Editing Information system (section)

==As an academic discipline==
{{See also|Information engineering|Information science|Information technology|Information management}}

The field of study called ''information systems'' encompasses a variety of topics including systems analysis and design, computer networking, information security, database management, and decision support systems. ''[[Information management]]'' deals with the practical and theoretical problems of collecting and analyzing information in a business function area including business productivity tools, applications programming and implementation, electronic commerce, digital media production, data mining, and decision support. ''Communications and networking'' deals with telecommunication technologies.
Information systems bridges [[business]] and [[computer science]] using the theoretical foundations of [[information]] and [[computation]] to study various business models and related [[algorithm]]ic processes <ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.swinburne.edu.au/study/courses/units/Computer-and-Logic-Essentials-COS10003/local|title=Computer and Logic Essentials – Units of study – Swinburne University of Technology – Melbourne, Australia}}</ref> on building the IT systems <ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www1.rmit.edu.au/courses/049802 | title=Building IT Systems – RMIT University}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.swinburne.edu.au/study/courses/units/Systems-Development-INF60003/local|title=Systems Development – Units of study – Swinburne University of Technology – Melbourne, Australia|access-date=2015-12-06|archive-date=2022-07-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220705191352/https://www.swinburne.edu.au/study/courses/units/Systems-Development-INF60003/local|url-status=dead}}</ref> within a computer science discipline.<ref name="Kelly 1999 1–27">{{cite journal |last1=Kelly |first1=Sue |last2=Gibson |first2=Nicola |last3=Holland |first3=Christopher |last4=Light |first4=Ben |date=July 1999 |title=Focus Issue on Legacy Information Systems and Business Process Engineering: a Business Perspective of Legacy Information Systems |journal=Communications of the AIS |volume=2 |issue=7 |pages=1–27}}</ref><ref name="Archibald1975">{{cite journal |last=Archibald |first=J.A. |date=May 1975 |title=Computer Science education for majors of other disciplines |journal=AFIPS Joint Computer Conferences |pages=903–906 |quote=Computer science spreads out over several related disciplines, and shares with these disciplines certain sub-disciplines that traditionally have been located exclusively in the more conventional disciplines}}</ref><ref name="Denning1999">{{cite journal |last=Denning |first=Peter |date=July 1999 |title=Computer Science: The Discipline |journal=Encyclopaedia of Computer Science (2000 Edition) |quote=The Domain of Computer Science: Even though computer science addresses both human-made and natural information processes, the main effort in the discipline has been directed toward human-made processes, especially information processing systems and machines}}</ref><ref name="Coy 2004 7–10">{{cite journal |last=Coy |first=Wolfgang |date=June 2004 |title=Between the disciplines |journal=ACM SIGCSE Bulletin |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=7–10 |issn= 0097-8418 |quote=Computer science may be in the core of these processes. The actual question is not to ignore disciplinary boundaries with its methodological differences but to open the disciplines for collaborative work. We must learn to build bridges, not to start in the gap between disciplines |doi=10.1145/1024338.1024340|s2cid=10389644 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Hoganson |first=Ken |date=December 2001 |title=Alternative curriculum models for integrating computer science and information systems analysis, recommendations, pitfalls, opportunities, accreditations, and trends |journal=Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=313–325 |issn= 1937-4771 |quote=... Information Systems grew out of the need to bridge the gap between business management and computer science ...}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Timothy |last2=Geist |first2=Robert |last3=Matzko |first3=Sarah |last4=Westall |first4=James |date=March 2004 |title=Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education {{!