Module 6 The Internet and World Wide Web
Lesson 10 Information, Control and Privacy
At the end of this module, the students should be able to:
1. Distinguish a physical resource from a conceptual resource
2. Identify the characteristics of information as a resource
3. Analyze the phenomenon of information overload brought by high internet
penetration
4. Explain the major points of the revised Intelelctual Property Code of the
Philippines (Republic Act no 10372)
5. Highlight the importance of information control and privacy by creating a video
advertisement/awareness campaign
Introduction to Resources
Organizations treat company assets, such as buildings, equipment and their manpower as
important resources. Resources are the total means available to a company for increasing production or
profit, including land, labor, capital and raw materials.
Without resources, organizations would cease to exist. Imagine a bank without money, a
manufacturing plant without forklifts, or a school without teachers. These resources are known as physical
resources. They are tangible, and can be easily identified. Physical resources usually start from acquisition
and are then assembled to be available for use when needed. Very often, the assembly process entails
converting an essentially raw material into a refined form, such as wood, cement, and steel for building
construction. Once these resources have been assembled, a manager strives to maximize their use; this
includes allocating space for office use and identifying key areas in the building plans. Finally, the manager
asks for replacement or repairs and maintenance of these resources at a critical time – before they
become inefficient or obsolete.
The other type of resource is called conceptual resources. Conceptual resources are non-tangible
and are considered valuable for what they represent rather than their physical make-up. Money is
considered a conceptual resource as each paper bill represents a specific monetary value as opposed to
the paper where it is printed. The same goes for human resources. While everyone can be considered
employees in a company, their skills knowledge, and job experience set them apart from one another,
thus identifying the staff, managers executives and laborers.
Managers use conceptual resources to manage physical resources or vice versa. One such
example is the use of computers in an organization. A computer unit, by itself, may cost thousands of
pesos. However, once used, the content saved in those computer units become even more valuable
resources, making the computer unit irreplaceable. The integrity of the saved files may be compromised,
so security checks are often identified on the computer units -e.g. firewalls, anti-virus, biometric access,
etc. to make sure they will not be lost. In this case, the saved computer files (conceptual resource) identify
how the u=computer units (physical resource) will be managed. The same applies to personal assets such
as smartphones. Losing a mobile phone is considered a tragedy, especially if it contains personal data,
such as pictures videos, numerous contacts. The pictures, videos, and contacts list saved in the phone are
considered conceptual resources while the smartphone is the physical resource (managing the conceptual
resources). In both instances, the conceptual resources identified are called information.
Information as a Resource
Information can be simply defined as “facts about something or someone that are provided or
learned.” Facts are considered relevant truth which have been validated and identified. Data are
considered facts; therefore, processed data are considered as information as they are organized in such a
way that they have additional value beyond the value of the facts themselves. Unlike other organizational
resources, information is considered:
Expandable
Information ca be expanded without compromising its integrity. In fact, by having additional information,
much more can be understood from it. An example is a person’s personal information. While knowing his
or he name, contact details and current work may be useful, having the person’s full curriculum vitae
becomes more useful for those in example, the HR Department.
Compressible
Although expanded information can give a more detailed explanation, it may not always be needed. An
example of this is in news sites. Instead of a barrage of details, news site would often give one-liner
headlines that provide enough information about the news. Another example is research abstracts. An
abstract is normally a half or a one-page summary of the entire research.
Transportable
Information, especially digital information, is easily transportable. With the use of the internet and various
technologies, information can be sent through any of the following:
1. Send by email
2. Share via Facebook
3. Copy one into a flash drive
4. Upload on You Tube
Diffusive
Gossip or rumors tend to spread easily. Unfortunately, the same applies to any kind of information- be it
true or not.
Sharable
Since information can be easily spread, it is considered sharable as well. Information can be kept calling it
a secret. However, once a person decides to tell it to someone, then he or she will no longer have control
over it. In some cases, certain parts of the secret can be kept. One such example is the recipe of KFC. It is
known that there are 11 secret herbs and spcies, but as to what these herbs and spices are, people can
only guess.
Just like physical resources, managing information is just as important as managing other resource in the
organization, such as people, money, and equipment. Information, information- related activities
technologies, and personnel are also important organizational resources.
Valuable Information
Let us say your professor assigns you to research on the different parts of a computer system. You plan to
look for an information online through search engines such as Google. How can you tell if the information
you get is useful, or in this case, valuable for your research?
Information is said to be valuable if it has the following characteristics (Stair &Reynolds, 2016):
Accurate
Accurate information is error-free. In some cases, inaccurate information is generated because inaccurate
data was processed. Analysis call this as “Garbage-in Garbage-out” (GIGO). By typing “parts of a
computer” in the search bar, Google gives you a list of several websites which contain the information
you are looking for. However, how do you determine which are accurate and which are inaccurate?
Usually it is better to trust sites that are formal in nature rather than informal ones such as blogs or forum.
Table Formal Information vs Informal Information
Formal Information Informal Information
It is official and authoritative It is more casual , and less authoritative
It is meant to be taken seriously and is presented It is presented in a less formal manner
in a formal manner
It is usually more carefully prepared and verified It is possibly less reliable
than informal information, and its accuracy and
reliability should also be higher..
Formal information for your research work could come from technical websites as well as academic
websites. Pieces of informal information can still be considered accurate as long as they provide enough
reference and the data can later be verified from the said reference. Bits of informal information include
those from vlogs, blogs, wikis, social sites and public forums. Nowadays, the use of wikis has become a
norm when it comes to information research. The most popular wiki today is Wikipedia. Org. The question,
however, is: How accurate is the content of Wikipedia.org?
Complete
Complete information contains all the important facts. This is especially important in the field of medicine.
Missing information could spell disaster, or worse, lead to death. If the information regarding allergies has
been left out, doctors might inadvertently give wrong medication that could cause severe allergic
reactions to the patient.
Economical
Information should be relatively economical to produce. Decision-makers must always balance the value
of information with the cost of producing it. With the spread of the internet, information dissemination
has become easier, faster, and a lot cheaper. However, is the price worth it for the integrity of the
information?
Reliable
Reliable information can de depended on. In many cases, the reliability of information depends on the
validity of the data collection method. In other cases, reliability depends on the source of information,
which brings us back to valuable information being economical. Torrent sites offer pirated software,
music, and movies for free. However, the resolution of the movie downloaded, for example, might not be
clear nad might even contain malware and virus that could infect the computer system.
Flexible
Flexible information can be used for different purposes. Depending on the situation, personal information
can be used for a variety of ways. A school ID can be used to enter the school premise. The same ID can
be used to transact business with the registrar’s office during enrolment. It can be used to open a bank
account or to apply for a student driver’s license.
Relevant
Relevant information is important to the decision-maker. For example, your assignment calls for searching
“parts of a computer” online, you should not visit sites that tackle “parts of the human body” because
they are irrelevant to your research topic.
Simple
Information should also be simple, not overly complex. Sophisticated and detailed information may not
be needed. Complex information may sometimes lead to confusion which could result in inaccuracy of
details.
Timely
Timely information is delivered when it is needed. This is true in the case of weather predictions, stock
market forecasts, and traffic management.
Verifiable
This means that information can be checked for correctness and authenticity. Most authors include
references, bibliography or citations in their works to enable readers to verify the content.
Accessible
Information should be easily accessible by authorized users to be obtained in the right format at the right
time to meet their needs.
