Information Management.

Information Management.

Collecting, storing and retrieving: Information needs to be collected, stored and, if it is going to be easily used, available for retrieval. A database store allows information to be collected via a form, stored as records and then retrieved and sorted using queries. For example, if you wanted to join a swimming club, you could fill in a form on its website. This information would be stored on its members' database and a search to find all members who have joined in the last seven days would bring up the email address you supplied.

Manipulating and processing; This is the stage where information is processed for analysis. The swimming club could produce a graph showing how many members joined for each of the preceding 12 months. 

Analysing: At this stage, the information is looked at so that patterns can be identified. This information is useful on its own, but if these dates linked with other events, such as a June campaign to get new members, this information would suggest the campaign was successful.

Securing: Information needs to be kept securely in order to protect it. Sensitive or confidential information could be protected from access by others by encryption. Information needs to run the business could be backed up so that it cannot be lost. For example, the swimming club would need to keep members' direct debit information securely, possibly on an encrypted hard drive.

Transmitting: Once information has been processed, it may need to be transmitted within or outside of an organisation. For example, a student's school report is created by collecting information from tutors, then analysed by one tutor who looks for patterns such as high achievement or poor behaviour, and then sent home to parents. The swimming club newsletter may have monthly articles that need to be collated before newsletters are emailed or printed and posted to members.