}} τ´εχνη: A First Step |pages=125–129 |isbn= 978-1-58113-798-9 |quote=In 1999, Clemson University established a (graduate) degree program that bridges the arts and the sciences... All students in the program are required to complete graduate level work in both the arts and computer science}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Hoganson |first=Ken |date=December 2001 |title=Alternative curriculum models for integrating computer science and information systems analysis, recommendations, pitfalls, opportunities, accreditations, and trends |journal=Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges |volume=17 |issue=2 |pages=313–325 |issn= 1937-4771 |quote=The field of information systems as a separate discipline is relatively new and is undergoing continuous change as technology evolves and the field matures}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Khazanchi |first=Deepak |author2=Bjorn Erik Munkvold |date=Summer 2000 |title=Is information system a science? an inquiry into the nature of the information systems discipline |journal=ACM SIGMIS Database |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=24–42 |issn=0095-0033 |doi=10.1145/381823.381834 |s2cid=52847480 |quote=From this we have concluded that IS is a science, i.e., a scientific discipline in contrast to purportedly non-scientific fields|doi-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{citation |last=Denning |first=Peter |date=June 2007 |title=Ubiquity a new interview with Peter Denning on the great principles of computing |volume=2007 |issue=June |pages=1 |quote=People from other fields are saying they have discovered information processes in their deepest structures and that collaboration with computing is essential to them.}}</ref><ref>"''Computer science is the study of information''" [http://www.njit.edu/v2/archivecatalog/undergraduate/91/19-und.html New Jersey Institute of Technology], Gutenberg Information Technologies {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080915210456/http://www.njit.edu/v2/archivecatalog/undergraduate/91/19-und.html |date=September 15, 2008 }}</ref><ref>"''Computer science is the study of computation.''" [http://www.csbsju.edu/computerscience/curriculum Computer Science Department, College of Saint Benedict] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070203190237/http://www.csbsju.edu/computerscience/curriculum/ |date=2007-02-03 }}, Saint John's University</ref><ref>"''Computer Science is the study of all aspects of computer systems, from the theoretical foundations to the very practical aspects of managing large software projects.''" [http://study.massey.ac.nz/major.asp?major_code=2010&prog_code=93068 Massey University] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060619125916/http://study.massey.ac.nz/major.asp?major_code=2010&prog_code=93068 |date=2006-06-19 }}</ref><ref>Pearson Custom Publishing & West Chester University, Custom Program for Computer Information Systems, Pearson Custom Publishing, (2009) Glossary p. 694</ref> ''Computer information systems'' (CIS) is a field studying computers and algorithmic processes, including their principles, their software and hardware designs, their applications, and their impact on society,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Polack |first=Jennifer |date=December 2009 |title=Planning a CIS Education Within a CS Framework |journal=Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges |volume=25 |issue=2 |pages=100–106 |issn= 1937-4771}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last=Hayes |first=Helen |author2=Onkar Sharma |date=February 2003 |title=A decade of experience with a common first year program for computer science, information systems and information technology majors |journal=Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges |volume=18 |issue=3 |pages=217–227 |issn=1937-4771 |quote=In 1988, a degree program in Computer Information Systems (CIS) was launched with the objective of providing an option for students who were less inclined to become programmers and were more interested in learning to design, develop, and implement Information Systems, and solve business problems using the systems approach}}</ref><ref>CSTA Committee, Allen Tucker, et alia, A Model Curriculum for K-12 Computer Science (Final Report), (Association for Computing Machinery, Inc., 2006) Abstraction & p.&nbsp;2</ref> whereas IS emphasizes functionality over design.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Freeman |first1=Peter |last2=Hart |first2=David |date=August 2004 |title=A Science of Design for Software-Intensive Systems Computer science and engineering needs an intellectually rigorous, analytical, teachable design process to ensure development of systems we all can live with |journal=Communications of the ACM |volume=47 |issue=8 |pages=19–21 |issn= 0001-0782 |quote=Though the other components' connections to the software and their role in the overall design of the system are critical, the core consideration for a software-intensive system is the software itself, and other approaches to systematizing design have yet to solve the "software problem"—which won't be solved until software design is understood scientifically |doi=10.1145/1012037.1012054|s2cid=14331332 }}</ref>

