SOURCES OF INFORMATION

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

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

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: NewsTravel Commercial InformationGovernment Statistics

ELECTRONIC SOURCES Information held in electronic form: Viewdata Provides general and specific information For example New Prestel

ELECTRONIC SOURCES Information held in electronic form: Teletext Information accessed via a TV For example NewsWeatherSport Travel Financial Information This information cannot be printed or manipulated

ELECTRONIC SOURCES Information held in electronic form can usually be: –Accessed quickly –Printed as required –Queried and manipulated to suit requirements

PAPER BASED SOURCES Information in printed form: The information may be internal or external to the organisation. For example: Phone BookYellow Pages DictionariesEncyclopaedias Gazetteers Road MapsAA/RAC Handbook Postal Leaflets Railway Timetables World Airways Guide Whitaker’s AlmanacRoget’s Thesaurus Who’s WhoHansard

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: MeetingsInterviewsVisits TelephoneCellular (mobile) phone VideophoneVideoconferencing

INTERNAL SOURCES OF INFORMATION Information which is obtained from the organisation’s own internal records The value will depend on the accuracy, relevance and quality of the information Examples include:Personnel Records Payroll (wages) RecordsCompany Handbooks Company FilesMinutes of Meetings Internal Databases Stock Records Financial Reports Dept Reports Sales and Purchases Information

EXTERNAL SOURCES OF INFORMATION Information which is obtained from outwith the organisation May be required when comparing the organisation’s performance against other similar organisations Examples include: Govt Reports and Publications Local Authority Reports Local Enterprise Company Reports Company Reports HMSO Reports External DatabasesInternet (www) Viewdata eg New PrestelTeletext Reference Books Newspaper Articles Professional and Trade Associations CataloguesPrice Lists Market Research

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

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

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

USES OF THESE SOURCES OF INFORMATION Famous People: Who’s Who Who Was Who Biographies of famous or important living people Biographies of famous people who have died

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

USES OF THESE SOURCES OF INFORMATION Miscellaneous: Black’s Titles and Forms of Addresses Forms of address for people who hold a high rank or official position Government Bookshops Formerly HMSO. Government publications, health and safety, statistics, parliamentary papers

SOURCES ON CD-ROM Census Regional Trends Newspapers Hansard Who’s WhoOxford English Dictionary Encyclopaedia British Medical Journals Social Trends Family spending

SOURCES ON THE INTERNET Magellan Maps Eurostar Scotrail Roget’s Thesaurus News ServicesBroadcasting eg BBC On-line Newspapers Weather Net London Transport Foreign Exchange Rates Etc Etc Etc

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!