CSC 231: Data Management I
Information Management, Capture and Representation
Introduction
The area of management that aim to facilitate effective communication and exchange of fact and
ideas from and to various knowledge stores, centers and sources such as human experts, books,
and databases is referred to as information management.
In this study session, you will learn about information management, its applications and
complexities. You will also learn about information capture and representation.
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1.1 Information Management
Information management refers to activities and processes for facilitating the flow of information
from various information and knowledge sources to people who desire the information.
Information management aims at the effective transfer and exchange of facts, truths and ideas
among individuals, organizations and communities.
Information management is firstly concerned with how to facilitate the communication of ideas
from different sources of information, such as human experts, organizations, books, government
documents, databases and libraries, to potential users of such information. Secondly, information
management is concerned with facilitating actual interpretation and usage of the sources of
information by the users.
Information management emphasizes the importance of human access to, and human
interpretation, evaluation and use of the information. This is unlike data management that
emphasizes the creation, manipulation, storage and transfer of data.
However, because of the close relationship between data as symbols and information as the ideas
conveyed by data, effective information management is invariably intertwined and facilitated by
effective data management.
Box 1.1: Definition of Information Management
Information Management is defined as a program that manages the people, processes and
technology in an enterprise towards the control over the structure, processing, delivery and usage
of information required for management and business intelligence purposes.
Information, as you know it today, includes both electronic and physical information. The
organizational structure must be capable of managing this information throughout the
information lifecycle regardless of source or format (data, paper documents, electronic
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documents, audio, video, etc.) for delivery through multiple channels that may include cell
phones and web interfaces.
Below is a figure showing the information management frameworks that you will be learning
about in the subsequent study session.
Figure 1.1: Information Management Frameworks
Data Management is a subset of Information Management. It comprises all the disciplines related
to managing data as a valuable resource. Data management is the process involved in creating,
obtaining, transforming, and sharing, protecting, documenting and preserving data.
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Box 1.2: Components of Information Management
The component includes: IM Strategy, Business Intelligence and Performance Management,
Enterprise Data Management, Information Asset Management, Enterprise Content Management,
Content Delivery and Architecture and Technology Enablement
1.1.1 Origin of Information Management
Although earlier uses may exist, information management achieved a high visibility in the
USA in the mid-1970s as a result of the work of the National Commission on Federal
Paperwork; the aim was to seek a reduction in the costs incurred by organizations in
satisfying the demands for paperwork by the Federal bureaucracies. It was discovered that the
Commission need more than 100 information workers and produced a seven-volume report of
almost 3,000 pages!
However, the Commission quickly moved from the position of concern over the physical
volume of 'paperwork' to the real problem of 'information requirements planning, controlling,
accountingand budgeting'.
Porat (1977) addressed these essentially economic issues in a report for the US Office of
Telecommunications Policy. Porat noted that, in 1967, 'the total cost of informational inputs
to the Federal government was $50.5 billion'.
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Figure 1.2: Porat, Mark Uri
However, Porat's definition of the 'information economy' is very wide, so that it included, for
example, the research and development purchases of the Government, amounting to $13.1
billion. Only $11.8 billion 'was in the form of direct purchase of goods and services from the
primary information sector'. By 1970 the overall value of information inputs had risen to $62.8
billion.
In spite of the strong impetus provided by the Commission, however, the idea of information
management ten years later did not appear to have penetrated very far into the governmental
structure.
Caudle once noted that, in spite of the emphasis in the Paperwork Reduction Act on treating
information as a resource, '12 of the 16 department IRM managers surveyed conceded that IRM
is primarily seen as automation or information technology, including telecommunications' and
that 'There is not a general perception outside the IRM unit that IRM has anything at all to do
with good management'.
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She also found that there was even less of a perception of IRM as helpful to management at the
bureau level, where the idea was equated almost solely with the idea of end-user technology
support services.
Caudle concluded that the realization that information is a resource, 'is developing much more
slowly than the Paperwork Reduction Act's designers likely intended' and, perhaps with more
optimism than is justified by the research, that 'once the information technology infrastructure is
in place and the IRM offices themselves become operationally mature, IRM offices managers
and their organizations should be ready to take further steps toward true IRM'.
In the UK, the development of information management did not receive the same impetus from
government, which since 1979 has been concerned with establishing the concept of the 'market'
in what was the public sector.
Figure 1.3: Sharon Caudle
The same attitude has prevailed towards information: thus, the report of the Information
Technology Advisory Panel, Making a Business of Information, was concerned simply to direct
attention to the business opportunities in the information sector. Later, the Government produced
guidelines for departments on dealing with business in seeking to derive benefit from 'tradable
information'.
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There was an attempt, however, to introduce the fundamental concepts of information
management in government departments when the Central Computer and Telecommunications
Agency produced guidelines for departments, following an investigation into departmental
practices.
