INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

ASSIGNMENT 1

TOPIC: BASIC CONCEPTS OF INFORMATION

TECHNOLOGY

NAME:SUGABALAN K
DEPARTMENT:B.COM(CA)
REGISTER NO:2101AP10134
UNIVERSITY:PRIST UNIVERSITY
CAMPUS:THANJAVUR
 INTRODUCTION

 Technology has been defined as "systematic knowledge and action, usually of

industrial processes but applicable to any recurrent activity". In providing

tools and techniques for action, technology at once adds to and draws from a

knowledge base in which theory and practice interact and compact. At its

most general level technology may be regarded as definable specifiable way

of doing anything. In other words, we may say a technology is a codified,

communicable procedure for solving problems.

 Technology, Manfred Kochen observed, impacts in three stages. First, it

enables us to do what we are now doing, but better, faster and cheaper;

second, it enables us to do what we cannot do now; and third, it changes our

life styles.

 Information technology is a recent and comprehensive term, which describes

the whole range of processes for generation, storage, transmission, retrieval

and processing of information.

 In this Unit, an attempt is made to discuss the components of information

technology and to identify elements that really matter m the investigation and

implementation of new information technologies in information systems and

 services.
 DEVELOPMENT OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

 Despite the impression often given that information technology has suddenly

burst on the scene, its roots could be traced well into the past.

Historical Perspective

 The history of man-made information technology is one of slow evolution

dating back to biochemical path, with primitive signs, hieroglyphics, the

alphabet writing, the book printing, and computer type-setting - a more or

less linear development. More recently, the telephone, radio, television,

satellite transmission, transistor, the computer, and the microprocessor

represent distinct qualitative changes in the information technology, with the

fact that we now have to accept the composite term information technology

to include a whole range of new developments. It has been said that

information technology is the science of information handling, particularly by

computers used to support the communication of knowledge in scientific

technical, economic and social fields.

Definition of Information Technology (IT)

 The term `Information Technology' (IT) has varying interpretations.

Macmillan Dictionary of Information Technology defines IT as "the

acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual

 and numerical information by a micro-electronics-based combination of

computing and telecommunications".

 Two points are worth consideration about this definition:

 The new information technology is seen as involving the formulating,

recording and processing and not just transmitting of, information. These are

elements in the communication process which can be separated (both

analytically and in practice) but in the context of human communication they

tend to be intertwined.

 Modem information technology deals with a wide variety of ways of

representing information. It covers not only the textual (i.e., cognitive,

propositional and verbalised forms, we often think under the head

information), but also numerical, visual, and auditory representations.

 UNESCO defines Information Technology as "scientific, technological and

engineering disciplines and the management techniques used in information

handling and processing information, their applications; computers and their

interaction with man and machine and associated social, economic and

cultural matters". (Stokes)

 This definition, while emphasising the significant role of computers, appears

not to take into its purview the communication systems. It may, however, be

stated that communication systems are as essential to information technology

 as computers. As a consequence, we have a convergence of three strands of

technologies: computers, micro-electronics and communications. In other

words, a mosaic of technologies, products and techniques have combined to

provide new electronic dimensions to information management. This mosaic

is known by the name new information technology. It is important to bear in

mind that information technology is not just concerned with new pieces of

equipment but with much broader spectrum of information activities.

Information technology encompasses such different things as book, print;

reprography, the telephone network, broadcasting and computers.

COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

 Computer technology may conveniently be grouped into: processor

technology, storage technology and software aspects.

Processor Technology

 Computers consist of electronic components assembled in a design or

 "architecture" that will perform necessary functions of input, output,

computation and control (control of both the computer itself and of attached

peripheral devices that perform input and output functions and store the

files).
 In the past, electronic components were expensive, so a minimum number

were used in a single processor that alternately performs input, control,

processing and output. Besides, the first generation of computers, operated

by means of vacuum tubes or valves, were relatively bulky and energy

consuming. The first major innovation, leading to micro- electronics was the

discovery of transistor, a product of solid state physics, which used

semiconductor materials. The most important development of these today is

based on the non-metallic element `silicon'. Being much smaller than the

vacuum tube, the transistor quickly replaced it in all electronic equipment.

