ABSTRACT
Data and information permeate the work of information systems professionals. All companies generate and process large amounts of informal information. A formal information system is often inadequate to capture all the information dynamics associated with a transaction. There is a distorted use of “information,” where “information” is used instead of “data” because it sounds more important and useful, for example, saying “information model” when one means the “data model.” The conversion of data to information involves two basic activities: organizing and processing. Organizing data is reflected in the data models underlying the application. Applications are built on these data models. The concept of formal information comes from the concept of forms. Forms have been part of bureaucracies for ages. Forms have an association with paperwork that is for the benefit of someone else, not the person filling in the form, often a faceless and difficult bureaucracy.
