Information is defined by Merriam Webster as “a collection of data about a particular subject usually by means of communication or analysis”. The internet is a great source for information and in particular blogs. Information science is concerned with how people collect, process, store and analyze information that is related to their fields of expertise. Information science deals with the “how” rather than the “what” when it comes to gathering information. Information science is very important in management and also in other industries because they provide processes and tools that allow organizations to make informed decisions on the basis of data. This helps them to make better use of technology in the workplace and in their daily lives.
Information can be used in many different ways and there are many ways in which data is gathered and stored. Data is processed, arranged and structured in a particular way so that it can be found or used again by many people over many different types of networks and devices. For example, a piece of information about an individual can be stored in a file system that is accessible by many people depending on their Internet connection or computer. The development of information systems has led to the creation of information systems that are used by many different types of organizations and businesses such as: hospitals, governments, insurance companies, consumer agencies, publishing houses, accounting firms, telecommunications companies, marketing firms and many other types of organizations and businesses that require consistent, large scale, instant access to accurate and timely data.
Data warehousing is one part of information technology that helps an organization store, manage and process large amounts of continuous data. Data warehousing can be thought of as a subset of information technology which focuses on the creation, construction and maintenance of a data-warehousing system. Some of the more common types of data warehousing systems are the following: application software, business process modeling or BPM, data mining, enterprise resource planning or ERP, customer relationship management, manufacturing, financial systems, knowledge management, medical, social sciences and Web sites. Another growing trend in data warehousing is the creation of quantitative data, which refers to historical or hypothetical data that may be useful in making better informed decisions about specific topics or for decision making in specific areas. Quantitative data is particularly useful because it can be used to create predictions or to help managers or decision makers make informed decisions.