However, transistors and other equipment had to be wired together and a

single piece of equipment might have thousands of such components. The

wiring and assembly of such elements were a delicate and costly process.

This naturally paved the way for research towards the concept of integrated

circuit (IC). At first IC's were simple but, as the technology developed, they

rapidly became smaller and more complex. This led to the miniaturisation

and refinement.

 The central feature of micro-electronics is the development of micro-

processor, a special form of IC with functions of arithmetic, logic and control

- similar to those of Central Processing Unit (CPU) of a computer and

 contained in a single chip. In addition, the microprocessor includes units to

interpret instructions from the stored programme to supply the control

memory the information necessary to retrieve instructions and send out data

as required. The microprocessor is the building block from which modem

computer systems are assembled. The microprocessor uses very, little

energy and has few environmental requirements of older machinery. Air

conditioning, for example, might not be necessary for a general purpose

computer using microprocessor technology. The practical significance of this

is that it is mow possible to bring the computer to the problem instead of

bringing the problem to the computer. The aspects referred to above form a

major hardware component of a computer.

Storage Technology

 In the previous section, the, recent innovations relating to the processing

aspects of computer technology were discussed briefly. In considering some of

the advances in devices for digital information storage, it may be stated that

most of the primary storage in computers is now supplied by semi-conductor

circuits. There have been significant developments in memory technology

affecting three areas of performance spectrum; the high speed, high

performance; the midrange and the low speed bulk memory systems.
 It is now possible that even a small computer system might have cache

memory, a small associative memory retaining most recently referenced

information and in a readily available place. In some cases, cache memory may

be at the top of a hierarchy of memories having a wide variety of

characteristics. Memory management, dynamic memory allocation, and virtual

memory schemes, generally found in large computer systems, are now

appearing on computers which are small and less costly.

 The development of charge coupled devices (CCDs) and bubble memories has

filled the gap which previously existed in the continuum of memory devices

such as fixed-head magnetic disks and these are slower than other semi-

conductor memories. These memories have advantage over magnetic disks in

that they contain' no mechanical parts and could be used to store significant

amount of information and can be treated as a structured file system.

 There has been a continuous improvement in recording densities of magnetic

media. Floppy disks and microfloppies provide a convenient media to store

data.

 This kind of mass storage devices are believed to be very useful in the development

of information storage and retrieval systems. It May be stated that all these

innovations in storage technology provide us a variety of alternatives

 depending on the requirements of speed of operation. These developments

add more capabilities to the storage aspects and may be considered advances

in the storage technology.

Software Aspects

 Software is a generic term covering the concepts, procedures and

instructions which enable computer systems to do useful things. Usually,

software is conceived in terms of computer programs, discrete units of

software which make the computer to carry out specific tasks, and or systems

or packages.

 The importance of software is obvious, since it is the software which applies

the power of the computer to solve the users' problems. Many of the users

need a clear understanding of the capabilities of software more than

hardware aspects. It is known for some years now that the "rapid increase in

the capabilities of computer systems has not been matched by corresponding

increases in the development and quality of software. This situation has

caused much disenchantment with computer systems.

 The methods by which computer software is produced have changed

considerably in recent years with the emergence of "software engineering",

 which enabled improvements in programming practice, such as structured,

or modular programming.

 As one of the solutions to the software problem increased production and

availability of packaged software is encouraged.

 Another solution of to the problem is the use of fourth generation languages

and flexible integrated software to produce prototypes of programmes to

meet the user needs. It is hoped that these solutions would be able to meet

fairly standard requirements. For the average user they mean that there will

be an increasing number of packages to meet most of his needs.

