Information Processing

and Handling

Mrs. Sheryl C. Farquerabao

• DOCUMENTATION• EVALUATING EFFICIENCY• STRATEGIES FOR MANAGING PROJECTS

DOCUMENTATION

• A set of documents provided on paper, or online, or on digital or analog media, such as audio tape or CDs.

• A synonym for the term document.

• Is one of the system’s which are used to communicate, instruct and record the information for any reference or operational purpose. 

The designers of an information system provide internal documentation and external documentation.

• The library staff are provided with documentation which explains how to navigate the system as a borrower and how to operate the system as a troubleshooter.

INTERNAL DOCUMENTATION

• Starting up and shutting down the system• Troubleshooting student problems• Hotline contact procedures• Navigating the menu system

The documentation covers activities for librarians at the loans and enquiries counter and includes:

Explains how to access and use the wide range of online search facilities available. They can access the library catalogue from home and at terminals suited throughout the library. This means that the documentation has to explain two thing:

EXTERNAL DOCUMENTATION

1. how to use the search facility

2. how to connect to the system when working from home

ELECTRONIC PAPER BASED

Help menus Quick reference cards

Cue cards Telephone hotline lists

Internet Comprehensive user manual

E-mail

Telephone

EVALUATING EFFICIENCY

Efficiency is measured in savings. If, by doing something in a certain way, a task takes less effort then there is a saving in energy. If a task takes less time there is a saving in the cost associated with time.

PROCESSING TECHNIQUES

Is a series of steps carried out in order to perform an individual task.

Example:

Loading paper into the printer correctly or giving a draft copy of a document a file name which clearly identifies its position in the production sequence.

Common questions that can help to evaluate efficiency of a processing technique

QUESTIONS ABOUT SENDING AND SAVING FILES ELECTRONICALLY

KIND OF SAVING

Is it quicker to send and save files electronically?Yes, once the staff are skilled, both operations happen with the click of a mouse

Time saving

Is it easier to send and save files electronically?Yes, once the staff are skilled, and understand the software, it is easier to click a mouse button than walk to a filing cabinet or post a letter

Effort saving

Is it cheaper for staff to send files electronically?Yes, if it takes less time and is easier.Is it cheaper to save files electronically?Yes, if the company uses less paper and less office space is devoted to filing cabinets.

Cost saving

• Hardware and software are the two main categories of equipment. Important considerations are how well the chosen software runs on the available hardware and whether the varieties of hardware are compatible.

EQUIPMENT

• As with efficiency, choosing the right equipment particularly the right combination of hardware and software – has a strong influence on the effectiveness of the information product.

CRITERIA QUESTIONS TO ASK

Timeliness Can the new equipment access and manipulate the latest file types:Graphic, video, sound?

Accuracy Does the new equipment have electronic procedures for validation and testing of data and information?Can it update its own virus-detecting software?

Relevance Can the new equipment add new search categories to its thesauruses?

Completeness Does the new equipment accept historical files/formats during changeover?Will old records be lost during transition?

FACTORS WHICH INFLUENCE THE QUALITY OF INFORMATION

Checklist for equipment effectiveness

EVALUATING EFFECTIVENESS

• Effectiveness is a measure of output’s success.

Questions for evaluating effectiveness are:

• Does the information product meet the design specification?

• Does the output communicate the message it is supposed to?

• Managing a project requires planning to organanise people, equipment, procedures and time in such a way that the information produced meets users’ needs.

STRATEGIES FOR MANAGING PROJECTS

• Identifying the user’s needs• Listing the resources needed• Designing a solution• Producing the information• Evaluating the effectiveness of the information

Producing information involves the following steps:

• Top-down• Bottom-up• Middle-out

Strategies for planning and organising people

• It attempts to identify all the tasks to be performed and the resources needed.

• In the planning stage, all tasks are broken down into sub-tasks that can be performed individually.

• Its strategy allows very tight control is mindlessly applied.

Top-down

• Focuses on the output required and then works upwards through the processes needed to produce the output.

• Used in an oraganizations where the various department responsible for one stage in the production view the completion of their task as the end of their environment

Bottom-up

Unplanned process and might be characterized by four broad stages:

• Indentifying the information needed and starting production

• Bringing in equipment as it is needed• Checking the product and modifying where necessary• Calculating the cost at the end, if at all

Middle-out

• A middle-out planning strategy often operates without detailed costings and without a progressive timeline.

• The strategy works small group of people working together in the same room.

• Operates without the usual planning constraints and with little hierarchy of authority. It is sometimes called “muddle out”.

Producing information to meet user’s needs

• Involves establishing procedures to cover all stages of the technology process, having access to suitable production equipment and following a timetable to meet established deadlines.

Research procedures include:

• Interviewing potential users/audiences• Analyzing audience characteristics and users’ needs• Preparing a checklist of information content that is to be

output• Indentifying software to produce the output effectively• Identifying hardware to run the software efficiently• Checking availability of equipment• Costing tasks and resources associated which each stage

of the project

Design procedures include:

• Creating a template of output layout• Annotating a mock-up of output with suggested font

styles and sizes• Creating a timeline with estimated dates for milestones• Preparing evaluation criteria

Production procedures include:

• Establishing file names for identifying drafts• Validating accuracy of content against a checklist• Validating layout against design mock-up• Producing an evaluation checklist• Producing the information product

Evaluation procedures include:

• Testing final product against evaluation criteria• Deciding on modifications arising from test survey

Time

four important concepts related to the timing of tasks:

• Duration• Predecessors• Lead• Lag

• The duration of each task is estimated and a timeline constructed. Some tasks have to be completed before others: these are called predecessors.

• Some tasks can be started while others are only partly completed. The overlap in their start to finish is called lead.

• Some task need to have a “setting in” time before the next task is started. The delay time is called lag time.

Allocating task and responsibilities

example:

the task ‘scan images’ would require the name of a person and the use of a scanner to be allocated.

Resources Name Category Cost per hour

Cost outright

People JaySally

StaffStaff

$25$25

Materials PaperFilm

$400$75

Equipments CameraScanner

HireHire

$36$45

$550$120

Space DarkroomStudioEditing

RentRent

In house

$75$50$25

Monitoring progress

Monitoring the progress of a project involves setting a detailed timeline, and this requires:

• Identifying tasks and subtasks• Estimating subtasks duration• Selecting indicators to mark the completion of a major

stage• Sequencing the task and setting predecessors

Setting timeline

• All task are listed in the order in which they need to be executed.

Determining indicators

•When a stage in the process is completed, a milestone is reached.

• Milestones need to be identified to monitor the project timetable. Milestones have zero duration; they are markers of a task completed and are not tasks themselves.

For example, party invitations and programs for sports carnivals must be ready some weeks before the event.

Milestones help keep the production on schedule.

The selection of hardware and software to meet information processing needs is aided by completing details under the headings in the following checklist.

Selecting hardware

RAM

Screen resolution

Printer

Modern speed

Operating System compatibility

Selecting software

Application required

Files type

Graphics/text/sound

Operating System compatibility

I THANK YOU !!!