Read the text: Information Technology (Part I)

We use the term information technology or IT to refer to an entire industry. In actuality, information technology is the use of computers and software to manage information. In some companies, this is referred to as Management Information Services (or MIS) or simply as Information Services (or IS). The information technology department of a large company would be responsible for storing information, protecting information, processing the information, transmitting the information as necessary, and later retrieving information as necessary.

In relative terms, it wasn't long ago that the Information Technology department might have consisted of a single Computer Operator, who might be storing data on magnetic tape, and then putting it in a box down in the basement somewhere. The history of information technology is fascinating! Check out this history of information technology resources for information on everything from the history of IT to electronics inventions and even the top 10 IT bugs.

In order to perform the complex functions required of information technology departments today, the modern Information Technology Department would use computers, servers, database management systems, and cryptography. The department would be made up of several System Administrators, Database Administrators and at least one Information Technology Manager. The group usually reports to the Chief Information Officer (CIO).

Some of the most popular information technology skills at the moment are:

· Computer Networking

· Information Security

· IT Governance

· ITIL

· Business Intelligence

· Linux

· Unix

· Project Management

Information Technology Departments will be increasingly concerned with data storage and management, and will find that information security will continue to be at the top of the priority list. Cloud computing remains a growing area to watch. The job outlook for those within Information Technology is strong, with data security and server gurus amongst the highest paid techies. Check out the Information Security Certifications and Highest Paying Certifications for more information. In order to stay current in the Information Technology Industry, be sure you subscribe to top technology industry publications.

The foundation and consolidation of the Documentation, observable in the literature and in the documentary practices, indicate the existence of an object constructed historical and conceptually. Its fundamental work is the Traité de Documentation, by the Belgian Paul Otlet (OTLET, 1934). This work can be understood as the starting-point of the triad approach anchored in the activities of organization and retrieval of the bibliographical, archival and museology information. Although the Documentation developed itself as the set of techniques to deal with of the technical-scientific bibliographical information, it is presented today by the resumption of the mentioned triad (which we do not develop on this work).

The Documentation consolidated as the set of techniques (and principles) of content representation of documents in their several typologies and in any support, aiming the retrieval, access and use of these contents. The expression Librarianship and Documentation started to be used in the sense of gathering, in a cleared up way, of the basic characteristics of each one of them; although the second, by definition, encompasses the first.

Otlet first adopted the word Documentation, in 1903, in an article entitled “Les sciences bibliographiques e la documentation”, in the sense of the process of providing documents or references to the ones who need information they may contain. This author refers to a body of knowledge denominated bibliographic sciences defined as: production, material fabrication, distribution, listing, statistics, conservation and utilization therefore, including compilation, printing, publishing, bookselling, bibliography and librarianship. Otlet considered as documents not only books and manuscripts, but also archives, maps, schemes, ideograms, diagrams, drawings and their reproduction, photographs of real objects, among others.

Between 1905 and 1917, Otlet started to abandon the word bibliography in his publishing in favor of the words documentation and information, even when in many times he uses one for the other.

Attitudes will determine the effect of information technology and not the technology itself. Organizational and human faults rather than technical problems will be those hindering system performance. The information technology should be the enabler rather than an arbiter of changes. As regards the process of change it is supposed that there are three phases of evolution. Phase 1 involves automation or mechanization of basic clerical and accounting techniques and change is relatively limited - many offices here will have faced and overcome such changes successfully. Phase 2 involves extending service provision and makes possible the introduction of services hitherto uneconomic by manual means through the use of technology. With phase 3 totally new services that are impossible without the technology are made available. While phase 1 and 2 may be easy to put into operation within existing structures, phase 3 will require a restructuring of the management process, to fully exploit the potential that the technology offers. It also requires a very thorough understanding of the tool available - and a complete revision of attitudes in the case of most managers.

I. Answer the questions:

1. How do people use the term of information technology or IT?

2. What are the most popular information technology skills? What information technology skills do you know?

3. Why does information security continue to be at the top of the priority list?

4. How does Documentation refer to information technology?

5. What phases of evolution of information technology are described in the text?

II. Pick out the basic information of every paragraph.

Lesson 15