COMMUNICATIONS TECHNOLOGY

 The development of communications technology is, in a sense, a symbol of

man's effort to communicate rapidly over great distances.

Communications technology is older than computer technology. It has

grown as rapidly as the computer technology in recent times. These two

technologies are now fusing into what Anthony Oettinger has called

`compunications'. This newly emergent technology is changing our life

styles as few technologies have before. This new technology has probable

and important uses in the home, office, factory, community and in

information exchange system and holds prospects of immediate relevance

 to information profession. Some of the significant aspects of information

transmission technology are discussed briefly in the following paragraphs.

 A communication system can establish paths over which messages can be

sent between any two instruments in specified locations at desired times.

This type of system is generally known as switched .network.'

Communications technology has advanced to the extent that now it is

possible to hire services from a commercially operated network. Hence,

there is a steady growth of computer-to-computer data traffic. Also,

computer manufactures are offering network architectures which could'

be used to store large volumes of

 information in digital form.

 point of view is that of a fundamental and massive shift from analog to

digital modes of transmission. This shift is underpinned by new

transmission channels of enormous capacity. This shift is massive in that

it involves the replacement or upgrading of costly equipment. It also

involves types of communications namely voice, facsimile, computer

transmissions and television communication, which will all be affected.

For example, every manufacturer of semi-conductor circuits has started

to produce a device called Codec-short for `Coder- decoder'. This circuit

takes the human voice and transmits by the standard voice-grade

 telephone channel, samples the signal 8,000 times per second, and

encodes it into a digital bit stream. Digitised signals from hundreds of

telephone conversations are then bundled, transmitted over a high

capacity communication links, decoded at the other end, and reconstituted

into a very close approximation of the original voice. While this may

appear to be an elaborate and excessively complicated procedure, the

switch from analog to digital makes good sense from a number of points

of view. Firstly, the cost performance of digital circuits continues to

improve remarkably. Secondly, noise problems inherent in analog

devices can be eliminated. This transformation from analog to digital

mode has resulted in the intelligent communication channel and has

reduced even the thin line of distinction between communications and

computing.

 As a result of rapid technological progress, a variety of services, which

have traditionally been considered separate, are now becoming

increasingly similar.

 This tendency is generally referred to as convergence of service modes.

 Telecommunications can now handle not only speech and data but also

visual information in a unified manner.

  Broadcasting is now capable of providing two-way or selective

dissemination of audio and visual information by way of a broad-band

cables in addition to conventional one way dissemination. With the result,

two traditionally separate 'services, telecommunications and

broadcasting tend to merge together in their mode of operation and

thereby provide users with diversified types of information more

efficiently. This innovation could be utilised for the publication of journals

through the extensive use of techniques like facsimile text processing and

word processing. Library and information services may also be included

into the integrated whole. To handle the economy of scale, the concept of

Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is evolving very rapidly.

REPROGRAPHIC AND MICROGRAPHIC

TECHNOLOGIES

Reprography

 Reprography, as a term, has gained international recognition in 1963. It

includes "photocopying, microcopying, duplicating and in-plant printing

and is characterised by the small scale of its operatives". Reprographic

techniques include such processes as diffusion transfer, physical transfer,

 quick stabilisation, diazo, thermography, and electrostatography for

copying documents. Reprographic technology has been playing a vital role

in the dissemination of recorded information and has now come to stay as

one of the means to provide access to document resources geographically

located in different places. Document delivery service largely depends on

the facilities afforded by reprography.

Micrography

 Micrographic technology is an outgrowth of photographic technology.

