CSIS-116: Survey of Information
Technology
• Today’s Agenda
– Getting to know each other
– Overview course
• Also
– Chapter 1
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CSIS-116: Survey of Information
Technology
• Who am I?
– Dr. Eric Breimer
• 2 years at Siena
• Ph.D. RPI
• Research Area:
– Experimental Algorithms
– Machine Learning
– Bioinformatics
http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/ShowRatings.jsp?tid=83848
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CSIS-116: Survey of Information
Technology
• Who are you?
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CSIS-116: Survey of Information
Technology
• Course Website
– I will post almost everything.
• Syllabus
– Coming to lecture is very important
– Don’t cheat
– Don’t miss exam dates
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CSIS-116: Survey of Information
Technology
• Labs
– 10 Labs worth 25 point of your grade
– Lab 1 this week is an intro lab.
• worth 1 point
– Remaining 9 labs
• worth 3 points each
• 2 points for in-lab exercise
• 1 point for take-home exercise
– 28 points total
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CSIS-116: Survey of Information
Technology
• Projects
– 3 projects worth 25 points of your grade
• Project 1 – Research Report
• Project 2 – Website
• Project 3 – Group Project w/ Presentation
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CSIS-116: Survey of Information
Technology
• Exams
– Exam 1 worth 15 points
– Exam 2 worth 15 points
– Final worth 20 points
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CSIS-116: Survey of Information
Technology
• Final Grade
– 10 labs  25 points
– 3 project  25 points
– 3 exams  50 points
• Cut-offs
A  92 average 90 on final
A-  89 average
B+  87 average
B  82 average
B-  79 average
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CSIS-116: Survey of Information
Technology
• Tricks of this course
– In lecture, I will elaborate on topics
not covered in the book
• Then, I will test you on them
– Exams questions will ask you about
concepts learned in lab
– Projects are graded superficially
• The better it looks the better grade
you’ll get
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Chapter 1
Information Technology:
Principles, Practices, and
Opportunities
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Chapter 1 Highlights
• Mostly List to Memorize
– 6 characteristics of the Information Age.
– 3 primary components of information
technology.
– 6 information-handling functions.
– 4 benefits of information technology.
– 14 areas where information technology
touches us
– 3 responsibilities
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The Evolution of the Information Age
• Agricultural Age: The period up to the 1800s,
when the majority of workers were farmers whose
lives revolved around agriculture.
• Industrial Age: The period from the 1800s to 1957,
when work processes were simplified through
mechanization and automation.
• Information Age: The period that began in 1957, in
which the majority of workers are involved in the
creation, distribution, and application of
information.
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The Evolution of the Information Age
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Six Characteristics of the
Information Age
1. An information-based society has arisen.
– duh?
2. Businesses depend on information technology to
get their work done.
– Could you imagine if E-bay’s computer
systems went down?
3. Work processes are being transformed to
increase productivity.
– UPS is the classic model company
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Six Characteristics of the
Information Age
4. Information technology provides the means to
rethink/recreate/reengineer conventional
business processes.
– Amazon.com: PublishersUPSCustomers
5. Success in business is largely determined by the
effectiveness with which information technology
is used.
– Prentiss Hall vs. Addison Wesley
6. Information technology is embedded in many
products and services.
– Soon it’ll be embedded in all products and
service
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Buzzword Definitions
• Reengineering:
– The reshaping of business processes to remove
barriers that prohibit an organization from providing
better products and services and to help the
organization capitalize on its strengths.
• Business Processes:
– Collections of activities, often spanning several
departments, that take one or more kinds of input
and create a result that is of value to a company’s
customers.
• Effectiveness:
– The extent to which desirable results are achieved.
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Characteristics of the
Information Age
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Characteristics of the
Information Age
• Reengineering efforts to attain greater
productivity:
– Industrial Age
• Division of Labor: Separation of work
process into component task, with different
workers specializing in each of the tasks.
