Information
Processing
by
Mrs. Beverly Vialva-Smith
Objective 1:
Distinguish between data
and information
Recall,
 Data – raw facts and figures that have
not been processed and have no
meaning.
 Information – data that has been
processed and has meaning.
The Computer System:
The Information Processing
cycle (IPC)
INPUT
PROCESSING
STORAGE
OUTPUT
Scenario:
 Jenny
is using a word processing
software.
 She presses a key on the keyboard and
the character code is sent electronically
to the CPU. The CPU carries out the
instructions contained in the software,
and the character appears on the screen
in the right place.
 Q: Can you classify this scenario into
input, processing, output and storage?
INPUT:
She presses a key on the keyboard
and the character code is sent
electronically to the Central
Processing Unit.
PROCESSING:
The CPU carries out the
instructions contained in the
software.
STORAGE:
The character is temporarily stored
in Random Access Memory (RAM)
whilst processing takes place in
the CPU.
OUTPUT:
The character appears on the
screen in the right place.
Objective 2:
Explain the characteristics and
functions of Information
processing.
Information Processing
 Information

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

processing is the
Acquisition (collection),
Recording (capture - input and storing),
Organization (sorting),
Retrieval (get back from storage),
Display (show on screen) and
Dissemination (distribution)
of information.
Data Collection
 Can




occur in many ways:
Questionnaire
Survey
Interview
Research etc.
 Once
data is collected it is fed (INPUT)
into the computer system beginning the
information processing cycle.
Processing
 There
are many ways in which data can be
processed to produce information. Some
include:

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

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
Carrying out calculations in a spreadsheet.
Printing an image.
Searching a document or database for a particular
item of data.
Updating data in a file.
Displaying an image on the screen.
Sorting data in alphabetical order.
How do I know all those things
are processing?






Carrying out calculations in a spreadsheet.
Printing an image.
Searching a document or database for a
particular item of data.
Updating data in a file.
Displaying an image on the screen.
Sorting data in alphabetical order.
ALL VERBS, DOING THINGS.
Forms of Information
Processing:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
AUTOMATION
PROCESS CONTROL
COMMERCIAL DATA PROCESSING
INDUSTRIAL DATA PROCESSING
SCIENTIFIC DATA PROCESSING
1. AUTOMATION




Automation is the act of using computers and
machines instead of human labour.
Automated systems work without any human
involvement.
Automatic systems carry out straight forward
tasks e.g. Running through a program on a
washing machine or dryer.
Once an automated system has been
switched on it follows a set of predetermined
actions to the end.
Examples of Automation

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Correspondence – Flow cable
Inventory Tracking
Invoice and accounts receivable
Record keeping
Data analysis
Sharing of information
Automation in the home
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DB5JSOi
K6LE
2. PROCESS CONTROL
A
process is an operation or action that is
performed in doing something.
 Special purpose computers are used for
controlling processes to optimize
efficiency.
 Examples of systems that are controlled
are: Temperature, pressure, humidity,
automatic doors, traffic lights, flow of
liquids.
2. PROCESS CONTROL cont…
 Process
controlled systems are used for
more complex operations.
 They constantly check the state of play
and change the actions in response.
 Actions are changed depending on the
feedback from sensors.
Sensors

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Sensors are used to detect various physical
quantities, such as temperature, pressure, sound,
light, etc.
Murcury tilt switch sensor
Light sensor sensor
Push switch sensor
Temperature sensor
Sound sensor
Proximity sensor
pH sensor
Humidity Sensor
Examples of the use of process
contol include:
 Traffic
lights
 Green houses
 Cars (abs, reversing, all working parts,
alarms, etc)
 Monitoring a patient in the hospital
3. COMMERCIAL
INFORMATION PROCESSING
 Payroll
systems
 Accounts receivable
 Orders
Examples of information
processing
Payroll- A payroll system used an information
processing system to calculate the wages of
each employee, print out pay slips and record
the information for accounting purposes.
Input: Comes from a database of employees
details, such as salaries, pay rates, bonus rates
Process: Using software like spreadsheet or other
accounting software to calculate the amount earned by
employees.
Output: Pay slips would need to be printed using an
impact.
Supermarket Stock Control: Businesses need to
hold stocks of goods, they sell and manufacturers need
to hold their stock of raw materials and finished
goods.
Input: the operator at a POS terminal only needs to
pass the barcode on each item past a laser scanner.
Process: As each item is sold, the stock files are
updated so that customer service can be much
quicker
Output: Orders are printed when stock levels reach a
re-order point. Customer receipts are printed using
thermal printers
Library- This is automated, where a
membership card is issued which has barcode
printed on it.
Input: Barcode from book, membership card, burrow
date, librarians name etc
Process: Library database would have the files
containing details about the books, magazines etc.
Information Retrieval: Searches would have to be
performed on database by the librarian
Output: Summary reports results of searches
4. INDUSTRIAL INFORMATION
PROCESSING
 May
contain any of the processing
examples in commercial information
processing but also includes


Automation and
Process control
Industry: The whole manufacturing process is
controlled automatically by a computer system.
Input: Sensors take readings at regular time
intervals and send the readings to the
computer.
Processing: The computer analyzes the
readings and decides whether action
needed to be taken.
Output: The computer sends output signals to
devices which manage the process to increase
pressure or temperature.
5. SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION
PROCESSING
Weather Forecasting: Some of the world’s
most powerful computers are used to forecast the
weather, which improves the accuracy of forecasts.
Input: Millions of pieces of data such as temperature,
pressure etc are collected from satellites, radar etc.
Processing: The data is then stored in a large database.
The first task is to perform a quality control check.
Output: The forecasts are normally produced as global
and local charts of weather information.
Identify the sources of data in specified
application areas;
Turnaround document: A document which, after
being output by the computer, can be used to
record data.
An example of a turnaround document is the mark
sheet that is filled in by your teacher. The mark
sheet is generated by the computer, filled in by
the subject teacher and then used for input back
into the computer so that reports can be printed.
 Human
Readable: Data that can be
understood by humans. Printers and
monitors produce human- readable
copies.
 Machine
Readable: Data that can be
understood by computers. Disc drives and
tape drives produce machine-readable
copies.
Describe methods of validation and
verification of data;
 Validation
: A checking process in a program
which is aimed at finding out if data is
genuine. E.g The data type is text and Mr Jones gets
typed in as Mr J0nes,
 Verification:
Is the checking for mistakes
such as transcription errors when data is
copied from one medium or device to another.
 Range
Check: Range check ensures that
the data entered is within a certain range.
is a date in August between 1 and 31?
 Data
type checks: This is known as
character or alphanumeric check. Whenever data
is entered into a field the database will
Check that it is of the correct type.
e.g. have letters been entered instead of digits?
 Inconsistency
check: A consistency
check compares the contents of two or
more fields to make sure that they make
sense.
 Transposition errors – happen when we enter
numbers or characters in the wrong order.
e.g. I wnet down the street and was my friends
playing cricket.
Describe various methods of file organization
and access;

Direct access - This is where any data can be
accessed without reading any other data items first
(randomly). Examples: floppy diskette, flash drive,
hard disk drive, etc.

Serial access - This is where all data between the
read/write head and the required data have to be
passed over before the data can be accessed.
 An
indexed file is used to speed up the
key search in a file. You can think of it as a
one column table.