Since this technology is being increasingly used to supplement computer

systems, strong electronic and photo- electronic influences make it multi-

technology dependent. Micrographic technology finds its application not

only as a publishing medium but also, as a communication medium,

computer output medium, and storage medium. In the past, the use of

microform as a publishing medium was limited because of inherent

limitations. It may be stated that the widely known field of use for this

technology was in connection with archivation and for file and library

compaction, in which together offer multiple operating systems running

on families of similar computers. A terminal of a computer network may

have access to any of the computers within the network, if it is authorised

 to do so. A computer serves as a terminal when connected for providing

computation, information retrieval, etc., in accordance with the request of

the terminal. A multi-lateral access capability allows the users of the

terminal to share these resources. Such networks are characterised by a

new technique known as packet switching in which the message is divided

into a number of message blocks called packets and are transmitted

between nodes in store and forward basis. Among the information

resources to be shared are the data bases. A number of information

systems have come into operation based on this concept.

 information workers. Their value for the user depends primarily on the

human engineering of the retrieval support hardware and software and

relevance of information that can be obtained in response to a particular

problem. The production process for a micro-publication reflects a dual

information flow. The content is either microfilmed or if it is available in

machine-readable form, converted directly into microfiche by a COM

system. The primary information is inexpensively duplicated and

distributed to all those who are in need of it. 1VIicroforms permit (as

publication and storage media) compaction, organisation for ease of use

and partial or full automation of retrieval. Most important, however, are

 the economic advantages and the potential for up-todate complete

information supply in a decentralised and user- oriented form.

 As information transfer medium, microforms exhibit many desirable

features suitable for use in IRS Systems with automated retrieval and on-

demand reproduction. These computer microforms (CMF) systems offer

high on-line storage capacity and economic on-demand publishing

capabilities, provided special microforms with high reduction ratios are

used.

 The new technologies are causing rapid changes. The factors which are

having impact are computers, microprocessors, lasers, digitisation of

information and screen based technology including television and

telecommunications. Some of the aspects relevant to information

profession are developments in keyboards, OCR, input to photosetting

systems, electronic full page composition techniques, and graphic

reproduction. Data capture in machine-readable form is becoming easier

with the advances in word processing and direct entry photosetters.

Increasing digitization of data makes printing a more systems oriented

process.
 Information Technology (IT) and explain its components or ram mitts. To

achieve the above objective, an attempt has been made to provide to you,

in as brief a mamma as possible, the basic knowledge which an

information professional will heed in trying to understand what

Information Technology is all about.

 It has been mentioned in the text of this Unit that the expression

Information Technology is a composite term conveying the convergence

of computer, communications, reprographics and micrographics. A

succinct description of


 these component technologies has been provided in this Unit. Since there

are going to be separate Units discussing computers and communications

basics, only a broad tine of these aspects is included in this Unit. It is hoped

that the explanation provided in the Unit and the descriptive account

would be helpful to the students of BLIS Programme in. the proper

understanding of Information Technology and its relevance to

information systems and services.

 The term Information Technology (IT) has different interpretations. For

example, Macmillan Dictionary of Information Technology defines

Information Technology as "the acquisition, processing, storage and

 dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a

micro-electronics-based combination of computing and

telecommunications".

 On the other hand, UNESCO defines IT as "scientific, technological and

engineering disciplines and the management techniques used in

information handling and processing information; their applications;

computers and their interaction with man and machine and associated

social, economic and cultural matters (Stokes)

 From the first definition, IT is seen as involving the formulating, recording

and processing and not just transmitting of information. These are

elements in the communication process which can be separated but in the

context of human communication tend to be intertwined. Secondly, IT

deals with a wide variety of ways of representing information. It not only

covers the textual (i.e., cognitive, propositional and verbalised forms,

which we normally associate with information) but also numerical, visual

and auditory representations.

 The UNESCO definition mostly emphasises the significant role of

computers while not highlighting the importance of communication

systems. However, it must be stated that communication systems are as

 essential to IT as computers. In other words, a mosaic of technologies,

products and techniques have combined to provide new electronic

dimensions to information management. ,This mosaic is known by the

name new Information Technology. It is important to bear in mind that

Information Technology is not just concerned with new pieces of

equipment but with mach broader spectrum of information activities.

