Abilene network backbone: The network which connects Internet2 universities by using regional network aggregation points called gigaPoPs and very high-speed network equipment and facilities.
ActiveX: Software components developed by Microsoft that provide dynamic content to a Web page in a manner similar to a Java Applet.
Ad hoc reports: Reports created due to unplanned information requests in which information is gathered to support a non-routine decision.
Adaptive maintenance: Making changes to an information system to make its functionality meet changing business needs or to migrate it to a different operating system.
Alpha testing: Testing performed by the development organization to assess whether the entire system meets the design requirements of the users.
Analog signals: Audio tones used to transmit data over conventional voice telephone lines.
ANSI X.12: One of the formatting standards used with EDI that specifies how information is transmitted electronically.
Applet: A program designed to be executed within another application such as a Web page.
Application services: Processes that run software for network clients and enable computers to share processing power.
Application software: Software used to perform a specific task that the user needs to accomplish, such as writing a business letter, processing the payroll, managing a stock portfolio, or manipulating a series of forecasts to come up with the most efficient allocation of resources for a project.
Archie: An Internet tool that enables users to search FTP sites for their contents.
Arithmetic logic unit (ALU): Part of the central processing unit (CPU) that performs mathematics, including all forms of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division.
ARPANET: The Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, a large, wide area network that linked many universities and research centers.
ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange): An 8-bit code for representing numbers, letters, and other characters in binary form.
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL): A data transfer format that enables large amounts of data to be sent relatively quickly over existing copper telephone lines with speeds ranging from 1.5 to 9 Mbps downstream and from 16 to 640 Kbps upstream.
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM): A method of transmitting voice, video, and data over high-speed LANs at speeds of up to 2.2 GBps.
Attenuation: The result when the power of an electric signal weakens as it is sent over increasing distance.
Attribute: Each record typically consists of many attributes, which are individual pieces of information. For example, a name and social security number are attributes about a person.
Audio: Sound that has been digitized for storage and replay on a computer.
Authentication: The process of confirming the identity of a user who is attempting to access a system or Web site
Automating: Using information systems to do an activity faster or cheaper.
Backbone: A network that manages the bulk of network traffic and typically uses a higher-speed protocol than the individual LAN segments connected to it.
Backbone network: A network that manages the bulk of network traffic and typically uses a higher-speed protocol than the individual LAN segments connected to it.
Bandwidth: The transmission capacity of a computer or communications channel, often measured in megabits per second (Mbps); it represents how much binary data can be reliably transmitted over the medium in one second.
Batch input: Methods for rapidly entering large amounts of data into a computer.
Batch processing: The processing of transactions after some quantity of transactions are collected and then processed together as a "batch" at some later time.
Best practices: Procedures and processes from business organizations that are widely accepted as being among the most effective and/or efficient.
Beta testing: Testing performed by actual system users, who test the capabilities of the system with actual data in their work environment.
Binary code: Methods for representing digital data and information using sequences of zeros and ones.
Biometrics: A type of security that grants or denies access to a computer systems through the analysis of fingerprints, retinal patterns in the eye, or other bodily characteristics.
Bits: The individual 1s and 0s that make up a byte.
Bluetooth: A wireless specification for personal area networking (PAN) of desktop computers, peripheral devices, mobile phones, pagers, portable stereos, and other handheld devices.
Brick-and-mortar: Term used to identify traditional firms doing business the old-fashioned way, from a physical storefront.
Bridge: Device used to connect two different LANs or two segments of the same LAN by forwarding network traffic between network segments; unlike repeaters, bridges determine the physical location of the source and destination computers.
Brouter: Short for bridge router (pronounced brau-ter); provides the capabilities of both a bridge and a router for managing network traffic.
Bus network: Network in the shape of an open-ended line; it is the easiest network to extend and has the simplest wiring layout.
Business information systems: Software applications that are developed to perform organization-wide operations.
Business process reengineering: Significant organizational change designed to improve the functioning of an organization as opposed to merely dropping in an information system with no attempts at changing and improving the organization.
Business rules: Rules included in data dictionaries to prevent illegal or illogical entries from entering the database.
Business-to-business: Electronic commerce that is used to conduct business with business partners such as suppliers and intermediaries.
Business-to-consumer: EC used to conduct transactions between businesses and consumers.
Business-to-employee: EC that occurs between businesses and their employees.
Byte: Typically 8 bits or about one typed character.
Bytes per inch (BPI): The numbers of bytes that can be stored on one inch of magnetic tape.
Cable modem: A specialized piece of equipment that enables a computer to access Internet service designed to operate over cable TV lines.
Cache: Pronounced "cash," it is a small block of memory used by processors to store those instructions most recently or most often used.
Carding: Refers to the practice of stealing credit card numbers online, to be resold or used to charge merchandise against victims' accounts.
CD-R (compact disc-recordable): A type of optical disk that data can be written to.
CD-ROM (compact disc-read-only memory): A type of optical disk that cannot be written to, but can only be read.
CD-RW (compact disc-rewritable): A type of optical disk that be written onto multiple times.
Cell: A geographical area containing a low-powered radio antenna/receiver for transmitting telecommunications signals within that area; monitored and controlled by a central computer.
Cellular phone: Mobile phone which uses a communications system that divides a geographic region into sections, called cells.
Central processing unit (CPU): Also called a microprocessor, processor, or chip, it is responsible for performing all of the operations of the computer.
Centralized computing: A system of large centralized computers, called mainframes, used to process and store data.
Certificate authority: A trusted middleman between computers that verifies that a Web sites is a trusted site and is used when implementing public-key encryption on a large scale.
Channel service unit (CSU): A device that acts as a "buffer" between a LAN and a public carrier's WAN. CSUs ensure that all signals placed on the public lines from the LAN are appropriately timed and formed for the public network.
Characters per inch (CPI): The numbers of characters that can be stored on one inch of magnetic tape.
Chief information officer: Title given to executive-level individuals who are responsible for leading the overall information systems component within their organizations and integrating new technologies into the organization's business strategy.
Click-and-mortar: Term used to identify firms doing traditional, physical business and doing business on the Internet as well.
Click-only: Term used to identify firms doing business solely on the Internet, with no physical storefront.
Client: Any computer, such as a user's workstation or PC on the network; or any software application, such as a word processing application, that requests and uses the services provided by the server.
