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Information Processing: Historical Perspectives

operate more efficiently, as well as creating streamlined Integrating software applications is a powerful aspect
processes to cut costs. of using software designed to be used in the Windows
Changing internal processes can be difficult within environment. Integration refers to the sharing of informa-
an organization. Businesses must abandon old ways of tion among applications—word processing, spreadsheet,
and database applications. Computer software not only
preserving and protecting data. Data need to be shared
shares common features but also is very often compatible;
within an organization on a rules- and roles-based system;
thus, information that is created in one software package
reporting functions need to be streamlined, limiting deci-
can be shared in another.
sion making to a select few. Open lines of communication
The proliferation of computer software has dramati-
and collaboration within the organization, as well as with
cally changed the way end users create documents. As
partners, suppliers, and customers, helps the organization
computer software became more sophisticated over the
achieve greater operational efficiency.
years, the software programs began to share common fea-
Constantly evolving business requirements mean that
tures. Modern offices use a combination of software pack-
the work-flow processes have to be updated as needs
ages to produce useful information. The field of
change. Customization may be required. Businesses need
information processing has had and continues to make a
to define and modify work-flow functions. Solutions that significant impact on society.
bridge the gap between back- and front-office worlds
enable organizations to exchange information. SEE ALSO Careers in Information Processing; Desktop
Publishing; Ethics in Information Processing; Informa-
In the current work environment, businesses use the
Internet on a daily basis. The Internet is no longer a tool tion Processing: Historical Perspectives; Information
Systems; Information Technology
just for electronic mail, research, and electronic com-
merce. It has become a tool for globalizing a business; it is
a tool that enables an organization to tie together employ- BIBLIOGRAPHY
Heiman, Richard V. & Picardi, Anthony C. (2005). Worldwide
ees, suppliers, and customers. Free flow of information is
Software 2005-2009 Forecast Summary. Framingham, MA:
generated across the country and internationally. IDC.
Information and communication in the 2004–2010 MTPDP
CHALLENGES OF INFORMATION (2004, November 13). Manila Bulletin.
PROCESSING O’Leary, Timothy J., and O’Leary, Linda I. (1996). Microsoft
Office integration. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Businesses still face challenges as they attempt to revise
internal processes, open communications to outside Oliverio, Mary Ellen, Pasewark, William, and White, Bonnie
(2003). The Office: Procedures and technology (4th ed.).
sources, and integrate disparate technology functions.
Mason, OH: Thomson South-Western.
Information should not be isolated in specific depart-
Shelly, Gary B., Cashman, Thomas J., and Vermaat, Misty E.
ments; it should be housed is such a way as to benefit the (2003). Discovering computers 2004: A gateway to information.
entire organization. Boston: Course Technology.
In the modern office, information processing encom-
passes a wide field. It ranges from textual information to
Mary Nemesh
digital information, qualitative analysis to quantitative
analysis, as well as globally from the Internet to a single
personal computer.
Computer documents may require a combination of INFORMATION
software packages to be used; for example, placing a PROCESSING:
spreadsheet into a word-processing document or a spread-
sheet graph in a presentation file. A variety of manipula- HISTORICAL
tions is involved in the processing of textual information. PERSPECTIVES
A document can be rearranged by the cutting and pasting Since the beginning of time, humans have attempted to
of text, and graphics can be imported into a text docu- derive methods to compute and to process data more effi-
ment. Using image analysis software, images can be ciently. One of the earliest computing devices was the aba-
manipulated. The digital processing of numerical data can cus developed in ancient Egypt during the thirteenth
be accomplished through spreadsheet programs. Using century. The abacus is a frame comprised of beads strung
spreadsheet programs, data can be queried in a “what if” on wires used to add, subtract, divide, and multiply.
statement, and statistical analysis and graphical represen- Although this primitive device preceded pencil and paper,
tation of the data can be illustrated. it is still used in the twenty-first century.

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