Information Management, Week 5, 28th August

Lecture week 5 Managing information the major problem people face is how to manage their information in a quick and easy way. we use computers for their processing power to manage information Ways of organising

• text
• documents
• images
• web pages
• bookmarks
• presentations
• assignments
• citations and references

format

atom based- books, paper, reports etc.

Pros

• exists in space
• we can know where it is
• easily concealed
• easy to protect
• difficult to change
• difficult to copy

Cons

• bulky
• costly
• difficult to edit
• difficult to distribute
• inflexible

Bit-based- digital reproductions, electronic content Pros

• very flexible
• very cheap
• easy to edit
• easy to mass produce

Cons

• privacy
• authenticity
• unsolicited broadcast

Goods and services

goods and services have changed dramatically over the years e.g Internet banking, e-mail, music MP3. they are continuing to change e.g TV, Music, shopping.

to organise your bits

• learn the most common file extensions
• create name folders
• use properties tool to create meta data
• use SEARCH function
• install a desktop search engine GOOGLE

Workshop

1. Complete the following tutorial on using bookmarks and favourites on the Internet http://www.inette.com/aibtinette/favoritesI.html a PDF of this can be downloaded in the readings section filename: reading_Mod03-1-3.pdf

• Click on Favorites on the Menu Bar (File Edit View Favorites Tools Help)
• You will see Add to Favorites and Organize Favorites.
• Let's choose Add to Favorites and see what happens.
• Click (left of course...) Add to Favorites and you will see.

2. Use the information in the tutorial to set up a favourites list that has 3 folders in it, each with at least two websites marked as favourites a. create a screen-capture and record in your learning log

3. Read Negroponte's famous "Being Digital" archive online, which can be found here: http://archives.obs-us.com/obs/english/books/nn/bdcont.htm a. Pay particular attention to the first part "The DNA of Information"

4. Write a short review of this information of about 250 words in your learning log. Try to balance the pros and cons of using "atoms" and "bits"

READINGS

The Difference between Bits and Atoms

Atoms are things you can touch, they exist in space where bits are electronic exist digitally.

the positives of using atoms is that they are Tangible, you can know where it is. They are easily concealed, easy to protect. They are difficult to change and copy. The negatives of using atoms are that they are bulky and costly. they are difficult to edit and distribute.

The positives of using bit-based are they are flexible, cheap. they are easily edited and mass produced. The negatives of using bit-based are it is difficult to keep them private, to prove authenticity and unsolicited broadcasting.

Information management

Organisation

As an undergraduate you will find there is a lot of information which you have to manage. it is said that no single file on your computer should contain more then 20 items before further subvison. It is a good idea to firstly make folders with your units on them and go from their. Internet sites are often very complicated and may have nothing to do with the content this is when favourite and bookmarks are used.

Copy and pasting

When we find something of interest it is tempting to press print, however this can leave us with too much information. use copy and paste to select your information. it is a cheaper alternative rather then using unnecessary resources.