Clock speed: The speed of the system clock, typically measured in hertz (Hz).
Clock tick: A single pulse of the system clock.
Cloning: Cellular phone fraud in which scanners are used to steal the electronic serial numbers of cellular phones as calls are made.
Coaxial cable (or "coax cable"): Contains a solid inner copper conductor, surrounded by plastic insulation and an outer braided copper or foil shield and is most commonly used for cable television installations and for networks operating at 10 Mbps. Its attenuation is lower than twisted-pair cable, and it is moderately susceptible to EMI and eavesdropping.
Collaborative computing: A synergistic form of distributed computing, in which two or more networked computers are used to accomplish a common processing task.
Collaborative information system: A type of international information system that integrates different applications and data that can be shared by different companies in different countries.
Collaboration system: An information system that enables people to communicate electronically with each other in order to solve problems, make decisions, and perform other forms of joint work.
Combination primary key: A combination of two or more attributes in a database used to uniquely identify a row in an entity.
Command-based interface: Computer interface that requires the user to enter text-based commands to instruct the computer to perform specific operations.
Competitive advantage: A firm's ability to do something better, faster, cheaper, or uniquely when compared with rival firms in the market.
Compiler: A software program that translates a programming language into machine language.
Computer-aided design: Using high-powered computers to design very state-of-the-art, high-quality products.
Computer-aided software engineering (CASE): Software tools that provide automated support for some portion of the systems development process.
Computer-based information system: A combination of hardware, software, and telecommunications networks that people build and use to collect, create, and distribute data.
Computer crime: The act of using a computer to commit an illegal act.
Computer ethics: A broad range of issues and standards of conduct that have emerged through the use and proliferation of information systems.
Computer literacy: The knowledge of how to operate a computer.
Computer security: Precautions taken to keep computers and the information they contain safe from unauthorized access.
Connectors: Also called transmission media connectors; used to terminate cable in order to be plugged into a network interface card or into other network components. Connectors include T-connectors for coax cable and RJ-45 connectors (similar to a phone jack) for twisted pair cable.
Consumer-to-consumer: A form of EC that does not even involve business firms, such as an online textbook exchange service for students at a university or an online trading Web site such as eBay.com.
Control unit: Part of the central processing unit (CPU) that works closely with the ALU (arithmetic logic unit) by fetching and decoding instructions as well as retrieving and storing data.
Conversion: The process of transferring information from a legacy system to a new computing platform.
Corrective maintenance: Making changes to an information system to repair flaws in its design, coding, or implementation.
Cracker: An individual who breaks into computer systems with the intention of doing damage or committing a crime.
CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detect): A format in which each workstation "listens" to the network to determine whether a message is being transmitted. If the network is quiet, the workstation sends its message; otherwise, it waits. When a workstation gains access to the medium and sends information onto the network, messages are sent to all workstations on the network; however, only the destination with the proper address is able to "open" the message.
Custom applications: Software programs that are designed and developed by company personnel as opposed to being bought off-the-shelf.
Customer Relationship Management: The process of managing all aspects of the relationship with customers including finding them, marketing and selling to them, servicing their needs after the sale, and so on.
Customer Relationship Management system: Information system to support interaction between the firm and its customers.
Customization: Modifying software so that it better suits user needs.
Customized application software: Software that is developed based on specifications provided by a particular organization.
Data: Recorded, unformatted information, such as words and numbers, that often has no meaning in and of itself.
Data dictionary: A document prepared by the database designers to describe the characteristics of all items in a database.
Data diddling: A type of computer crime where the data going into or out of a computer is altered.
Data flows: Data moving through an organization or within an information system.
Data mart: A data warehouse that is limited in scope and customized for the decision support applications of a particular end-user group.
Data mining: A method used by companies to sort and analyze information to better understand their customers, products, markets, or any other phase of their business for which data has been captured.
Data model: A map or diagram that represents the entities of a database and their relationships.
Data type: Each attribute in the database is a particular type such as text, number, or a date.
Data warehouse: An integration of multiple, large databases and other information sources into a single repository or access point that is suitable for direct querying, analysis, or processing.
Database: A collection of related data organized in a way to facilitate data searches.
Database administrator: A person responsible for the development and management of the organization's databases.
Database management system (DBMS): A software application with which you create, store, organize, and retrieve data from a single database or several databases.
Decision support system (DSS): A special-purpose information systems designed to support organizational decision making.
Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA): A U.S. governmental agency that began to study ways to interconnect networks of various kinds, which lead to the development of the ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network).
Density: The storage capacity of magnetic tape that is typically referred in either characters per inch (CPI) or bytes per inch (BPI).
Desktop videoconferencing: The use of integrated computer, telephone, video recording, and playback technologies-typically by two people-to interact with each other using their desktop computers from remote sites.
Developmental testing: Testing performed by programmers to ensure that each module is error free.
Digital divide: The gap between those individuals in our society who are computer literate and have access to information resources like the Internet and those who do not.
Digital signals: The electrical pulses that computers use to send bits of information.
Digital Subscriber Line: Or DSL uses special modulation schemes to fit more data onto traditional copper phone wires; referred to as "last-mile" solutions because they are used only for connections from a telephone switching station to a home or office, and they generally are not used between telephone switching stations.
Digitization: A process that creates products without tangible features, which are commonly referred to as virtual products.
Digitizing: The process of converting a photograph or a song into digital information, or bits, which then can travel across a network.
Direct conversion: Changing from an old to a new system by beginning the new system and discontinuing the old system at the same time.
Disintermediation: The phenomenon of cutting out the "middleman" and reaching customers more directly and efficiently.
Diskettes: Also called floppy disks, are 31/2-inch, round, flexible Mylar devices that record data as magnetized spots on tracks on the disk surface.
Distance learning: The process of providing instruction to students who are physically separated from instructors through the use of some sort of communication technologies including videoconferencing, Internet chatting, and various Web-based tools.
Distributed computing: A model of using separate computers to work on subsets of tasks and then pooling their results by communicating over a network.
Distribution portals: Enterprise portals that automate the business processes involved in selling, or distributing, products from a single supplier to multiple buyers.
Domain name: Used in Uniform Resource Locators (URLs) to identify a source or host entity on the Internet.
Domain Name System: A database used to associate Internet host names with their Internet IP addresses.