 Computers consist of electronic components assembled in a design or

architecture that will perform necessary functions of input, outputs

computation and control (control of both the computer itself and of

 In the past, electronic components were expensive therefore, a minimum

number were used in a single processor that alternately used to perform

input, processing and output.

 The first major innovation leading to micro-electronics was the discovery

of transistors, which used semiconductor materials. The most important

development of these today is based on non-waffle element `Silicon'. The

next innovation of significance was the development of Integrated Circuit

(IC). In the beginning, the ICs were simple, but as the technology

developed, they rapidly became smaller and more complex. This resulted

in the miniaturisation and refinement of computers. A significant feature

 of micro-electronics is the development of micro-processor, a special form

of IC with functions of arithmetic, logic and control, similar to those of CPU

of a computer and contained in a single chip.

 The microprocessor is the building block from which modern computer

systems are assembled. The microprocessor uses less energy and few

environmental requirements of old machinery. The practical significance

of this is that it is now possible to bring the computer to the problem

instead of bringing the problem to the computer.' The significant aspects

discussed earlier form a major hardware component of a computer.

 Similarly, there had been significant developments in memory technology.

It is now possible that even a small computer system might have cache

memory, a small associative memory retaining most recently referenced

information and in a readily available place. Memory management,

dynamic memory allocation and virtual memory schemes which are

generally found in large computer systems, are now appearing on

computers which are small and less costly.

 There has been a continuous improvement in recording densities on

magnetic media. Floppy disks and microfloppies provide a convenient

media to store data. The development of videodisk has added a new

 dimension to the information storage technology. Videodisks could be

used to store large volumes of information in digital form. It may be stated

that the innovations in storage technology provide a variety of

alternatives to choose depending on the speed of requirements.

 The importance of software is obvious, since it is the software which

applies the power of the computer to solve users problems. The methods

by which computer software is produced have changed considerably in

recent years with the emergence of `software engineering', which enabled

improvements in programming practice, such as structured, or modular

programming.

 These developments in computer technology enable us to develop

efficient information systems and services and help the users in a
purposeful manner.
 The development of communications technology is a symbol of man's

effort to communicate rapidly over great distances. Communications

technology is older than computer technology. In recent times, it has

grown as rapidly as computer technology. These two technologies are now

fusing into what Anthony Oettinger has called `Compunications'. This

newly emergent technology is changing our life: styles as few technologies

have before. This new technology has important uses in the home, office,

factory, community and in information exchange system and holds

 prospects of immediate relevance to information profession. Hence,

every information professional must make efforts to understand the

nature and role of `Compunications'.,

 Reprography includes 'Photocopying, microcopying, duplicating and in-

plant printing and is characterised by the small scale of its operatives'.

Reprography as a term gained ' international recognition in 1963.

Reprographic techniques comprise such processes as diffusion transfer,

quick stabilisation, diazo, thermography and electrostatography for

copying documents. Reprographic technology has been playing a

significant role in the dissemination of recorded information and is

accepted as one of the means to provide access to document resources

geographically located in different places. the information necessary to

retrieve instructions and control to send

 Document delivery service has largely became possible due to the facilities

provided by reprography.

 On the other hand, micrographic technology is an outgrowth of;

photographic technology. Since micrographic technology is used to

supplement computer systems, strong electronic and photo electronic

influences make micrography a multi-technology dependent.

 Micrography finds its application not only as a publishing medium, but

also, as a communication medium, computer output medium and storage

medium. However, the widely known field of use for micrographic

technology is in connection with archivation and for file and library

compaction, in which microforms replace traditional paper publications.

As information transfer medium microforms exhibit many features

suitable for use in ISR Systems, with automated retrieval and on- demand

reproduction. Computer

 microform(CMF) system offer high online storage.