Information Systems

Week 2 Individual Assignment

University of Phoenix Online

CIS/319 - Computers & Information Processing

Week 2 Individual Assignment

Current technology makes it much easier to collect various types of data today than in the past. Not only is it easier, but it can be faster and more accurate if the appropriate methods of data input are used to collect the data. If the data is entered into a computer then it is much easier to manipulate the data to make the information provided more beneficial to the person that wants the data. For example, a telephone survey could be conducted with a voice automated system that would record the responses and enter them into a database. Even if the survey was not conducted using an automated voice system, the answers given by the person being surveyed could be entered into a database. Once the information has been collected from the desired number of people, it would be very easy to analyze the responses and make decisions based off of the information that was gathered. Printed questionnaires, on the other hand, such as a test or a printed survey could be input into a computer using an optical data reader. This would make grading a test much faster and more impartial because the tests would be scored by the computer. The banking industry has a massive amount of data to be processed on a daily basis. Items such as bank checks, since they include magnetic ink, can be processed using a magnetic ink character recognition device. If the banks did not use this type of processing or a similar process for the millions of checks that are written every day around the world, the industry would not be able to keep pace with the economy. Of course in today’s society, even written checks are sometimes considered to be too slow and many people and businesses would prefer to pay using credit cards. Not only do most businesses have to deal with bank checks, but they also have to keep track of inventory and sales which is usually done through scanning retail tags using a bar code scanner or some other point of sale system. A bar code scanner is usually the fastest and easiest method of scanning retail tags on the items that a customer wants to buy. Some organizations have to deal with extremely long documents at times. If the organization is producing the document themselves, it will always be best to enter the information into a word processor for easy editing. However, there are times when an organization receives a document pre-printed and wants to input the document into a computer. In this case it is best to scan the document and process it with an optical character recognition program.

Not only do people need to get information into a computer, but they often need to get it out in different formats. Depending on the type of information that needs to be output, some methods are more appropriate than others. The information output from a handheld computer will usually just be for display so this can be easily output to a small LCD screen. Many of the newer hand held computers can connect through Bluetooth or wirelessly to a computer or printer to transfer information or print it directly. Some printers are specifically designed to meet certain needs or to print certain types of data. For example, a color photograph is best printed from a specialized photo printer on special photo paper, in order to achieve the highest results. On the other hand, a resume should be printed from a high quality laser printer because of the quality of the text produced by a laser printer. A memorandum, on the other hand, could be printed from either a laser printer or an ink-jet printer depending on the number of copies needed. A statistical report might be best printed on a laser printer unless there are also color graphics such as charts and diagrams, then a color laser printer would be the best choice. An organizations annual company report could also be printed from a high speed color laser printer, but most likely the best option