KEY WORDS

• DATA: Is a group of values of qualitative or quantitative variables, belonging to a set of items.
• CONTEXT: The virtual environment required to suspend a running software program.
• INFORMATION: Is the data which is process by a computer.
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QUICK TEST

1. What is data? 

Data is a group of values of qualitative or quantitative variables, belonging to a set of items.

 

2. What makes data into information? 

Data becomes information when it has context. for example, computers are good at handing data (because of them, all data is a stream of bits).

3. Which is likely to be more up-to-date - a newspaper article or an Internet news page?

An Internet news page.

4. How does a computer input data about a product in a supermarket?

Because a computer input data can read the product bar-code. 

Finding information 2

In the past, we would often rely on printed or broadcast material being carefullly prepared and reviwed before it was published. Now, we should be more careful and suspicious because we know that information online may be blased or have some 'spin' to persuade us of someone's point of view.

There are a few things that give some indication of how reliable online information is, for example, by looking at the domain name. But in the end, you have to be carful and exercise judgement.
Don't forget that there are other sources of information still available, for example... 

• the printed word
• DVDs
• CDs
• images
• maps
• conversations 
• radio and television

Finding information

Nowadays, it's easy to find information about practically anything on the Internet. If you go to aby search engine, you will be able to find something about what you want.

But, the internet is not necessarily always the best place to look. There are advantages and disadvantages to find information on the internet.

ADVANTAGES:

• It may be very up-to-date.
• It may come from the best experts in their field.
• It may be in multi-media format and easy to understand.
• There are lots of alternative sources such as websites, blogs, microblogs, wikis, podcasts, discussion boards and social networking sites.
• You can discuss information with others.

DISADVANTAGES:

• It may be old information.
• Anyone can put information online so it may be unreliable.
• It may be badly presented.
• A blog is often just a set of opinions.
• A discussion may or may not be useful to you.

Information tool

Input data                               

Process data                          

Output information