Information Granularity
Refers to the extent of detail within the information
Detail (fine), summary, aggregate (coarse)
Information levels
Individual, department, enterprise
Information formats
Document, presentation, spreadsheet, database
Information Quality
Characteristics of high quality information
Accurate Complete Consistent Unique Timely
Information Timeliness
An aspect of info that depends on the situation
Real time information
Immediate, up to date information
Real time system
Provides real time information in response to requests
Examples of low quality information
Missing info (no first name) Incomplete info (no street) Inaccurate info (invalid email) Probable duplicate info (similar names, same address, number) Potential wrong info
Primary sources of low quality information
Costs of using low quality information
Benefits of good information
- good decisions can directly impact an organizations bottom line
Database
- maintains information about various types of objects, events, people, and places
Database management systems (DBMS)
Allows users to create, read, update, and delete data in a relational database
Data element
The smallest or basic unit of information
Data model
Logical data structures that detail the relationships among data elements using graphics or pictures
Metadata
Provides details about data
Data dictionary
Compiles all of the metadata about the data elements in the data model
Entity
A person, place, thing, transaction, or event about which information is stored
Attribute (field, column)
The data elements associated with an entity
Record
A collection of related data elements
Primary key
A field that uniquely identifies a given entity in a table
Foreign key
A primary key of one table that appears an attribute in another table and acts to provide a logical relationship among the two tables
Database advantages