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9780838908686

Understanding Information Systems

by
  • ISBN13:

    9780838908686

  • ISBN10:

    0838908683

  • Format: Paperback
  • Copyright: 2004-01-01
  • Publisher: Ala Editions
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List Price: $66.00

Table of Contents

Figures
ix
Tables
xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Introduction xv
Describing Information
1(11)
What Is an Information System?
1(1)
What Is a System?
1(1)
What Is Information?
2(1)
Working Definitions of Information
3(4)
Information Distortion
7(4)
Exercises and Research Questions
11(1)
Representing Information
12(13)
The Cumbersome Decimal System
12(2)
The Simple Binary System
14(1)
Converting Binary to Decimal and Back Again
15(3)
The Hexadecimal System
18(2)
Number Humor
20(1)
How Did the Romans Deal with Fractions?
21(1)
Prefix and Postfix Representation
22(1)
Exercises and Research Questions
23(2)
Organizing Information
25(14)
Fundamental Information Structures
25(8)
Who Wants Short Sorts?
33(3)
Exercises and Research Questions
36(3)
Retrieving Information
39(18)
The Nature of Information Retrieval
39(3)
Boolean and Beyond
42(5)
Vector Methods (Simplified)
47(3)
Fuzzy Information Retrieval
50(4)
Inverted Files
54(2)
Exercises and Research Questions
56(1)
Networking Information
57(5)
Network Topologies
57(4)
Bridges, Switches, Routers, and Gateways
61(1)
Securing Information
62(14)
Physical, Data, Server, Backup, and Network Security
62(4)
First Line of Defense: The Lowly Password
66(2)
Viruses, Worms, Trojan Horses, Logic Bombs, and Other Nasties
68(3)
A Dangerous Script
71(2)
Misdirection
73(2)
Exercises and Research Questions
75(1)
Concealing Information
76(16)
Codes and Ciphers
76(3)
Key Issues
79(1)
The Unbreakable One-Time Pad
80(1)
Symmetric (One-Key) Cryptography
81(1)
Asymmetric (Two-Key) Cryptography
82(4)
The Secret History of Public Key Cryptography
86(1)
Other Cryptographic Systems
87(2)
Steganography: Hiding Information in Plain Sight
89(1)
Exercises and Research Questions
90(2)
Measuring Information
92(13)
Bibliometrics: Measuring the Printed Word
92(4)
Sabermetrics: Measuring Baseball Information
96(5)
Web Metrics
101(1)
Exercises and Research Questions
102(3)
Counting Information
105(33)
Counting Tools
105(3)
Counting Methods
108(3)
Counting Things
111(22)
Exercises and Research Questions
133(5)
Numbering Information
138(12)
Prime Cuts
138(4)
The Intriguing Nature of Pi
142(5)
Pascal's Triangle
147(2)
Exercises and Research Questions
149(1)
Managing Information
150(7)
Characteristics of a Successful Information System
150(2)
Building a Successful Information System
152(2)
Why Things Go Wrong
154(1)
Costs and Risks
155(2)
The Computer as an Information System
157(6)
How Big Is an Exabyte?
157(1)
Data Compression: Reducing Redundancy
158(2)
Information Issues in the Background
160(1)
Exercises and Research Questions
161(2)
The Internet as an Information System
163(16)
Basics of Internet Protocol Addressing
163(2)
Addressing Schemes
165(3)
The Internet Metaphor Project
168(4)
Is Internet Access a Privilege or a Right?
172(3)
Other Internet Issues
175(2)
Exercises and Research Questions
177(2)
Music as an Information System
179(18)
The Nature of Music and Sound
179(2)
Tuning Information Systems
181(3)
How Many Tones Belong in a Scale?
184(1)
Making Cents of It All
185(1)
Melody Machines
186(2)
Fundamentals of Music Information Retrieval
188(7)
Exercises and Research Questions
195(2)
Interpreting Information: Numbers as Meanings
197(10)
Gematria
197(6)
The Numerology of 666
203(3)
Exercises and Research Questions
206(1)
Counterintuitive Information
207(22)
Not Quite Paradoxes
207(7)
The Trouble with Infinity
214(4)
Exercises and Research Questions
218(1)
Appendixes
A Which Librarian Has the Server?
219(1)
B The Square Root of Two Is Irrational
220(2)
C Who's on First?
222(7)
Answers to Selected Exercises 229(8)
References 237(10)
Index 247

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