Box 1.3: Single Director
One of the main planks of the guidelines was the recognition that responsibility for information
resources was diffused over different sections in most departments and that there was a need to
ensure effective collaboration among the resource holders and, possibly, the integration of these
services (particularly data management, records management and library and information
services) under a single director.
The Definitions Task Group of the IRM Network which operates under the aegis of Aslib: the
Association for Information Management has provided concise description of the nature of
information management and associated ideas.
Figure 1.4: Logo of the Association for Information Management
Clarifying somewhat the relationship between information management and information
resources management, the Group associates the former with the task of managing the
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relationship between organizational objectives, management processes, and information needs in
the development of an information strategy and in deriving from that strategy an IT strategy and
an information systems strategy.
An information systems strategy is the definition of systems (technological and otherwise) that
are needed to satisfy information needs, whereas an IT strategy defines the way in which the
technology can support the systems strategy.
Information resources management is, then, defined as applying 'the general principles of
resources management to identify discrete information resources, establish ownership and
responsibility, determine cost and value, and to promote development and exploitation where
appropriate'.
This brief account of the development of information management serves to show that a degree
of consensus can be seen to have emerged, but the relationships to other managerial issues in
organizations are such that considerable scope exists for confusion over disciplinary or intra-
organizational boundaries.
1.2 Information Management Applications
Several strands have contributed to the development of information management. First, it has its
origins in a variety of fields that have had to do, traditionally, with the acquisition, organization,
maintenance and use of documents: archives and records management, and librarianship and
information science (especially in special librarianship and information work).
Many of the areas of concern within Information management have long been the concern of
other professional groups in the information field, including database design and development,
information storage and retrieval, and the economics of information.
Second, the development of information technology, and its growing application to all aspects of
information management, has been a strong formative influence. The costs of computer-based
systems draw direct attention to the issues of the value of information and cost-benefit
relationships in the development of information systems and services.
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Where the costs of such systems have previously been hidden in the work done by a wide range
of organizational staff members, their sudden emergence into significance consequent upon the
introduction of computers has caused organizations to view information functions in a new light.
Finally, the wide application of information ideas, developed in the business schools, widely
accepted in business, and given prominence in the business press and in the media generally, and
applied increasingly in public-sector organizations, has resulted in the acceptance of such
concepts as strategic planning, cost-benefit analysis, resource management and marketing.
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1.3 Information Management Complexities
Organizations are often confronted with many information management challenges and issues. In
the past decade, the progression of electronic information over the old paper filing system has
been preferred.
Lack of experience and knowledge of proper information management, a business could end up
going out of business. The challenging issue is pre-existing information businesses not wanting
to change their old ways. As a result, the following challenges can concur:
1. Lack of resources for organizing, managing or improving information systems.
2. Lack of definitions for information types and values enterprise wise.
3. Little to no appreciation and support of information management by senior
management.
4. Internal business politics affecting on the ability to organize activities enterprise wide.
5. Poor quality of information, such as lack of consistency, repetition, and out of date
information.
6. Old systems are obsolete requiring replacement or upgrading.
7. Large quantity of disperse information management systems.
8. Lack of synchronization between information systems.
9. Competition between information management systems.
10. Lack of strategic path on the management of information systems.
11. Lack of clarity of organizational strategies and goals.
12. Various numbers of diverse business issues and needs that have not been addressed.
13. Limited staff to run existing information systems.
14. Hitches in shifting old working practices and processes of staff.
Though this list may be very long, it can help businesses improve information management
systems. These applied ways of conveying solutions are most effective when all complexities
have been addressed.
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1.4 Information Capture and Representation
Information capture is the process of collecting paper documents, forms and e-documents,
transforming them into accurate, retrievable, digital information, and delivering the information
into business applications and databases for immediate action.
In biometric security systems, information capture is the acquisition of, or the process of
acquiring, an identifying characteristic such as a finger image, palm image, facial image, iris
print, or voice print.
In order to capture a data, a transducer is employed which converts the actual data into a digital
file. The file is then stored. At a later time, it can be analyzed by a computer, or compared with
other files in a database to verify identity or to provide authorization to enter a secured system.
Most serious computer users are familiar with the term screen capture. The intent of a screen
capture is to store the image on a monitor or display exactly as it appears at a specific time. This
can sometimes (but not always) be done by hitting the "print screen" key, in which case the
image appears as a bitmap file in the clipboard. It can also be done by photographing the display
screen with a digital camera external to the computer.
Box 1.4: Objectives of Information Capture
1. Maximize enterprise-wide efficiency through the effective design and construction of paper
forms and computer screens
2. Establish and control standards for information content and vocabulary
3. Originate and maintain proper specifications for information capture and usage
4. Ensure consistent, accurate capture, storage, and usage of information
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5. Streamline the information capture process by eliminating duplicate data entry, ensuring that
information capture follows the flow of work, reducing key strokes, and ensuring that users have
the information when they need it
6. Establish enterprise-wide guidelines and criteria for the development and revision of
information capture tools
No matter which format a piece of information may take, it needs to be represented before it can
be retrieved. Information representation includes the extraction of some elements (e.g., keywords
or phrases) from a document or the assignment of terms (e.g., descriptors or subject headings) to
a document so that its essence can be characterized and presented.
