Accepted definition of the information systems (discipline) (Saved 12/09/2010)

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CS, SE, IS, IT, & Customer Venn Diagram where functionality spans left and design spans right stemming from discovery.[1][2][3]

Information Systems (IS) is an academic/professional discipline bridging the business field and the well-defined computer science field that is evolving toward a new scientific area of study.[4][5][6][7] An information systems discipline therefore is supported by the theoretical foundations of information and computations such that learned scholars have unique opportunities to explore the academics of various business models as well as related algorithmic processes within a computer science discipline.[8][9][10] Typically, information systems or the more common legacy information systems include people, procedures, data, software, and hardware (by degree) that are used to gather and analyze digital information.[11][12] Specifically computer-based information systems are complementary networks of hardware/software that people and organizations use to collect, filter, process, create, & distribute data (computing).[13] Computer Information System(s) (CIS) is often a track within the computer science field studying computers and algorithmic processes, including their principles, their software & hardware designs, their applications, and their impact on society.[14][15][16] Overall, an IS discipline emphasizes functionality over design.[17]

As illustrated by the Venn Diagram on the right, the history of information systems coincides with the history of computer science that began long before the modern discipline of computer science emerged in the twentieth century.[18] Regarding the circulation of information and ideas, numerous legacy information systems still exist today that are continuously updated to promote ethnographic approaches, to ensure data integrity, and to improve the social effectiveness & efficiency of the whole process.[19]

  1. ^ Archibald, J.A. (1975). "Computer Science education for majors of other disciplines". AFIPS Joint Computer Conferences: 903–906. 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
  2. ^ Denning, Peter (1999). "COMPUTER SCIENCE: THE DISCIPLINE". Encyclopaedia of Computer Science (2000 Edition). 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
  3. ^ Coy, Wolfgang (2004). "Between the disciplines". ACM SIGCSE Bulletin. 36 (2): 7–10. ISSN 0097-8418. 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
  4. ^ Hoganson, Ken (2001). "Alternative curriculum models for integrating computer science and information systems analysis, recommendations, pitfalls, opportunities, accreditations, and trends". Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges. 17 (2): 313–325. ISSN 1937-4771. ... Information Systems grew out of the need to bridge the gap between business management and computer science ...
  5. ^ Davis, Timothy; Geist, Robert; Matzko, Sarah; Westall, James (2004). "τ´εχνη: A First Step". Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education: 125–129. ISBN 1-58113-798-2. 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
  6. ^ Hoganson, Ken (2001). "Alternative curriculum models for integrating computer science and information systems analysis, recommendations, pitfalls, opportunities, accreditations, and trends". Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges. 17 (2): 313–325. ISSN 1937-4771. The field of information systems as a separate discipline is relatively new and is undergoing continuous change as technology evolves and the field matures
  7. ^ Khazanchi, Deepak; Bjorn; Erik; Munkvold (2000). "Is information system a science? an inquiry into the nature of the information systems discipline". ACM SIGMIS Database. 31 (3): 24–42. doi:10.1145/381823.381834. ISSN 0095-0033. From this we have concluded that IS is a science, i.e., a scientific discipline in contrast to purportedly non-scientific fields
  8. ^ Denning, Peter (2007). "Ubiquity a new interview with Peter Denning on the great principles of computing". 2007 (June): 1–1. People from other fields are saying they have discovered information processes in their deepest structures and that collaboration with computing is essential to them. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  9. ^ "Computer science is the study of computation." Computer Science Department, College of Saint Benedict, Saint John's University
  10. ^ "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." Massey University
  11. ^ Kelly, Sue; Gibson, Nicola; Holland, Christopher; Light, Ben (1999). "Focus Issue on Legacy Information Systems and Business Process Engineering: a Business Perspective of Legacy Information Systems". Communications of the AIS. 2 (7): 1–27.
  12. ^ Pearson Custom Publishing & West Chester University, Custom Program for Computer Information Systems (CSC 110), (Pearson Custom Publishing, 2009) Glossary p. 694
  13. ^ Jessup, Leonard M.; Joseph S. Valacich (2008). Information Systems Today (3rd ed.). Pearson Publishing. Pages ??? & Glossary p. 416
  14. ^ Polack, Jennifer (2009). "Planning a CIS Education Within a CS Framework". Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges. 25 (2): 100–106. ISSN 1937-4771.
  15. ^ Hayes, Helen; Onkar; Sharma (2003). "A decade of experience with a common first year program for computer science, information systems and information technology majors". Journal of Computing Sciences in Colleges. 18 (3): 217–227. ISSN 1937-4771. 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
  16. ^ CSTA Committee, Allen Tucker, et alia, A Model Curriculum for K-12 Computer Science (Final Report), (Association for Computing Machinery, Inc., 2006) Abstraction & p. 2
  17. ^ Freeman, Peter; Hart, David (2004). "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". Communications of the ACM. 47 (8): 19–21. ISSN 0001-0782. 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
  18. ^ History of Computer Science
  19. ^ Kelly, Sue; Gibson, Nicola; Holland, Christopher; Light, Ben (1999). "Focus Issue on Legacy Information Systems and Business Process Engineering: a Business Perspective of Legacy Information Systems". Communications of the AIS. 2 (7): 1–27.