Data, information and knowledge - Information System
The nature of information can most easily be defined in the context of its relationship to data and knowledge. Bohn (1994) describes this relationship as follows:
- Data is raw material, it can be thought of as a basic description, it may be a set of measurements taken by sensors and recorded as a set of numbers. It could be a dimension of size or weight, or a quantity of items or money. Data is sterile and will most often have no meaning other than that attributed to the numbers themselves that are used to measure it.
- Information is all, or a subset of, the gathered data that is relevant to a specific question or issue. This relevant data is then structured and organised so that some meaning can be attributed to it. I could be a trend of profit up or down or a gain or loss of weight.
- Knowledge is this 'relevant' information processed by the human mind using thinking skills taken in context and mixed with other information and experience to produce something that is useful in the making of decisions, associations or predictions.
Therefore in summary, empirical data given structure and meaning becomes information. Thinking skills are then applied to the information so converting this information into knowledge. A detailed and up to date study of the place of information within the organisation can be found in Boiset and Canals (2004).