Dot matrix printer: A printing technology where characters and images are formed using a series of small dots; most commonly found printing voluminous batch information, such as periodic reports and forms.
Downsizing: When companies slash costs, streamline operations, and/or let employees go.
Downstream: An information flow that relates to the information that is produced by a company and sent along to another organization such as a distributor.
Drill-down reports: Reports that provide details behind the summary values on a key-indicator or exception report.
Dumpster diving: A type of computer crime where individuals go through dumpsters and garbage cans for company documents, credit card receipts, and other papers containing information that might be useful.
DVD-ROM (digital video disk-read-only memory): A type of optical disk that uses a shorter-wavelength laser beam which allows more information to be stored on a disk than a standard CD-ROM.
E-brochure: An electronic brochure is a Web tool used to promote sales and marketing information.
E-business: Term used to refer to the use of a variety of types of information technologies and systems to support every part of the business.
E-Business Innovation Cycle: The time period and to what extent an organization derives value from a particular information technology.
E-information: The first stage of a Web site in which information about a company and its product is disseminated globally to potential customers who have access to the Internet and a Web browser.
E-integration: The second stage of a Web site in which sites containing general information about a company and its product must be integrated with corporate databases to extract and display personal customer information necessary to achieve mass customization.
E-tailing: Electronic retailing.
E-transaction: This third stage of a Web site takes the e-integration stage one step further by adding the ability for customers to enter orders and payments online.
EBCDIC (Extended Binary-Coded Decimal Interchange Code): An 8-bit code for representing numbers, letters, and other characters in binary form; typically used on mainframe computers.
Economic opportunities: Opportunities that a firm finds for making more money and/or making money in new ways.
Electronic brochure: Using the Web to disseminate sales and marketing information.
Electronic commerce: Exchanges of goods and services via the Internet among and between customers, firms, employees, business partners, suppliers, etc.
Electronic Data Interchange: (EDI) or EDI is the digital, or electronic, transmission of business documents and related data between organizations via telecommunications networks that enables the online exchange and sale of goods and services between firms.
Electronic fund transfer: The process of transferring funds from one financial account to another via computer.
Electronic mail: The transmission of messages over computer networks.
Electronic marketplace: Also called a trading exchange. A Web site built by a third party that allows buyers and sellers to come together, offering firms access to real-time trading with other companies in their vertical markets.
Electronic meeting system (EMS): An collection of personal computers networked together with sophisticated software tools to help group members solve problems and make decisions through interactive, electronic idea generation, evaluation, and voting.
EMI (electromagnetic interference): Occurs when fluorescent lights, weather, or other electronic signals interfere with the original signal being sent.
Enabling technologies: Information technologies that enable a firm to accomplish a task or goal or to gain or sustain competitive advantage in some way.
Encapsulation: The grouping of data and instructions into a single object in object-oriented programming languages.
Encryption: The process of encoding messages before they enter the network or airwaves, then decoding them at the receiving end of the transfer, so that recipients can read or hear them.
End-user development: A systems development method whereby users in the organization develop, test, and maintain their own applications.
Enterprise network: A WAN that is the result of connecting disparate networks of a single organization into a single network.
Enterprise portal: Information system that provides a single point of access to secured, proprietary information, which may be dispersed throughout an organization.
Enterprise Resource Planning: Information system that supports and integrates all facets of the business, including planning, manufacturing, sales, marketing, and so on.
Enterprise Resource Planning system: Information system that supports and integrates all facets of the business, including planning, manufacturing, sales, marketing, and so on.
Enterprise systems: Information systems that support many or all of the various parts of the firm.
Entity: Things about which we collect data, such as people or classes.
Entity-relationship diagram (ERD): A diagramming technique that is commonly used when designing databases, especially when showing associations between entities.
Ergonomics: The design of computer hardware and work environments that minimize health risks.
Ethernet: A local area network protocol developed by Xerox Corporation in 1976. It uses a bus or star network topology and uses random access control to send data. The original Ethernet supports data transfer rates of 10 Mbps. A later version, called 100Base-T or Fast Ethernet, supports transfer rates of 100 Mbps, and the latest version, called Gigabit Ethernet, supports transfer rates of 1 gigabit, or 1,000 megabits, per second. You need some type of Ethernet card installed in your computer to use this type of network connection.
Event-driven: Programming language characteristic that allows the development of programs to execute based on user-requested events rather than on a linear sequence through the program.
Exception report: Reports that highlight situations that are out of the normal operating range.
Executive information system (EIS): An information system designed to provide information in a very aggregate form so that managers at the executive level of the organization can quickly scan it for trends and anomalies.
Executive level: The top level of the organization, where executives focus on long-term strategic issues facing the organization.
Expert system (ES): A special-purpose information system designed to mimic human expertise by mani-pulating knowledge-understanding acquired through experience and extensive learning-rather than simply information.
Extensible Markup Language (XML): A Web programming language that allows designers to create customized features that enable data to be more easily shared between applications and organizations.
External acquisition: The process of purchasing an existing information system from an external organization or vendor.
External or secondary cache: Special high-speed cache memory that is usually not built into the CPU, but is located within easy reach of the CPU on the motherboard.
Extranet: The use of the Internet by firms and companies for business-to-business interactions.
Facsimile or fax machine: Machines that digitize images, such as letters, memos, newspaper and magazine articles, photos, contracts, even handwritten notes, so that they can be transmitted to other fax machines over telephone lines.
Fiber-optic cable: Made of a light-conducting glass or plastic core, surrounded by more glass, called cladding, and a tough outer sheath which protects the fiber from changes in temperature, as well as from bending or breaking; uses pulses of light sent along the optical cable to transmit video or sound data clearly and securely because it is immune to EMI and eavesdropping; has low attenuation; can support bandwidths from 100 Mbps to greater than 2 Gbps (gigabits per second) and distances from 2 to 25 kilometers.
File services: Processes used to store, retrieve, and move data files
in an efficient manner; individuals can use the file services of the network
to move a customer file electronically to multiple recipients across the
network.
File transfer: The process of connecting to a remote computer in order to either upload (sending to the remote machine) or download (obtaining from the remote machine) files and data.
Firewall: Hardware or software designed to keep unauthorized users out of network systems.
Fixed wireless: A wireless solution requiring that the user's computer be stationary rather than mobile.
