Tools Used to Process Information

A database is a basic tool used to process information and to manage and store data efficiently. A database can also make the retrieval of data easier. It is a structured collection of gathered data. A good database not only gathers data efficiently; it retrieves information quickly. A database management system is software popularly used to store product inventory and customer information. Keeping information in databases makes coordination with multiple users efficient. Here lies its popularity with e-commerce sites. The flexibility of DBMS makes data searching, sorting and updating inventories and product descriptions more efficient. There are many types of databases. The most common types are the flat model, the hierarchical, the network and the relational.

Servers are computer systems in networks. Different computers within a network can share the files on a server. A PC can act as a server, and it can be an IBM mainframe. "Server" may refer to the PC. In this case, the term refers to both software and hardware. However, it can refer just to the software. An example is the Web server, which refers to a PC that functions for Web server software.

A search engine retrieves information from a collection of data like in a library catalog. Today, the term more popularly refers to information processing tool that retrieves queried data from the Internet's databases. This computer program produces a list of Web pages that contains the terms searched for.

Accounting information systems is a subset of a management information system. AIS play a vital role in internal management decision making by providing precise financial accounts and appropriate statistical reports. AIS is also important for external parties, including regulatory and taxation personnel, as well as creditors and investors.

Enterprise systems use common identifiers such as ANU and affiliate ID in their applications to integrate data stored in any enterprise system with those stored in other enterprise systems. Enterprise systems are information-processing tools widely used by universities for academic and administrative purposes.

Geographic information systems are systems of hardware and software that store, manage, analyze and retrieve geographic information. This data processing tool includes not only the data that is stored in the system, but the operating personnel as well. For mapping and analysis, spatial features go into the coordinating system that refers to a particular location on earth, layered together with associated attributes.