ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on means of searching and retrieving information. It concerns information retrieval rather than database management systems. Diderot was acknowledging the plethora of information and the challenges of acquiring relevant information. With the ability to create information in, or to convert existing information into, machine-readable and searchable form there is the potential for recorded knowledge to be readily available to organizations. For database management system (DBMS) systems there usually has to be an exact match between the query posed and the information stored to have a successful conclusion. Transaction documents provide evidence of the business event having occurred. As part of an integrated series of records, they show the consequences that followed. They contain prescribed types of information usually arranged in a structured format. Access to information from public authorities and protection of personal data are the subject of two important pieces of UK legislation: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) and Data Protection Act (DPA).