Flash memory: A variation of ROM that can be repeatedly written to and erased like RAM, but, unlike RAM, it retains its information after power is turned off.
Foreign key: An attribute that appears as a nonprimary key attribute in one entity and as a primary key attribute (or part of a primary key) in another entity.
Form: 1. A collection of blank entry boxes, each representing a field, that is used to enter information into a database. 2. A business document that contains some predefined data and may include some areas where additional data is to be filled in, typically for a single record.
Fully automated data entry: Data entry into an information system that does not require any human intervention.
Functional area information system: A cross-organizational-level information system designed to support a specific functional area.
Gateway: A connection between the internal com-puter systems and networks of a company and the Internet, enabling people to send electronic mail and other data or files over the Internet to and from nearly anywhere in the world.
Geostationary: A system of satellites that are placed in fixed positions above the earth's surface and orbit along with the earth (also called a geosynchronous orbit).
Geosynchronous: A system of satellites that are placed in fixed positions above the earth's surface and orbit along with the earth. Also called a geostationary orbit.
GigaPoP: Regional network aggregation points used in connecting different systems within a network backbone, such as the Abilene network backbone.
Global information system: A type of international information system that is used when a single transaction requires the input of data from multiple centers located in more than one nation.
Global network: Spans multiple countries and may include the networks of several organizations. The Internet is an example of a global network.
Gopher: A text-based, menu-driven interface that enables users to access a large number of varied Internet resources as if they were in folders and menus on their own computers.
Graphical user interface (GUI): Computer interface that enables the user to select pictures, icons, and menus to send instructions to the computer.
Groupware: Software that enables people to work together more effectively.
Hacker: An individual who gains unauthorized access to computer systems.
Hard data: Facts and numbers that are typically generated by transaction processing systems and management information systems.
Hard drive or hard disk: A secondary storage device usually located inside the system unit of a computer for storing data.
Hardware: Physical computer equipment, such as the computer monitor, central processing unit, or keyboard.
Head crash: A failure inside a hard disk when the read/write head touches the disk and results in the loss of the data and/or the operation of the hard disk.
High-frequency radio: Signals can transmit data at rates of up to 11 Mbps to network nodes from 12.2 to 39.6 kilometers apart.
Hub: Used as a central point of connection between media segments; like repeaters, hubs enable the network to be extended to accommodate additional workstations; commonly used in 10Base-T networks.
Hyperlink: A reference or link on a web page to other documents that contain related information.
Hypermediation: A "pay by the click" pricing scheme in which the firm running the advertisement pays only when a Web surfer actually clicks on the advertisement.
Hypertext: Text in a Web document that is highlighted and, when clicked
on by the user, evokes an embedded command that goes to another specified file
or location
and brings up that file or location on the user's screen.
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML): The standard method of specifying
the format of Web pages. Specific content within each Web page is enclosed within
codes,
or markup tags, which stipulate how the content should appear to the user.
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP): The process by which servers process user requests for web pages.
Identity theft: Stealing of another person's social security number,
credit card number, and other personal information for the purpose of using
the victim's credit rating
to borrow money, buy merchandise, and otherwise run up debts that are never
repaid.
Inferencing: The matching of user questions and answers to information in a knowledge base within an expert system in order to make a recommendation.
Informating: The ability of information technology to provide information about the operation within a firm and/or about the underlying work process that the system supports.
Information: Data that has been formatted and/or organized in some way as to be useful to people.
Information accessibility: An ethical issue that focuses on defining what information a person or organization has the right to obtain about others and how this information can be accessed and used.
Information accuracy: An ethical issue concerned with the authenticity and fidelity of information, as well as identifying who is responsible for informational errors that harm people.
Information Age: A period of time in society where information has become a valuable or dominant currency of the realm.
Information privacy: An ethical issue that is concerned with what information an individual should have to reveal to others through the course of employment or through other transactions such as online shopping.
Information property: An ethical issue that focuses on who owns information about individuals and how information can be sold and exchanged.
Information systems: Assumed to mean computer-based information systems, which are combinations of hardware, software, and telecommunications networks that people build and use to collect, create, and distribute useful data; this term is also used to represent the field in which people develop, use, manage, and study computer-based information systems in organizations.
Information systems planning: 1. A formal organizational process for assessing the information needs of an organization in which the systems, databases, and technologies for meeting those needs are identified. 2. Planning for the investment in the deployment of information systems. This planning helps people meet organizational strategies and objectives given the organization's resource constraints.
Information technology: Refers to machine technology that is controlled by or uses information.
Informational system: The systems designed to support decision making based on stable point-in-time or historical data.
Infrared line of sight: Uses high-frequency light waves to transmit data on an unobstructed path between nodes-computers or some other device such as a printer-on a network, at a distance of up to 24.4 meters.
Inheritance: A characteristic of object-oriented programming languages that requires lower-level objects, or children, to inherit the characteristics of higher-level, or parent, objects.
Ink-jet printer: A printing technology where characters and images are formed by transferring ink onto paper.
Input devices: Hardware that is used to enter information into a computer.
Intangible benefits: A benefit of using a particular system or technology that is difficult to quantify. Examples of intangible benefits include faster turnaround on fulfilling orders and resulting improvements in customer service.
Intangible costs: A cost of using a particular system or technology that is difficult to quantify. Examples include the costs of reducing traditional sales, losing some customers that are not "Web ready," or losing customers if the Web application is poorly designed or not on par with competitors' sites.
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN): A standard for worldwide digital communications that is intended to replace analog systems and uses existing twisted-pair telephone wires to provide high-speed data service.
Interface: The way in which the user interacts with the computer.
Internal cache: Special high-speed cache memory that is incorporated into the microprocessor's design.
International information system: A general class of information systems that support transactions that cross national boundaries.
Internet: A term derived from the concept of internetworking, which means connecting host computers and their networks together to form even larger networks. The Internet is a large worldwide collection of networks that use a common protocol to communicate with each other.
Internet2: Developed in 1996 by leading universities as a faster, private alternative to the pubic Internet in order to be a testing-ground network to develop advanced Internet technologies and applications.
Internet backbone: The collection of main network connections and telecommunications lines comprising the Internet.
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers: Also called ICANN, a nonprofit corporation that assumed responsibility from InterNIC for managing IP addresses, domain names, and root server system management.