– Information Age
• Teamwork, Interconnection, and Shared
Information.
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Characteristics of the
Information Age
Information Technology
•
•
Definition of Information Technology
– A term used to refer to a wide variety of
items and abilities used in the creation,
storage, and dispersal of data and
information.
Three main components
1. computers
2. communications networks
3. know-how.
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Information Technology
• Data
– Raw facts, figures, and details.
• Information
– An organized, meaningful, and useful
interpretation of data.
• Knowledge
– An awareness and understanding of a set of
information and how that information can be
put to the best use.
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Information Technology
Computers
• In the old days, computers come in four sizes:
– Microcomputers
• now called PCs
– Midrange computers
• Sometimes called servers
– Mainframes
• Still have some limited use
– Supercomputers
• Died in the 90’s
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Computers
• Microcomputers (called PCs)
– Desktop Computers
– Laptop Computers
– Handheld Computers
• Tablet PCs
• Personal Digital Assistants
• Palm PCs
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Computers
• Midrange computers (called Servers)
• Faster processor than a PC
• More memory
• More disk space
• Sometimes built for racks
– But, very modern PCs can be faster and better
than older servers.
– Sometimes PCs are used as Servers
– And Servers can be used as PCs
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Computers
• Midrange computers (called Servers)
– What really distinguishes a Server from a PC?
– This is why they usually have to be faster and
better than your average PC
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Computers
• Mainframes:
– Monopolize by IBM through out the 70’s 80’s
and 90’s
– Some are still used today
– Characterized by quality hardware which
makes for a very reliable computer
– Fault-tolerant
– They rarely crash
– Expensive
– Not particularly fast
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Computers
Supercomputers:
– The most powerful of all computers
– designed to solve problems consisting of long
and difficult calculations
– Heavily used for computer graphics in
simulations and movies from the 80’s
– Way too expensive
– Replaced by more cost effective Server
clusters or PC clusters
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Information Systems
• System
– A set of components that interact to
accomplish a purpose.
• A business information system
– designed to produce the information needed
for successful management of a structured
problem, process, department, or business.
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Information Systems
Communications Networks
• Definition
– A set of locations, or nodes, consisting of
hardware, programs, and information linked
together as a system that transmits and
receives data and information.
• Includes
– Physical Hardware
• Wires, Hubs, Routers, Network Cards, etc.
– Connected Computers
– Software that makes it run
– Available information
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Know-How
• The capability to do something well.
• Information technology know-how consists of:
– Familiarity with the tools of IT; including the
Internet
– Possession of the skills needed to use these
tools
– An understanding of when to use IT to solve
a problem or create an opportunity
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Six Functions of
Information Technology
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Six Functions of
Information Technology
1. Capture:
– The process of compiling detailed records
of activities.
2. Processing:
– Data Processing, Word Processing, Image
Processing, Voice Processing
3. Generation:
– The process of organizing information into
a useful form, whether as numbers, text,
sound, or visual image.
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Six Functions of
Information Technology
4. Storage:
– computer process of retaining information
for future use.
5. Retrieval:
– Retrieval is the process by which a
computer locates and copies stored data
or information for further processing or for
transmission to another user.
6. Transmission:
– The computer process of distributing
information over a communications
network.
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Four Benefits of
Information Technology
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Opportunities of
Information Technology
• Helping People
• Solving Problems
– Problem: A perceived difference between an
existing condition and a desired condition.
– Problem Solving: The process of recognizing a
problem, identifying alternatives for solving it,
and successfully implementing the chosen
solution.
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Information Technology Is All Around Us,
“Messing Up our Lives”
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Television
Education
Training
Entertainment
Shipping
Paperwork
Money and Investments
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Agriculture
Taxation and Accounting
Health and Medicine
Manufacturing
Journalism
Energy
Sports
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Responsibilities of Using
Information Technology
• To be Informed
• To Make Proper Use of IT
• To Safeguard
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