This is produced
using the stages of the PDLC which in turn is part of the Implementation stage
of the SDLC.
9.
What is the difference between a physical and logical design of an information
system?
A logical design contains the broad aims and objectives of the new system.
The physical design specifies the hardware and software to be purchased, the
supplier/s, whether off-the-shelf or custom-written software will be used, and
the testing plan and test data are devised.
10.
Name the stages of the Program Development Life Cycle.
Analysis, Design, Coding, Debugging, Testing, Implementation,
Documentation.
11.
How can conflicts between software developers and users happen?
There may be conflict about:
Privacy of personal information collected
The ability to not make backup copies of software
The quality of the results of the program not being what was
expected
12.
What is the definition of a program in the Australian Copyright Act?
A program is defined as ‘a set of statements or instructions to be
used directly or indirectly in a computer in order to bring about a certain
result’.
13. What does copyright protect? How can copyright be
infringed? What copying is allowed in the Copyright Act?
Copyright protects programs, pseudocode, flowcharts, part of a
program, a website or part of a website. Copyright is infringed when a person
uses, sells or directs a person to use or sell a program or substantial part of
a program without obtaining permission of the copyright owner.
Copyright does not protect the function of a program.
14.
What are the legal and ethical obligations for programmers to produce ‘safe’
programs?
The programmer is required to produce a program that works properly
and must ensure that no damage or harm can come from the use of the program.
15.
Why are some programs called , ‘bad’ or malicious?
‘Bad’ or malicious programs are those that leave a ‘back door’ so someone can bypass security features to gain access to a system, or those that install a hidden function on the user’s computer that can monitor a machine’s use. Virus generating programs and ‘cookies’ and also be a problem.
16.
What are the privacy principles in the Privacy Act?
There are 10 principles. These include issues such as collecting only the data and information that is needed, allowing an individual to view the information collected about them.
17.
What are the steps to be followed for solving ethical dilemmas?
Describe the situation and the problem
Identify the stakeholders.
Identify and describe any ethical principles/laws that apply to the
situation
List the various ways of solving the problem
Evaluate solutions
Make a decision
18.
What is the difference between organisational goals, operational objectives,
and mission statements?
A mission statement lists the goals of an individual of an
organisation. Organisational goals include such things increasing market share,
offering a superior product or service, using resources wisely, providing a
high standard of customer service, employment related goals and social,
educational and environmental goals. Operational objectives are concerned with
the efficiency and effectiveness of the operations of the organisation or the
work of the individual.
19.
What types of tasks do operational personnel do in organisations?
Operational personnel perform information tasks, service tasks and
production tasks.
20.
What are the usual types of information systems used by operational personnel?
Most operational personnel use office automation systems (OA).
21.
What is a transaction processing system used for? Give an example.
TPS record and keep track of all the data involved in transactions
such as sales and production. Phone-based ordering or payment is an
example of a TPS.
22.
What is the difference between batch and on-line processing? Give examples.
On-line processing is real time. Batch processing does not involve
input. An example would be the preparation of a company's pay cheques.
23.
What is an embedded system.? Give examples.
An embedded system is an IS that is embedded in equipment and with
which people do not have direct contact with eg. the computerised management
system in a car.
24.
What are expert systems and neural networks used for?
These are used on a day-to-day basis to automate problem solving in
different ways.
25.
What information systems do the different types of managers use? Give examples.
Managers use Management Information Systems (MIS) and Decision
Support Systems (DSS). These help managers see trends in their business or help
them to make decisions eg. what-if calculations using a spreadsheet.
26.
Explain the advantages and disadvantages of using networked information
systems, especially in a global environment.
The most important effect is enhanced communications and sharing of
data and equipment.
27. What are the different types of e-commerce? What are the benefits of e-commerce. What are the problems that can come from the use of networked information systems?
Business-to-business
Business-to-consumer
Consumer-to-consumer
Business-to-employee
28.
List the six different types of factors that can affect the development of
information systems?
Technical requirements, economic factors, operational factors,
security and access factors, social factors, health and safety factors
29.
Give one example of an information system where each of the six factors has had
a major influence on the development of the systems.
The information system used by the TAB.