Internet over Satellite (IoS): Technologies that allow users to access the Internet via satellites that are placed in fixed positions above the earth's surface in what is known as a geostationary or geosynchronous orbit (i.e., the satellite moves along with the earth).
Internet Registry: A central repository for Internet-related information and which provides central allocation of network system identifiers.
Internet Relay Chat (IRC): An application that allows typed conversations with others in real time on the Internet.
Internet Service Provider: An individual or organization that enables other individuals and organizations to connect to the Internet.
Internetworking: Connecting host computers and their networks together to form even larger networks.
InterNIC: A government-industry collaboration created by the NSF in 1993, to manage directory and database services, domain registration services, and other information services on the Internet.
InterNIC Registration Service: A service offered by InterNIC for assigning Internet addresses.
Interorganizational systems: Systems that communicate across organizational boundaries.
Interpreter: A software program that translates a programming language into machine language one statement at a time.
Intranet: An internal, private network using Web technologies to facilitate the secured transmission of proprietary information within an organization, thereby limiting the viewing access to authorized users within the organization.
IP address: An Internet Protocol address assigned to every computer and router to connect to the Internet; it serves as the destination address of that computer or device and enables the network to route messages to the proper destination.
IP datagram: A data packet that conforms to the IP specification.
IPv6: The latest version of the Internet Protocol, also referred to as IPng, for IP next generation.
Java: An object-oriented programming language that was developed at Sun Microsystems in the early 1990s that is used in developing applications on the Web and other environments.
JavaScript: A scripting language, created by Netscape, that allows developers to add dynamic content to Web sites.
Key-indicator report: Reports that provide a summary of critical information on a recurring schedule.
Keyboard: Input device for entering text and numbers into a computer.
Knowledge: A body of governing procedures, such as guidelines or rules, which are used to organize or manipulate data to make it suitable for a given task.
Knowledge society: Term coined by Peter Drucker to refer to a society in which there is a relatively high proportion of knowledge workers, these types of people have risen in importance and leadership, and where education is the cornerstone of the society.
Knowledge worker: Term coined by Peter Drucker to refer to professionals who are relatively well educated and who create, modify, and/or synthesize knowledge as a fundamental part of their jobs.
Laser printer: A printing technology where characters and images are formed by using a laser beam.
Learning organization: Described by David Garvin as an organization that is "skilled at creating, acquiring, and transferring knowledge, and at modifying its behavior to reflect new knowledge and insights."
Legacy system: An older stand-alone computer system within an organization with older versions of applications that are either fast approaching or beyond the end of their useful life within the organization.
Liquid crystal display (LCD): A type of computer monitor that is most commonly used on notebook and portable computers.
Listserv: A mailing list that allows individual users to participate in group discussions via e-mail.
Local area network (LAN): A computer network that spans a relatively small area, allowing all computer users to connect with each other to share information and peripheral devices, such as a printer.
Logic or time bomb: A type of computer virus that lies in wait for unsuspecting computer users to perform a triggering operation or for a specific date before executing its instructions.
Machine language: A binary-level computer language that computer hardware understands.
Magnetic tape: A secondary storage method that consists of narrow plastic tape coated with a magnetic substance.
Magneto-optical disk (MO): A type of optical disk that contains tiny metallic crystals where information is written to the disk using a laser beam to melt small spots on the plastic surface of the disk; once melted, a magnet then rearranges the metallic crystals while the plastic is still hot and malleable to represent specific information.
Mailing lists: Also known as listservs, let you use e-mail to participate in discussion groups on topics of special interest to you.
Mainframe computer: A very large computer that is used as the main, central computing system for many major corporations and governmental agencies.
making the business case: The process of identifying, quantifying, and presenting the value provided by an information system.
Management information system (MIS): 1. A field of study that encompasses the development, use, management, and study of computer-based information systems in organizations. 2. An information system designed to support the management of organizational functions at the managerial level of the organization.
Managerial level: The mid level of the organization, where functional managers focus on monitoring and controlling operational-level activities and providing information to higher levels of the organization.
Manual data entry: Having a person enter information by hand into an information system.
Media access control: The rules that govern how a given node or workstation gains access to the network to send or receive information; there are two general types of access control: distributed and random access.
Menu-driven pricing: A pricing system in which companies set and present the prices that consumers pay for products and these prices are non-negotiable.
Message services: The storing, accessing, and delivering of text, binary, graphic, digitized video, and audio data; similar to file services, but they also deal with communication interactions between users and applications; include electronic mail or the transfer of messages between two or more networked computers.
Metropolitan area network (MAN): A computer network of limited geographic scope, typically a city-wide area, that combines both LAN and high-speed fiber-optic technologies. MANs are attractive to organizations that need high-speed data transmission within a limited geographic area.
Microcomputer: A category of computer that is generally used for personal computing, for small business computing, and as a workstation attached to large computers or to other small computers on a network.
Microwave transmission: A high-frequency radio signal sent through the air using either terrestrial (earth-based) systems or satellite systems.
Midrange computers: Often referred to minicomputers, these are computers whose performance is lower than that of mainframes, but higher than microcomputers.
Mobile wireless: Wireless approaches for connecting to the Internet where the computer or handheld device can be moved and will continue to connect.
Models: Conceptual, mathematical, logical, and analytical formulas used to represent or project business events or trends.
Modem: Short for modulator-demodulator; a modem is a device or program that enables a computer to transmit data over telephone lines.
Modules: In a software application, components (classified software functions) which are bundled together.
Monitor: A computer display screen.
Moore's Law: The general trend in computing is toward smaller, faster,
and cheaper devices; specifically that computer processing performance would
double every
18 months.
Motherboard: A large printed plastic or fiberglass circuit board that holds or connects to all of the computer's electronic components.
Multinational information system: A type of international information system that consists of a loose confederacy of various different local information systems.
Multiplexer: Used to share a communications line or medium among a number of users.
Musical Instrument Digital Interface (MIDI): A standard adopted by the electronic music industry for controlling and interconnecting musical devices and computers.
National Science Foundation: The organization in the U.S. which initiated the development of the NSFNET (National Science Foundation Network), which became a major component of the Internet.
National Science Foundation Network (NSFNET): A network developed by the U.S. in 1986 which became a major component of the Internet.
Network: A group of computers and associated peripheral devices connected by a communication channel capable of sharing information and other resources (e.g., a printer) among users.
