INFORMATION PROCESSING

Information processing refers to computer-based systems that take in data and generate information. The output depends on the
interpretation of the input. For example, an alarm system uses sensors to detect movement in a room. If there is movement, this
data is processed to set off a siren.

Components of Information Processing

Data
Data is raw facts inputted into a computer system. It consists of characters, numbers and program code.

Information
Information is the data that has been processed by a computer system.

Information processing has many benefits that make our lives easier and more efficient:

It makes a lot of tasks easier and faster. For example, you are able to pay bills online or at a supermarket, which saves
you from going to the place that issued the bill.
It results in automation. Multiple tasks are performed without you even knowing about them. These tasks require little or
no control by humans.
It enables sharing and analysis of information. Information is easy to pass along and stored information is easy to access
and analyze.

Disadvantages of Information Processing

1. It can be very expensive to set up initially because of the hardware, software and
technical requirements. Depending on the system, it can be expensive to maintain.
Hardware and software must be replaced and kept up to date, and specialists are often needed to operate these systems.

2. We are very reliant on information processing systems. When they fail or do not work properly; it can cause
disruption
and disorder. If an Automated Teller Machine (ATM) is not working, people will be unable to withdraw money and
complete other transactions.

Forms of Information Processing

Information is processed in several ways. Control systems regulate themselves or other devices. They are widely used in our
everyday lives.
Household appliances, such as microwaves and washing machines, use control systems to sense when they should start
operating, how they should operate and when to stop.
Traffic lights are programmed to control the flow of traffic. Many traffic lights also contain sensors that can tell when
there are cars waiting at a red light and change it to green.
Alarm systems use heat and motion sensors to determine whether an intruder is in a room.
Thermostats sense when the temperature is below a set value and switch the heating on. They switch off when the
temperature reaches another set value.

Commercial Information Processing

In business and commerce, information processing is important to keep track of transactions and records. Shops use point-of-sale
(POS) systems and bar code scanners to read prices on items and keep track of stock. Businesses use databases to store records
about customers, employees and suppliers. Payroll systems are very important to calculate employees salaries and print payslips.
You can do banking at the ATMs without entering a bank. The ATM (Automated Teller Machine) reads your personal ATM card
and secure your personal identification number (PIN) to activate a session. The PIN prevents other people from using your card.

Electronic banking is a very useful information processing system. Many banks offer an internet banking service, which allows
you to conduct many transactions from your bank account over the Internet. You can also do an electronic funds transfer (EFT).
EFT transfers money from one account to another without using cash or cheques. Many people pay for purchases at shops using
their bank cards. This is a form of EFT. The customers card is inserted into a POS terminal and funds are transferred from the
customers bank account to the shops bank account.

Industrial Information Processing

Information processing is a very useful and important tool in manufacturing and production industries. Computers automate tasks
and do them more efficiently and effectively than humans. They control robots to package products or assemble cars and
electronics. Electronic circuit boards are often assembled using computer systems.

Scientific Information Processing

Expert systems help scientists process data. Some other examples of scientific information processing are:
Weather forecasting systems collect weather data all over the world and use the data to predict weather patterns.
Health-care professionals use automated processing systems to keep track of patient records. They also use robots to
perform heart and eye surgery.
Laboratories have machines that can read and process data from samples. For example, a machine can analyze a blood
sample and find its blood type.

Sources of data

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To create useful information from data, you must get that data from a suitable source. Data can be captured using machine-
readable or human-readable documents.

Machine-readable documents
Machine-readable documents are documents that a computer can read.

Human-readable documents
Human-readable documents are documents that a human can read.

Source document
A source document is a document used to capture information by writing it down. Source documents are human-readable, which
means that a person will read and enter information into the document. The best example is a form, which may be a hard copy
(printed copy) or electronic copy (soft copy). A form contains spaces and blocks that allow a person to enter relevant details. The
data is then entered into a computer. Forms are used for surveys, censuses, opinion polls, applications and market research, etc.

Turnaround document
A turnaround document is human-readable and machine-readable. A machine creates it and a human adds more data or uses it as
input for something else. The document is then ready by a computer, which updates or processes records with the new data. This
means that a machine creates it as output, which you modify, and the machine uses that modified document as input again.
Examples are utility bills, such as water bills, with the perforated section that is completed by the customer and then used as input.

Information retrieval and management

Data has to be captured before it can be processed. Data from source and turnaround documents must be entered into the
computer. This can be done using direct methods or indirect methods. Direct methods of data capture are when a computer uses
sensors or peripherals to capture the data directly from the document. Turnaround documents are designed for direct data capture.
Data can be captured in several ways:
Optical mark recognition
Magnetic ink character recognition
Bar codes
Optical character recognition

Optical mark readers scan completed multiple-choice tests to calculate a score. Utility bills are printed by computers and posted to
customers. Customers pay the bill at a designated place, and part of the form is marked as proof of payment. That part is returned
to the provider and the provider updates the customers records.

Data can be collected using sensors. Data about weather, temperature, traffic flow, speed, noise, heat and much more can be
captured using sensors. Remote sensors allow data to be captured from a distance. The data is transmitted via telephone cables or
radio signals.

Indirect methods of data capture are when data has to be taken from a source document and physically entered into a computer. A
person called a data capturer, or data entry clerk, types everything on the document into a computer. It does not require direct
input technology but it is error-prone and quite time consuming.

