Understanding Information Systems: What They Do and Why We Need ThemIn a world awash in data, information systems help provide structure and access to information. Since libraries build, manage, and maintain information systems, librarians and LIS students are often propelled onto the front lines of interactions between library users and technology. But what do librarians need to know to best meet their patron's needs? What exactly are information systems and how do they work? Information expert Ratzan uses plain language, humor, and everyday examples like baseball and arithmetic to make sense of information systems (computer hardware, software, databases, the Internet). He also explores their characteristics, uses, abuses, advantages, and shortcomings for your library. Fun exercises and appendixes are provided to illustrate key points in the book and measure understanding. You can be a technophobe and still learn about systems and subsystems to represent, organize, retrieve, network, secure, conceal, measure, and manage information. This basic introduction addresses both theoretical and practical issues, including: What questions to ask technology vendors to meet your library's needs; When technology may not be the solution to a problem; Secrets |
Contents
Counting Information | 107 |
COUNTING METHODS | 110 |
COUNTING THINGS | 113 |
EXERCISES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS | 135 |
Numbering Information | 140 |
THE INTRIGUING NATURE OF PI | 144 |
PASCALS TRIANGLE | 149 |
EXERCISES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS | 151 |
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WHO WANTS SHORT SORTS? | 35 |
EXERCISES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS | 38 |
Retrieving Information | 41 |
BOOLEAN AND BEYOND | 44 |
VECTOR METHODS SIMPLIFIED | 49 |
FUZZY INFORMATION RETRIEVAL | 52 |
INVERTED FILES | 56 |
EXERCISES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS | 58 |
Networking Information | 59 |
BRIDGES SWITCHES ROUTERS AND GATEWAYS | 63 |
Securing Information | 64 |
THE LOWLY PASSWORD | 68 |
VIRUSES WORMS TROJAN HORSES LOGIC BOMBS AND OTHER NASTIES | 70 |
A DANGEROUS SCRIPT | 73 |
MISDIRECTION | 75 |
EXERCISES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS | 77 |
Concealing Information | 78 |
KEY ISSUES | 81 |
THE UNBREAKABLE ONETIME PAD | 82 |
SYMMETRIC ONEKEY CRYPTOGRAPHY | 83 |
ASYMMETRIC TWOKEY CRYPTOGRAPHY | 84 |
THE SECRET HISTORY OF PUBLIC KEY CRYPTOGRAPHY | 88 |
OTHER CRYPTOGRAPHIC SYSTEMS | 89 |
HIDING INFORMATION IN PLAIN SIGHT | 91 |
EXERCISES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS | 92 |
Measuring Information | 94 |
MEASURING BASEBALL INFORMATION | 98 |
WEB METRICS | 103 |
EXERCISES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS | 104 |
Managing Information | 152 |
BUILDING A SUCCESSFUL INFORMATION SYSTEM | 154 |
WHY THINGS GO WRONG | 156 |
COSTS AND RISKS | 157 |
The Computer as an Information System | 159 |
REDUCING REDUNDANCY | 160 |
INFORMATION ISSUES IN THE BACKGROUND | 162 |
EXERCISES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS | 163 |
The Internet as an Information System | 165 |
ADDRESSING SCHEMES | 167 |
THE INTERNET METAPHOR PROJECT | 170 |
IS INTERNET ACCESS A PRIVILEGE OR A RIGHT? | 174 |
OTHER INTERNET ISSUES | 177 |
EXERCISES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS | 179 |
Music as an Information System | 181 |
TUNING INFORMATION SYSTEMS | 183 |
HOW MANY TONES BELONG IN A SCALE? | 186 |
MAKING CENTS OF IT ALL | 187 |
MELODY MACHINES | 188 |
FUNDAMENTALS OF MUSIC INFORMATION RETRIEVAL | 190 |
EXERCISES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS | 197 |
Interpreting Information Numbers as Meanings | 199 |
THE NUMEROLOGY OF 666 | 205 |
EXERCISES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS | 208 |
Counterintuitive Information | 209 |
THE TROUBLE WITH INFINITY | 216 |
EXERCISES AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS | 220 |
Which Librarian Has the Server? | 221 |
The Square Root of Two Is Irrational | 222 |
Whos on First? | 224 |
Answers to Selected Exercises | 231 |
References | 239 |
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Common terms and phrases
abacus ABBOTT Accessed 14 December algorithm applied arithmetic backup Baseball batting beads Bibliometrics binary number Boolean byte cards Casting out nines chess cipher column common compression contains COSTELLO Counting cryptography decryption digits document encryption example EXERCISES AND RESEARCH Fibonacci finger frequency fuzzy set Gematria golden ratio Hexadecimal infinite infinity information retrieval information system Internet involves IP address keywords letters Lotka's law lottery match mathematical measures metaphors methods metrics moves multiple Music Information Retrieval number of possible Numerology one-time pad operations password performance player position prime number private key privilege problem public key Pythagorean Tuning query ratio relevant representation Research Question Sabermetrics secret server simple slide rule square Steganography storage surnames symbols tion tonal tones Topology Tower of Hanoi vector winning word York zero Zipf's law