Network Access Points: Serve as access points for ISPs and are an exchange point for Internet traffic; these access points determine how traffic is routed and are often the points of most Internet congestion.
Network computer: A microcomputer with minimal memory and storage designed to connect to networks, especially the Internet, to use the resources provided by servers.
Network interface card (NIC): An expansion board that plugs into a computer so that it can be connected to a network.
Network operating system (NOS): System software that controls the network and enables computers to communicate with each other.
Network services: Capabilities of networked computers that enable them to share files, print, send and receive messages, and to use shared software applications.
Network topology: The shape of a network; the three common network topologies are star, ring, and bus.
New economy: An economy in which information tech-nology plays a significant role and that enables producers of both the tangible (computers, shoes, etc.) and intang-ible (services, ideas, etc.) to compete efficiently in global markets.
Newsgroups: Also called computer-based discussion groups; allow individuals and organizations to participate in discussions on almost any subject.
non-recurring costs: One-time costs that are not expected to continue after the system is implemented.
Normalization: A technique for converting complex databases into ones that are simple and clear.
Notebook computer: A mobile microcomputer that weighs five pounds or less.
Object-oriented analysis and design: Systems development methodologies and techniques based on objects rather than on data and processes.
Object-oriented languages: Programming languages that group together data and its corresponding instructions into manipulatable objects.
Objects: The bundling of data and programming instructions for manipulating that data into a single module.
Off-the-shelf application software: Software designed and used to support general business processes that does not require any specific tailoring to meet the organization's needs.
Office automation or personal productivity software: Information systems that span organizational levels and are used for developing documents, scheduling resources, and communicating.
Office automation system (OAS): A collection of software and hardware for developing documents, scheduling resources, and communicating.
OLAP server: The chief component of an OLAP system that understands how data is organized in the database and has special functions for analyzing the data.
Online analytical processing (OLAP): Graphical software tools that provide complex analysis of data stored in a database.
Online customer service: Assistance for customers offered over the Internet.
Online ordering: Customers visiting a company's website to order and, in many cases, actually pay for products and services over the Internet.
Online processing: Processing of information as that information occurs.
Online transaction processing (OLTP): Immediate automated responses to the requests from multiple concurrent transactions from customers.
Operational level: The bottom level of an organization, where the routine, day-to-day business processes and interaction with customers occur.
Operational systems: The systems that are used to interact with customers and run a business in real time.
Operating system: Software that coordinates the interaction between hardware devices, peripherals, application software, and users.
Optical disk: A storage disk coated with a metallic substance that is written to (or read from) when a laser beam passes over the surface of the disk.
Organizational learning: The ability of an organization to learn from past behavior and information and improve as a result.
Organizational strategy: A firm's plan to accomplish its mission and goals and to gain or sustain competitive advantage over rivals.
OSI model: Open Systems Interconnection; a protocol that represents a group of specific, successive tasks which enable computers to communicate with one another.
Output devices: Hardware devices that deliver information in a usable form.
Outsourcing: Turning over partial or entire responsibility for information systems development and management to an outside organization.
Packaged application: A software program written by third-party vendors.
Packet switching: The process of breaking information into small chunks called data packets and then managing the transfer of those packets from computer to computer via the Internet.
Pager: A one-way, wireless messaging system.
Parallel conversion: Changing over from the old to a new system by running both at the same time until the organization is sure that the new system is error free, that the users are adequately trained, and that the support procedures are in place.
Peer: Any computer that may both request and provide services.
Peer-to-peer networks: Networks that enable any computer or device on the network to provide and request services.
Perfective maintenance: Making enhancements to improve processing performance, to improve interface usability, or to add desired, but not necessarily required, system features.
Personal area network (PAN): An emerging technology that uses wireless communication to exchange data between computing devices using short-range radio communication, typically within an area of 10 meters.
Personal computer (PC): A class of computers that fit on desktops and are used in homes and offices.
Personal digital assistant (PDA): A handheld microcomputer that has somewhat limited processing and storage capabilities.
Phased conversion: Changed over from the old to a new system by utilizing parts of the new system and adding new modules and features to that new system as each part is validated as working properly. This process continues until the entire system is operating and the old system is replaced.
Phreaking: Crimes committed against telephone company computers with the goal of making free long distance calls, impersonating directory assistance or other operator services, diverting calls to numbers of the perpetrator's choice, or otherwise disrupting telephone service for subscribers.
Piggybacking or shoulder-surfing: The act of simply standing in line behind a card user at an automated teller machine (ATM), looking over that person's shoulder, and memorizing the card's personal identification number (PIN).
Pilot conversion: Changing over from the old to a new system by running the entire system in one location until it is validated as operating properly and then diffusing the system into the entire organization.
Plain old telephone service (POTS): Standard telephone lines with a speed, or bandwidth, that is generally about 52 Kbps (52,000 bits per second); also called the public switched telephone network (PSTN).
Pointing devices: Input devices for pointing at items and selecting menu items on a computer.
Portals: In the context of B2B EC, defined as access points (or front doors) through which a business partner accesses secured, proprietary information from an organization.
Power supply: A device that converts electricity from the wall socket to a lower voltage appropriate for computer components and regulates the voltage to eliminate surges common in most electrical systems.
Preventive maintenance: Making changes to a system to reduce the chance of future system failure.
Primary key: A field included in a database that assures that each instance of an entity is stored or retrieved accurately.
Primary memory: The computer's main or random access memory (RAM).
Primary storage: Temporary storage that is also referred to as random-access memory (RAM) and read-only memory (ROM).
Print services: Used to control and manage users' access to network printers and fax equipment.
Private branch exchange (PBX): A telephone system that serves a particular location, such as a business, connecting one telephone extension to another within the system and connecting the PBX to the outside telephone network.
Processing devices: Computer hardware that transforms inputs into outputs.
Processing logic: The steps by which data is transformed or moved, as well as a description of the events that trigger these steps.
Procurement portals: Enterprise portals that automate the business processes involved in purchasing, or procuring, products between a single buyer and multiple suppliers.
Protocols: Rules dictating communication between senders and receivers within a network.
Prototyping: An iterative systems development process in which requirements are converted into a working system that is continually revised through close work between analysts and users.
Proxy variables: A measurement of changes as a result a systems implementation in terms of their perceived value to the organization, particularly where it is difficult to determine and measure direct effects from a system.
