SOURCES OF INFORMATION

1. SOURCES OF INFORMATION

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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 Government Statistics Commercial Information

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

6. ELECTRONIC SOURCES • Information held in electronic form: Teletext Information accessed via a TV For example Financial Information Weather Sport News Travel This information cannot be printed or manipulated

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

8. Road Maps Phone Book AA/RAC Handbook Yellow Pages Whitaker’s Almanac Roget’s Thesaurus Railway Timetables Dictionaries Postal Leaflets Encyclopaedias Who’s Who Hansard World Airways Guide Gazetteers PAPER BASED SOURCES • Information in printed form: The information may be internal or external to the organisation. For example:

9. 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 accuraterecord should be kept of what is said Examples of Oral Sources of Information include: Meetings Interviews Visits Telephone Cellular(mobile) phone Videophone Videoconferencing

10. 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 Dept Reports Payroll (wages) Records Company Handbooks Company Files Minutes of Meetings Stock Records Internal Databases Financial Reports Sales and Purchases Information

11. Govt Reports and Publications Market Research Local Enterprise Company Reports External Databases Professional and Trade Associations Internet (www) Newspaper Articles Price Lists Catalogues Local Authority Reports Company Reports Viewdata eg New Prestel HMSO Reports Teletext Reference Books 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:

12. 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

13. 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 Roget’s Thesaurus Synonyms and antonyms

14. 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

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

16. 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 Whitaker’s Almanac Previous year’s main events – Government, UK statistics, Royal Family, Education etc

17. 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 Formerly HMSO. Government publications, health and safety, statistics, parliamentary papers Government Bookshops

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

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

20. 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!