ISC diagrams

Information Systems in Context
Every information system has it's purpose, whether it be to suit a person in particular, or a group of people, the information system will be built and designed specifically for the purpose of said person/people. It'll collect data, organise it, analyse it, store/retrieve it, process it, transmit/receive it or display it. In our every day lives, we use a computer to do this, but all of the aforementioned could easily be done in a non-computer information system, this translates to being the context in which an information system is created. Otherwise known as an Information Systems (in) Context diagram.

If you're going to have an information system, you're going to need a couple of things. One of them being people who use it, data/information to go within that information system, as well as hardware and software in order to maintain, use and manage the data/information that the participants (people) are trying to access.

Stemming from that, you can easily find the purpose for an information system based on what you've used for the requirements, telling you who it's designed for and what they need out of that information system. This then goes on to have an impact on ethical issues for those directly or indirectly involved with the system, as well as social impacts on the environment around the system.



Dissecting an ISC Diagram
On the right, you'll find a diagram of a typical, simple ISC diagram which outlines what an information system may look like. See below for the dissection of an ISC diagram and how they work.
 * The Environment is that thing floating out in the distance away from the actual system itself. It represents everything that influences the information system and it's purpose, it can also go to show what the information system influences outside of it's boundary. Therefore, the information system acts upon the environment, and the environment acts upon the system, and so on. This environment can mean anything from physical hardware and interferences to virtual software and social human interaction of the system.
 * The Boundary is the line that defines the entire system and creates the border between the system and the environment.
 * Users are the people who look into the information system, and see what it outputs, in regards to what they need as a consumer.
 * The Purpose of the information system is the reason why it was created in the first place, and why it still exists. This could be anything from consumer demand, to personal request.
 * The Information System is the group of elements within the boundary that work together in order to achieve the purpose. Very similar to how a body and organs work together to keep our body running smoothly. This system in particuar requries participants, data/information and information technology in order to run.
 * The Information Processes are the processes we talked about earlier, about collecting, organising, analysing, etc. You can find more about the seven information processes here.
 * Participants are the ones who do all the work within the information system. They're direct (sometimes indirect) users of the information system and play an important role in it's development and use.
 * Data/Information relates to the relationship between data and information within the system. While data is put into the system to be processed, what is created from it is information that the users can use as they need too. Data can be anything from graphics, video and audio, to text or numbers and will often be determined by the purpose and participants of the information system.
 * Information Technology refers to the hardware/software used in the foundation/creation of the information system. The hardware can't work without software, and the software won't exist without hardware. Take note that the biggest part about this, is that the software in information systems is made up of two parts, the operating system and applications.