Typically, information representation can be done via any combination of the following means:
Summarization
Abstracting
Categorization
Indexing
Extraction
Figure 1.5: Ways of Information Representation
Source: SchulPortals Inc. ©
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Information processing and information management, though having different meanings, are
often regarded as synonyms of information representation.
While information processing refers to how information is handled for retrieval purposes,
information management deals with the full range of activities associated with information, from
information selection to information preservation.
The term information representation will be used to cover the various aspects and methods of
creating substitutes or representations (e.g., indexes and abstracts) for information representation
purposes.
In the information Representation and Retrieval process, the user initiates the search and receives
any results retrieved, while the information professional is responsible for designing,
implementing, and maintaining the Information Representation Retrieval systems. Figure 1.6
illustrates the relationship between the Information Representation and Retrieval process.
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Figure 1.6: Relationship between Information Representation and Information Retrieval
Any information retrieved from the database must first be represented by the information
professional according to the language chosen for information representation. Discrepancies are
likely to occur during the course of information representation and can be serious problems if a
controlled vocabulary is used for the following reasons:
First, when information recorded in forms such as journal articles or technical reports is
represented as abstracts, indexing terms, and the like, a genuine rendering of the original
information does not seem achievable. One could argue that we represent, for example, a big
circle with a smaller one. Even so, the size dimension has been distorted.
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Second, any controlled vocabulary is merely a subset of the natural language with which the
original documents were created. It is therefore often hard to find, for example, an exact match
between a term in a document and a descriptor from a thesaurus. For representation purposes, the
indexer then has to choose from related terms, narrower terms, or broader terms listed in the
thesaurus.
Third, inconsistency in information representation appears inevitable, especially if more than one
person or system handles the task. Cleverdon once reported that even two experienced indexers,
using the same controlled vocabulary, could assign only 30 percent of terms in common to the
same document.
Humphrey once reported that inter-indexer consistency in MEDLINE by selecting terms from
Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) was less than 49 percent.
On the other hand, users are required to transform their information needs, using the chosen
information representation language, into queries that can then be executed in the database with
the searching mechanism provided.
Researchers have long been aware of the complexity involved in this task. For instance, Blair
and Maron once pointed out, “It is impossibly difficult for users to predict the exact words, word
combinations, and phrases that are used by all (or most) relevant documents”.
In addition, any use of controlled vocabularies and search features will add to the difficulty.
Natural language searching, that is, searching with complete phrases or sentences as used in
everyday communication without forming any structured queries, is becoming available on the
internet, but there is still a long way to go before researchers in natural language processing (a
subdivision of artificial intelligence) make substantial breakthroughs in their endeavours.
In other words, whether a search will be successful or not depends solely on whether a match is
found between the represented information in the system and a query submitted by the user. To
be more specific, a search is successful if a match is made between a query and the information
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represented in the database chosen for the task. Otherwise, a search cannot turn up any useful
results.
Matching is an important aspect of information representation. As shown in Figure 1.6, there are
several points in the information representation process that can cause discrepancies in matching.
The ultimate goal for quality information representation is, through the use of various methods
and techniques, to minimize or even eliminate the discrepancies that can occur during the
process.
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Summary:
1. Information management is firstly concerned with how to facilitate the communication of
ideas from different sources of information, such as human experts, organizations, books,
government documents, databases and libraries, to potential users of such information. Secondly,
information management is concerned with facilitating actual interpretation and usage of the
sources of information by the users.
2. Although earlier uses may exist, information management achieved a high visibility in the
USA in the mid-1970s as a result of the work of the National Commission on Federal
Paperwork; the aim was to seek a reduction in the costs incurred by organizations in satisfying
the demands for paperwork by the Federal bureaucracies. It was discovered that the Commission
need more than 100 information workers and produced a seven-volume report of almost 3,000
pages!
3. Many of the areas of concern within Information management have long been the concern of
other professional groups in the information field, including database design and development,
information storage and retrieval, and the economics of information.
4. Organizations are often confronted with many information management challenges and issues.
In the past decade, the progression of electronic information over the old paper filing system has
been preferred. Lack of experience and knowledge of proper information management, a
business could end up going out of business.
5. In biometric security systems, information capture is the acquisition of, or the process of
acquiring, an identifying characteristic such as a finger image, palm image, facial image, iris
print, or voice print. In order to capture the data, a transducer is employed that converts the
actual image or sound into a digital file. The file is then stored. At a later time, it can be analyzed
by a computer, or compared with other files in a database to verify identity or to provide
authorization to enter a secured system.
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6. Information representation includes the extraction of some elements (e.g., keywords or
phrases) from a document or the assignment of terms (e.g., descriptors or subject headings) to a
document so that its essence can be characterized and presented.
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