Information Systems

he term information system (BCIS, IS) sometimes refers to a system of persons, data records and activities that process the data and information in an organization, and it includes the organization's manual and automated processes. Computer-based information systems are the field of study for information technology, elements of which are sometimes called an "information system" as well, a usage some consider to be incorrect.In this way, the term "information system" has different meanings:

* In computer security, an information system is described by three objects (Aceituno, 2004):

o Structure:

+ Repositories, which hold data permanently or temporarily, such as buffers, RAM, hard disks, cache, etc.

+ Interfaces, which exchange information with the non-digital world, such as keyboards, speakers, scanners, printers, etc.

o Channels, which connect repositories, such as buses, cables, wireless links, etc. A Network is a set of logical or physical channels.

o Behavior:

+ Services, which provide value to users or to other services via messages interchange.

+ Messages, which carries a meaning to users or services.

* In geography and cartography, a geographic information system (GIS) is used to integrate, store, edit, analyze, share, and display georeferenced information. There are many applications of GIS, ranging from ecology and geology, to the social sciences.

* In knowledge representation, an information system consists of three components: human, technology, organization. In this view, information is defined in terms of the three levels of semiotics. Data which can be automatically processed by the application system corresponds to the syntax-level. In the context of an individual who interprets the data they become information, which correspond to the semantic-level. Information becomes knowledge when an individual knows (understands) and evaluates the information (e.g., for a specific task). This corresponds to the pragmatic-level.