Several IS scholars have debated the nature and foundations of information systems which have its roots in other reference disciplines such as [[computer science]], [[engineering]], [[mathematics]], [[management science]], [[cybernetics]], and others.<ref>Culnan, M. J. Mapping the Intellectual Structure of MIS, 1980–1985: A Co-Citation Analysis, ''MIS Quarterly'', 1987, pp. 341–353.</ref><ref>Keen, P. G. W. MIS Research: Reference Disciplines and A Cumulative Tradition, in ''Proceedings of the First International Conference on Information Systems'', E. McLean (ed.), Philadelphia, PA, 1980, pp. 9–18.</ref><ref>Lee, A. S. Architecture as A Reference Discipline for MIS, in ''Information Systems Research: Contemporary Approaches and Emergent Traditions'', H.-E. Nisen, H. K. Klein, and R. A. Hirschheim (eds.), North-Holland, Amsterdam, 1991, pp. 573–592.</ref><ref>Mingers, J., and Stowell, F. (eds.). Information Systems: An Emerging Discipline?, McGraw- Hill, London, 1997.</ref> Information systems also can be defined as a collection of hardware, software, data, people, and procedures that work together to produce quality information.

===Related terms===
[[File:IS-Relationships-Chart.jpg|thumb|Information systems relationship to [[information technology]], [[computer science]], [[information science]], and [[business]].]]

Similar to computer science, other disciplines can be seen as both related and foundation disciplines of IS. The domain of study of IS involves the study of theories and practices related to the social and technological phenomena, which determine the development, use, and effects of information systems in organizations and society.<ref>John, W., and Joe, P. (2002) "Strategic Planning for Information System." 3rd Ed. West Sussex. John Wiley & Sons Ltd</ref> But, while there may be considerable overlap of the disciplines at the boundaries, the disciplines are still differentiated by the focus, purpose, and orientation of their activities.<ref name="dogpile.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.booksbw.com/books/computers/leslie-j/2006/files/informationsystems2006.pdf#page=30|title=Scoping the Discipline of Information Systems|access-date=2017-12-04|archive-date=2016-07-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160731075131/http://booksbw.com/books/computers/leslie-j/2006/files/informationsystems2006.pdf#page=30|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In a broad scope, ''information systems'' is a scientific field of study that addresses the range of strategic, managerial, and operational activities involved in the gathering, processing, storing, distributing, and use of information and its associated technologies in society and organizations.<ref name="dogpile.com"/> The term ''information systems'' is also used to describe an organizational function that applies IS knowledge in the industry, government agencies, and not-for-profit organizations.<ref name="dogpile.com"/>

''Information systems'' often refers to the interaction between algorithmic processes and technology. This interaction can occur within or across organizational boundaries. An information system is a technology an organization uses and also the way in which the organizations interact with the technology and the way in which the technology works with the organization's business processes. Information systems are distinct from [[information technology]] (IT) in that an information system has an information technology component that interacts with the processes' components.

One problem with that approach is that it prevents the IS field from being interested in non-organizational use of ICT, such as in social networking, computer gaming, mobile personal usage, etc. A different way of differentiating the IS field from its neighbours is to ask, "Which aspects of reality are most meaningful in the IS field and other fields?"<ref name="ref-basden-2010">[http://aisel.aisnet.org/ukais2009/10 Basden, A. (2010) On Using Spheres of Meaning to Define and Dignify the IS Discipline. ''International Journal of Information Management'', 30, 13–20.] It employs the philosophy of the late [[Herman Dooyeweerd]] to differentiate distinct aspects or 'spheres of meaning'. The paper suggests that while computer science finds the [http://www.dooy.info/formative.html formative] aspect, of shaping, structuring, processing, of central interest, and business and organizational fields find the [http://www.dooy.info//economic.html economic] and [http://www.dooy.info/social.html social] aspects of central interest, the Information Systems field can find the [http://www.dooy.info/lingual.html lingual aspect] of central interest while making links with the aspects of the neighbouring disciplines.</ref> This approach, based on philosophy, helps to define not just the focus, purpose, and orientation, but also the dignity, destiny and, responsibility of the field among other fields.<ref>
''International Journal of Information Management'', 30, 13–20.</ref>

[[Business informatics]] is a related discipline that is well-established in several countries, especially in Europe. While ''Information systems'' has been said to have an "explanation-oriented" focus, ''business informatics'' has a more "solution-oriented" focus and includes [[information technology]] elements and construction and implementation-oriented elements.