SOURCES OF INFORMATION ELECTRONIC SOURCES n Information held

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

ELECTRONIC SOURCES n Information held in electronic form: On computer files and databases Computer files and databases may be internal or external to the organisation Files and databases may be accessed and transferred within local area networks or wider area networks

ELECTRONIC SOURCES n Information held in electronic form: On CD-ROM Many reference books, for example: dictionaries, thesauruses, guides, encyclopaedias and newspapers are now available on CD-ROM

ELECTRONIC SOURCES n Information held in electronic form: The Internet ie The World Wide Web (www) Contains a vast amount of information on ‘websites’ For example: Travel. Statistics News Government Commercial Information

ELECTRONIC SOURCES n Information held in electronic form: Viewdata Provides general and specific information For example New Prestel

ELECTRONIC SOURCES n Information held in electronic form: Teletext Information accessed via a TV For example Financial Weather Sport News Information Travel This information cannot be printed or manipulated

ELECTRONIC SOURCES n Information held in electronic form can usually be: – Accessed quickly – Printed as required – Queried and manipulated to suit requirements

PAPER BASED SOURCES n Information in printed form: The information may be internal or external to the organisation. For example: Road Phone. Maps Book AA/RAC Yellow Pages Handbook Whitaker’s Almanac Roget’s Thesaurus Railway Timetables Dictionaries Encyclopaedias Postal Leaflets Who’s World Who. Gazetteers Hansard Airways Guide

ORAL SOURCES n Information is passed by word of mouth: In order for this to be of value as a reliable source of information, a full and accurate record should be kept of what is said Examples of Oral Sources of Information include: Meetings Telephone Videophone Interviews Visits Cellular (mobile) phone Videoconferencing

INTERNAL SOURCES OF INFORMATION n Information which is obtained from the organisation’s own internal records The value will depend on the accuracy, relevance and quality of the information Examples include: Personnel Records Payroll (wages) Records Company Files Dept Reports Company Handbooks Minutes of Meetings Internal Databases Stock Records Financial Reports Sales and Purchases Information

EXTERNAL SOURCES OF INFORMATION n Information which is obtained from outwith the organisation May be required when comparing the organisation’s performance against other similar organisations Examples include: Market Research Local Enterprise Govt Reports and Professional External Databases and Trade Internet (www) Publications Company. Articles Reports Newspaper Associations Price Lists Catalogues Local Authority Company Viewdata eg New Prestel HMSO Reports Teletext Reports Reference Books

USES OF THESE SOURCES OF INFORMATION n Telecommunications: Phone Book Information Names, addresses on phone and services, phone numbers useful numbers, of subscribers, national codes, business international fax numbers information Yellow Pages Names, addresses, phone, fax and telex numbers classified by trades and professions Business Pages Names, addresses, phone, fax and telex numbers of companies who supply goods and services to other companies British Telecom Telex Directory Names, addresses and telex numbers of all UK subscribers

USES OF THESE SOURCES OF INFORMATION n Travel: AA/RAC Handbooks Road maps, hotels, garages ABC World Airways. Timetables for all regular air services Guide throughout the world A-Z Guides World Atlas Dictionary Roget’s Thesaurus Town street maps Maps, climate, transport, population, land use Meaning and spelling of words, pronunciation, abbreviations etc Synonyms and antonyms

USES OF THESE SOURCES OF INFORMATION n Companies: Director of Companies Names of Directors and their (UK) companies The (Macmillan) An outline of all companies listed on the Stock Exchange London Stock Exchange Official Year Book

USES OF THESE SOURCES OF INFORMATION n Famous People: Who’s Who Biographies of famous or important living people Who Was Who Biographies of famous people who have died

USES OF THESE SOURCES OF INFORMATION n Miscellaneous: Hansard Verbatim (word for word) reports of proceedings in Parliament Mailguide Royal Mail Services Pears Cyclopaedia Gazetteer, historical events, prominent people, politics, science, music, sport etc Whitaker’s Almanac Previous year’s main events – Government, UK statistics, Royal Family, Education etc

USES OF THESE SOURCES OF INFORMATION n Miscellaneous: Black’s Titles and Forms of Addresses Forms of address for people who hold a high rank or official position Government Bookshops Formerly HMSO. Government publications, health and safety, statistics, parliamentary papers

SOURCES ON CD-ROM Census Family spending Regional Trends Social Trends Newspapers British Medical Journals Hansard Encyclopaedia Who’s Who Oxford English Dictionary

SOURCES ON THE INTERNET Magellan Maps Foreign Exchange Rates Eurostar London Transport Scotrail Weather Net Roget’s Thesaurus On-line Newspapers News Services Broadcasting eg BBC Etc Etc

CONCLUSION n Information is the lifeblood of an organisation. n It is the basis upon which an organisation operates and upon which decisions are made To make effective decisions you require GOOD (or reliable, up-to-date, high-quality) information!