SOURCES OF INFORMATION

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SOURCES OF INFORMATION
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ELECTRONIC SOURCES

• Information held in electronic form

On computer files and databases
Computer files and databases may be internal or
external to the organisation
Files and databases may be accessed and
transferred within local area networks or wider
area networks
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ELECTRONIC SOURCES

• Information held in electronic form

On CD-ROM
Many reference books, for example
dictionaries, thesauruses, guides, encyclopaedias
and newspapers are now available on CD-ROM
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ELECTRONIC SOURCES

• Information held in electronic form

The Internet
ie The World Wide Web (www)
Contains a vast amount of information on
websites
For example
News
Travel
Commercial Information
Government Statistics
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ELECTRONIC SOURCES

• Information held in electronic form

Viewdata
Provides general and specific information
For example
New Prestel
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ELECTRONIC SOURCES

• Information held in electronic form

Teletext
Information accessed via a TV
For example
News
Weather
Sport
Financial Information
Travel
This information cannot be printed or manipulated
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ELECTRONIC SOURCES

• Information held in electronic form can usually
  be
• Accessed quickly
• Printed as required
• Queried and manipulated to suit requirements

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PAPER BASED SOURCES

• Information in printed form

The information may be internal or external to
the organisation.
For example
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ORAL SOURCES

• Information is passed by word of mouth

In order for this to be of value as a reliable
source of information, a full and accurate record
should be kept of what is said
Examples of Oral Sources of Information include
Meetings
Interviews
Visits
Telephone
Cellular (mobile) phone
Videophone
Videoconferencing
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INTERNAL SOURCES OF INFORMATION

• Information which is obtained from the
  organisations own internal records

The value will depend on the accuracy, relevance
and quality of the information
Examples include
Personnel Records
Dept Reports
Payroll (wages) Records
Company Handbooks
Company Files
Minutes of Meetings
Stock Records
Internal Databases
Financial Reports
Sales and Purchases Information
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EXTERNAL SOURCES OF INFORMATION

• Information which is obtained from outwith the
  organisation

May be required when comparing the organisations
performance against other similar organisations
Examples include
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USES OF THESE SOURCES OF INFORMATION

• Telecommunications

Phone Book
Names, addresses and phone numbers of
subscribers, business fax numbers
Information on phone services, useful numbers,
national codes, international information
Yellow Pages
Names, addresses, phone, fax and telex numbers
classified by trades and professions
Business Pages
Names, addresses, phone, fax and telex numbers of
companies who supply goods and services to other
companies
British Telecom Telex Directory
Names, addresses and telex numbers of all UK
subscribers
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USES OF THESE SOURCES OF INFORMATION

• Travel

AA/RAC Handbooks
Road maps, hotels, garages
ABC World Airways Guide
Timetables for all regular air services
throughout the world
A-Z Guides
Town street maps
World Atlas
Maps, climate, transport, population, land use
Dictionary
Meaning and spelling of words, pronunciation,
abbreviations etc
Rogets Thesaurus
Synonyms and antonyms
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USES OF THESE SOURCES OF INFORMATION

• Companies

Director of Companies
Names of Directors and their (UK) companies
The (Macmillan) Stock Exchange Official Year Book
An outline of all companies listed on the London
Stock Exchange
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USES OF THESE SOURCES OF INFORMATION

• Famous People

Whos Who
Biographies of famous or important living people
Who Was Who
Biographies of famous people who have died
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USES OF THESE SOURCES OF INFORMATION

• Miscellaneous

Verbatim (word for word) reports of proceedings
in Parliament
Hansard
Mailguide
Royal Mail Services
Pears Cyclopaedia
Gazetteer, historical events, prominent people,
politics, science, music, sport etc
Whitakers Almanac
Previous years main events Government, UK
statistics, Royal Family, Education etc
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USES OF THESE SOURCES OF INFORMATION

• Miscellaneous

Blacks Titles and Forms of Addresses
Forms of address for people who hold a high rank
or official position
Formerly HMSO. Government publications, health
and safety, statistics, parliamentary papers
Government Bookshops
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SOURCES ON CD-ROM
Census
Family spending
Regional Trends
Social Trends
Newspapers
British Medical Journals
Hansard
Encyclopaedia
Whos Who
Oxford English Dictionary
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SOURCES ON THE INTERNET
Magellan Maps
Foreign Exchange Rates
Eurostar
London Transport
Scotrail
Weather Net
Rogets Thesaurus
On-line Newspapers
News Services
Broadcasting eg BBC
Etc Etc Etc
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CONCLUSION

• Information is the lifeblood of an organisation.
• It is the basis upon which an organisation
  operates and upon which decisions are made

To make effective decisions you require GOOD (or
reliable, up-to-date, high-quality) information!