The White Pages Website in Context of an Information System

Examine the White Pages Website in context of an information system Submitted by: Ivan Tabal Submitted to: Mr. Chris Kalodikis Information Processes and Technology Year 11 Marist College Kogarah Introduction The White Pages website’s purpose, like other telephone directories, is to allow the telephone number of a subscriber identified by name and address to be found. Subscriber names are generally listed in alphabetical order, together with their postal or street address and telephone number. The general purpose of the website is to allow people to easily find others through search features, such as quick search and reverse lookups.This report will examine the purpose and its importance of the White Pages website, the information processes involved and the people who use it and also the participants who’s contributed towards its development. It will then go on to outline the appropriate data needed to run the website and also the information technology involved in order to produce the website. The final part of the report will discuss the influences made by the environment during the website’s development and the social and ethical issues raised during the website’s development. The Purpose * Who is the white pages for?The Purpose of the white pages is to provide information of peoples, name address, phone number. It also provides information on businesses, and governments organisations. It was originally designed to help people find quick information about others for travelling purposes. But today it is slowly becoming obsolete due to some ethical and social issues. * Why is it an important source of information? It was an important source of information because it contained important details about people, which could be accessed to help friends or family members easily find their location or call them.The White pages provide information on suitable shops that people would want to attend to and for different types of problems. This includes the taxation companies, it companies The Information Processes Involved * How is the data collected? Data is collected through a number of ways into the white pages. Each year it must print out white pages about businesses and residence. It can collect its information by people who have provided them with information about either residential or Business or The white pages reuses information from older contacts that have been given before. * How is data organized?Data is organized into three categories: 1st Category is the residential. It contains addresses and phone numbers of people who have registered in the white page and provide their information to be easily found. 2nd Category is for Businesses, which use the website to mostly advertise to the public which can hopefully give them an edge over other businesses. But today businesses mostly use the internet to advertise and the TV or billboards. 3rd Category is the Government category which shows laws in the states, educ ation, provides information on immigration, health and other social factors that can affect a person.But the information is very limited and contains nothing for most of the links clicked except education. The data is then sub organised into different section, e. g. for Businesses it provides different categories for IT, Taxation, Health, Banking, Beauty and etc. This is made to easily locate the business which the consumer is looking for. * How is the data analysed? The data from the people of businesses or of residents is firstly stored on the website as data. It is then transformed according to what information it contains into 3 categories. Data is searched, selected and sorted.We as users of the website are able to Search and Select the data which is provided through the white pages. But before we are able to do this it must be entered and classified by the Analysts and People working in White Pages * How is the data stored? Data can be stored in different ways on the White Pag es. Most likely on Rational Database which is stored and kept on a server. This allows for the White pages website to keep the information in one particular spot without moving the hardware. The data is retrieved by people by first clicking on the object we want to see.The request then goes to the hardware server and the request is searched and goes back to the user with the information so he can see. * How is the data processed? Data is processed through a number of ways. Existing records of the white pages are renewed each year. They are asked about any changed that have occurred to see if the company has changed or close down and then update the white pages. The same process is done with residents, and updated, but if the residents do not want their information held in the white pages they can take it down. * How is the data transmitted?The data is transmitted through the internet to users. From the White pages server through the internet of the person’s computer and then displays the requested information to the person. * How is the data displayed? It can be displayed through a number of ways which can include Screens and Printers. Screens – Displays the text and information through a screen of a computer. Printer – Displays the text in a book which can be written and printed. The Participants Involved When the white pages were created, they were created by a company which collected information about people.Workers of the white pages may have included system analysts, printer, directors, overseers, editors and people who collected the information from customers either by going from door to door or registering them in the local post office. People who used the white pages were every day citizens. They needed the white pages before to find each other when needed. Now the citizens of the new generation are stopping to use the white pages even though by law they must be printed. The Appropriate Data * Residents who register into the white pages can provide: * Their first and last name Suburb * Address * Phone number * Businesses who register can provide: * Their name * Owners name * Phone number * Suburb they are located * Brief description about them * Government who register have to provide * Name of Business of Government * Phone * Address The Methods of Information Technology Required * Hardware involved in producing the White Pages Website * Internet-ready PC * Domain * Fibre optics (wired internet) * Software required to produce the White Pages Website * HTTPD e. g. Apache * Internet * Computer methods required to output information Audio; speakers, headphones, earphones, headsets, microphones * Hardcopy; printing, photocopying * Internet services The Influences Made Towards the Environment During the Website’s Development Like many other telephone directory companies, running phone books on websites has made positive impacts towards the reduction of cutting down trees and also the disposal of phone book s in landfills which is a major contributor towards pollution. A survey shows that almost 75% costumers are completely unaware of the environmental and financial impact in printing, delivering and recycling these books.Online access to white pages, yellow pages etc. is becoming more and more popular and a much better choice as it is easier to find others whilst also making positive contributions to the reduction of phone book wastes. It is also cheaper and easier to run for companies due to the ease of access and flexibility it provides for their employees, whereas phone book publishers go through a series of process in order to make and deliver their phone books, every year. As for the website, it only requires minimal effort to keep it running, at a lower cost and in a less tedious manner.The THREE Social and THREE Ethical Issues Raised in the Development of the Website Social and ethical issues associated with: 1. Planning, design and implementation * Machine-centred systems simp lify what computers do at the expense of participants * Human-centred systems as those that make participants’ work as effective and satisfying as possible * How the relationships between participants change as a result of the new system * Ensuring the new system provides participants with a safe work environment * Awareness of the impact the system may have on the participants: * Opportunities to use their skills Meaningful work * Need for change * Opportunities for involvement and commitment 2. Information systems and database * Acknowledgment of data sources * The freedom of information act * Privacy principles * Accuracy of data and the reliability of data sources * Access to data, ownership and control of data * New trends in the organisation, processing, storage and retrieval of data such as data warehousing and data-mining 3. Communication systems * The use of communication systems to share knowledge, not just data * Issues related to messaging systems Ideas delivered by this means appear less forceful and caring than ideas delivered personally * Danger of being misinterpreted * Power relationships * Privacy and confidentiality * Electronic junk mail * Information overload * Implications of Internet trading including: * Local taxation laws * Employment ramifications * Nature of business * Trading over the Internet and its commercial implications * The difficulties of censoring content on the Internet * Issues arising from Internet banking, including: Security of banking details * Changing nature of work * Branch closure and job loss * The removal of physical boundaries by enabling: * Work from home * Virtual organisations, ie organisations structured around the communication system * Removal of national and international barriers to trade * How participants are supported: * Individuals by providing a means for communication * Participant teams by enabling the exchange of ideas and data * The emerging trend of accessing media such as radio and vid eo across the Internet