Validation and Verification

You cannot assume that all data entered and used by computers is accurate. Humans can make mistakes and it can be very easy to
enter incorrect or inaccurate data when you are tired, in a hurry or simply by accident. This may cause a program to malfunction
or cause incorrect information to be stored about someone or something. Imagine you applied for a passport and the data capturer
entered your birth year as 1903 instead of 1993. Your passport would say that you are over a hundred years old.

Software and hardware can cause data errors. If software is faulty, it may corrupt or delete data. If hardware is not working
properly, it may cause a computer to malfunction. If you are in the middle of working on something, the data may be lost. If there
is a problem with the hard disk, saved data may be irretrievable.

Computers, electrical faults and faulty cabling can cause transmission errors, which is when the data received by a computer or
system is not the same as what was sent by another computer.

A human error during data input can be accidental or deliberate:

Accidental errors are errors that are not made on purpose. The incorrect birth year on the passport was an accidental
error. Another accidental error is when someone transposes characters to get, say, 1893 instead of 1983.

Deliberate errors are errors made on purpose, usually for gain or to cause disorder. To get a bigger loan, someone may
enter false information about their salary on a loan application.

There are two ways to prevent data errors caused by humans: data verification and data validation.

Data Verification
Data verification ensures that data entered into a computer contains no errors at all. It is a very thorough way of making sure that
data entered is correct. Two methods of data verification are double-entry and proofreading.

Double-entry
Double-entry is where the same data is entered twice, sometimes by different people. If the data differs between the two entries, it
does not get processed. It can be expensive and time consuming to use this method, but it does ensure very accurate data capture.

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A simpler example of double-entry is when a program asks you to retype a password, perhaps when you set up an e-mail account.
When you type, the screen shows only asterisks (*) so that no one can see your password. But this means you cannot see whether
you have mistyped any characters. Without double entry, if you mistype a character when you set up your password, the password
in your head will not match what you told the program and will be rejected when you type it incorrectly. Double-entry asks you to
type the password twice and accepts the password only if the two versions match.
Proofreading
Proofreading checks the data entered against the data on the original source document. The person entering the data reads the
source document and checks that it matches what he or she has entered into the computer. Sometimes a second person will check
the entered data. This is very time consuming. If you have to enter large amounts of data from documents into a computer, it may
be wise to proofread the data you have entered. It is easy to make mistakes when you have been working on the same task for a
long time.

Data Validation

Data validation uses a variety of checks to make sure that data is as accurate and complete as possible. It does not check the
complete accuracy of data, but it does help ensure that fewer mistakes are made. If data does not pass the checks, the program
may return an error or the field will not be filled in. The checks compare the user-entered data against a rule. The check depends
on the type or nature of data that is entered.

Range checks
A range check ensures that numbers entered fall within a specific range. If you are entering times of the day, you may need to
check that the values for hours cannot go higher than 24.

Reasonableness checks
Reasonableness checks ensure that data is not completely unrealistic. If you are entering salary information into a payroll system,
a reasonableness check will ensure that you do not enter extra zeros by mistake.

Data type checks

Data type checks, or character checks, ensure that the right type of data has been entered. They ensure that only numbers have
been entered or that only symbols and letters have been entered. A field that captures the age of a person may have a character
check that rejects the input of letters or symbols.

Consistency checks
Consistency checks compare data you have entered against other data you have entered. If you enter a persons year of birth and
their age in separate fields, a consistency check will ensure that the two fields correspond with each other. Consistency checks can
be used to make sure that false or dishonest data has not been entered.

Presence checks
Documents and forms have required fields and optional fields. A required field is one that has to contain a value whereas an
optional field can be left blank. In an application for a bank account, your identify number and address will be required fields and
your cell phone number may be an optional field. A presence check is used to ensure that the required fields contain data.

Length checks
A length check determines whether the entered data is the correct length the right number of digits. Area codes and phone
numbers usually have a fixed length. If a number is entered that is longer or shorter than this length, the program will return an
error. An easy way to ensure that data is the correct length is to create a field that will not allow the user to continue unless all the
spaces for digits have been filled in.

Check digits
Bar codes and other number sequences include a check digit calculated from all the other digits using an algorithm. When the
number sequence is entered in a field, the computer can separate the check digit from the other digits, use the algorithm to
calculate a check digit and compare it with the entered check digit. If the calculated check digit matches the entered check digit,
the sequence is correct.

Parity checks
If a computer needs to understand data, the data must be reduced to its basic form of 1s and 0s. Data transmission sometimes
corrupts 1s and 0s by changing a 1 into a 0 or a 0 into a 1. One change can be detected by adding a parity bit. In an odd-parity
system the parity bit is set so the total number of 1s in a bit pattern is an odd number. In an even-parity system the parity bit is set
so the total number of 1s in a bit pattern is an even number.

Suppose you want to send 10011 using odd parity, there are three 1s, there is an odd number, so the parity bit is 0. You send
100110, which consists of data 10011 and parity bit is 0. Now suppose that one data bit is corrupted during transmission so the
receiver gets 100010, which consists of data 10001 and parity bit 0. The received data contains two 1s, so the parity bit should be
1. The parity check has detected that a data bit was corrupted during transmission.