Public key: A data encryption technique that uses two keys-a private key and a public key-to encrypt and decode messages.
Public switched telephone network (PSTN): Also called plain old telephone service (POTS), it is a network of standard telephone lines with a speed, or bandwidth, that is generally about 52 Kbps (52,000 bits per second).
Pull marketing: A strategy by which companies must draw, or pull, visitors to their Web sites.
Push marketing: An active strategy in which the company pushes their information at the consumer whether it is wanted or not (e.g., television commercials).
Query: Method used to request information from a database.
Query by example (QBE): A capability of a DBMS that enables data to be requested by providing a sample or a description of the types of data we would like to see.
RAID (redundant array of independent disks): A secondary storage technology that makes redundant copies of data on two or more hard drives.
Random-access memory (RAM): A type of primary storage that is volatile and can be accessed randomly by the CPU.
Rapid application development: A systems development methodology that combines prototyping, computer-based development tools, special management practices, and close user involvement.
Read-only memory (ROM): A type of primary storage on which data has been prerecorded and is nonvolatile.
Read/write heads: Components that inscribe data to or retrieve data from hard disks, diskettes, and tapes.
Record: A record is a collection of related attributes about a single entity.
Recurring costs: Ongoing costs that occur throughout the life cycle of systems development, implementation, and maintenance.
Registers: Temporary storage locations inside the CPU where data must reside while it is being processed or manipulated.
Relational database model: The most common DBMS approach in which entities are presented as two-dimensional tables, with records as rows and attributes as columns.
Repeater: A network device used to regenerate or replicate a signal as it weakens when traveling on a network; also moves data from one media segment to another and effectively extends the size of the network.
Report: 1. A compilation of data from the database that is organized and produced in printed format. 2. A business document that only contains predefined data used for reading and viewing, typically for multiple records.
Report generators: Software tools for retrieving data from a database and manipulating (aggregate, transform, or group) and displaying it in a useful format.
Request for proposal: A communication tool indicating buyer requirements for a given system and requesting information from potential vendors.
Requirements collection: The process of gathering and organizing information from users, managers, business processes, and documents to understand how a proposed information system should function.
Reverse pricing: A pricing system in which customers specify the product they are looking for and how much they are willing to pay for it; this information is routed to appropriate companies, which either accept or reject the consumer's offer.
Ring network: A network that is configured in the shape of a closed loop or circle, with each node connecting to the next node.
Router: An intelligent device used to connect and route data traffic across two or more individual networks.
Rule: A way of encoding knowledge, typically expressed using an IF-THEN format, within an expert system.
Salami slicing: A form of data diddling that occurs when a person shaves small amounts from financial accounts and deposits them in a personal account.
Sales Force Automation: Or SFA, which is the system of applications which mainly focus on contact management and scheduling.
Satellite: A device launched to orbit Earth and enable network communication.
Satellite microwave: The process of using relay stations that transfer high-frequency radio signals between antennas located on earth and satellites orbiting the earth.
Scanners: Input devices that convert printed text and images into digital data.
Scheduled reports: Reports produced at predefined intervals-daily, weekly, or monthly-to support the routine informational needs of managerial-level decision making.
Scripting languages: A programming technique for providing interactive components to a Web page.
Secondary key: Attributes not used as the primary that can be used to identify one or more records within a table that share a common value.
Secondary nonvolatile storage: Methods for permanently storing data to a large-capacity storage component, such as a hard disk, diskette, CD-ROM disk, or tape.
Secure sockets layer (SSL): A popular public-key encryption method used on the Internet.
Semiautomated data entry: Data entry into an information system using some type of data capture device such as a grocery store checkout scanner.
Semistructured decisions: Managerial-level decision making where solutions and problems are not clear-cut and often require judgment and expertise.
Server: Any computer on the network that enables access to files, printing, communications, and other services available to users of the network; it typically has a more advanced microprocessor, more memory, a larger cache, and more disk storage than a single-user workstation.
Server-centric networks: Networks in which servers and clients have defined roles.
Service mentality: The belief among information systems personnel that their chief goal is satisfying their systems customers within the firm while fundamentally believing that the customers, not the systems personnel, own the technology and the information.
Single in-line memory module (SIMM): A small circuit board that can hold RAM chips.
Smart card: A special type of credit card with a magnetic strip, a microprocessor chip, and memory circuits.
Social engineering: Gaining information needed to access computers by means of tricking company employees by posing as a magazine journalist, telephone company employee, or forgetful coworker in order to persuade honest employees to reveal passwords and other information.
Soft data: Textual news stories or other nonanalytical information.
Software: A program or set of programs that tell the computer to perform certain processing functions.
Software engineering: A disciplined approach for constructing information systems through the use of common methods, techniques, or tools.
Software piracy: A type of computer crime where individuals make illegal copies of software protected by copyright laws.
Sound card: A specialized circuit board that supports the ability to convert digital information into sounds that can be listened to on speakers or headphones plugged into the card; a microphone can also be plugged into the card for capturing audio for storage or processing.
Source documents: Documents describing a transaction that serve as a stimulus to a transaction processing system from some external source.
Speech recognition: Software and hardware used to convert spoken words into commands and data.
Spoofing: A scam used to steal passwords from legitimate accounts by using phony login screens.
Stand-alone application: Systems that focus on the specific needs of individual departments and are not designed to communicate with other systems in the organization.
Star network: A network with several workstations connected to a central hub.
Strategic: A way of thinking in which a plan of action is made and is intended to accomplish a specific goal.
Strategic planning: The process of forming a vision of where the organization needs to head, convert that vision into measurable objectives and performance targets, and craft a plan to achieve the desired results.
Streaming media: Streaming video with sound.
Streaming video: A sequence of compressed moving images that are sent over the Internet.
Structured decisions: Decisions where the procedures to follow for a given situation can be specified in advance.
Structured Query Language (SQL): The most common language used to interface with databases.
Supercomputer: The most expensive and most powerful category of computers. It is primarily used to assist in solving massive research and scientific problems.
Supply chain: The network producers of supplies that a company uses.
Supply Chain Management: Management of the network of suppliers and sub-suppliers that a company interacts with.
Supply network: The flow of materials from multiple suppliers involved in the process of servicing a single organization.
Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line (SDSL): A data transfer format that enables large amounts of data to be sent relatively quickly over existing copper telephone lines; said to be symmetric because it supports the same data rates (up to 3 Mbps) for upstream and downstream traffic; works by sending digital pulses in the high-frequency area of telephone wires.
Symmetric secret key system: An encryption system where both the sender and recipient use the same key for encoding (scrambling) and decoding the message.
System analysis: The second phase of the systems development life cycle, in which the current ways of doing business are studied and alternative replacement systems are proposed.
Systems analysis and design: The process of designing, building, and maintaining information systems.
Systems analyst: The primary person responsible for performing systems analysis and design activities.
Systems benchmarking: A standardized set of performance tests designed to facilitate comparison between systems.
System clock: An electronic circuit inside a computer that generates pulses at a rapid rate for setting the pace of processing events.
System conversion: The process of decommissioning the current system and installing a new system into the organization.
System design: The third phase of the systems development life cycle, in which all features of the proposed system are described.
Systems development life cycle (SDLC): The process of identifying the need for, as well as designing, developing, and maintaining contemporary types of information systems.
System effectiveness: The extent to which a system enables people and/or the firm to accomplish goals or tasks well.
System efficiency: The extent to which a system enables people and/or the firm to do things faster, at lower cost, or with relatively little time and effort.
System identification, selection, and planning: The first phase of the systems development life cycle, in which potential projects are identified, selected, and planned.
System implementation: The fourth phase of the systems development life cycle, in which the information system is programmed, tested, installed, and supported.
systems integration: Making it so that two information system can work together better and/or can exchange data more seamlessly with each other.
System maintenance: The fifth (and final) phase of the systems development life cycle, in which an information system is systematically repaired and/or improved.
System software: The collection of programs that controls the basic operations of computer hardware.
System unit: The physical box that houses all of the electronic components that do the work of the computer.
T1 line: Developed by AT&T as a dedicated digital transmission line that can carry 1.544 Mbps of information.
T3 line: A digital transmission line that provides about 45 Mbps of service at about 10 times the cost of leasing a T1 line.
Table: A collection of related records where each row is a record and each column is an attribute.
Tangible benefit: A benefit of using a particular system or technology that can be quantified.
Tangible cost: A cost of using a particular system of technology that is quantifiable.
Technology: Any mechanical and/or electrical means to supplement, extend, or replace human, manual operations or devices.
Telecommunications: Refers to the transmission of all forms of information, including digital data, voice, fax, sound, and video, from one location to another over some type of network.
Telecommunications network: A group of two or more computer systems linked together with communications equipment.
Telecommuting: The process of working at home or at another remote location and "commuting" to the office via computing and networking technologies.
Telemedicine: The exchange of medical information from one location to another via a computer network.
Telnet: Enables users to connect, or log in, to any computer on the Internet.
Terminals: Local input devices used to enter data onto mainframes in centralized computing systems.
Terrestrial microwave: The process of using earth-based antennas that require an unobstructed path or line-of-sight between nodes; often used to cross inaccessible terrain or to connect buildings where cable installation would be expensive.
Text recognition software: Software designed to convert handwritten text into the computer-based characters.
Token passing: An access method that uses a constantly circulating electronic token, a small packet of data, to prevent collisions and give all workstations equal access to the network.
Top-level domain: Categories of Internet domain names as indicated by their suffix (i.e., .com, .edu, or .org).
Total quality management: A management system in which people within the organization are constantly monitoring what they do to find ways to improve quality of operations, products, services, and everything else about the firm.
Trading exchange: A Web site where multiple buyers and sellers come together to conduct business; also called an electronic marketplace.
Transaction Processing System (TPS): An information system designed to process day-to-day business event data at the operational level of the organization.
Transactions: Repetitive events in organizations that occur as a regular part of conducting day-to-day operations.
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP): The protocol of the Internet, which allows different interconnected networks to communicate using the same language.
Transmission media: The physical pathway to send data and information between two or more entities on a network.
Transnational information system: A type of international information system that is not specific to any country or any particular organization.
Trojan horse: A destructive computer code whose instructions remain hidden to the user because the computer appears to function normally, but in fact it is performing underlying functions dictated by the intrusive code.
Tunneling: A technology used by VPNs to encapsulate, encrypt, and transmit data over the Internet infrastructure, enabling business partners to exchange information in a secured, private manner between organizational firewalls.
Twisted pair cable: Cable made of two or more pairs of insulated copper wires twisted together.
Unauthorized access: Occurs when a person gains access to a computer system who does not have authoritiy to do so.
UN/EDIFACT: One of the formatting standards followed by EDI to specify how information is transmitted electronically.
Unicode: A 16-bit code used code for representing numbers, letters, and other characters in binary form.
Uniform Resource Locator: The unique Internet address for a Web site and specific Web pages within sites.
Unstructured decisions: Decisions where few or no procedures to follow for a given situation can be specified in advance.
Upstream: An information flow consisting of information received from another organization, such as from a supplier.
Usenet: Enables groups of people with common interests to send messages or other binary information to each other. Unlike listserv, Usenet has no master list of subscribers. Rather, anyone with access to Usenet may use a newsreader program to post and read articles from the group.
Utilities or utility programs: Software designed to manage computer resources and files.
value-added network (VAN): Medium-speed WANs that are private, third-party managed networks and are economical because they are shared by multiple organizations.
Value chain: The process of adding value throughout each of the functions within the organization.
Value chain analysis: The process of analyzing an organization's activities to determine where value is added to products and/or services and the costs that are incurred for doing so.
Value system: A collection of interlocking company value chains.
Vanilla: The features and modules that the ERP comes with out of the box.
Vertical market: A market comprised of firms within a specific industry sector.
Very high-speed Backbone Network Service (vBNS+): A cooperative agreement between WorldCom and the National Science Foundation aimed at developing high-performance, high-bandwidth Internet-related technologies and applications.
Video: Sill and moving images that can be recorded, manipulated, and displayed on a computer.
Videoconferencing: The use of integrated telephone, video recording, and playback technologies by two or more people to interact with each other from remote sites.
Virtual company: A firm that exists either on paper or on the Internet but has little/no physical components or attributes.
Virtual private network: A secure network that utilizes telecommunications lines from a telephone service provider and enables there to be a connection created when a transmission needs to take place and terminated once the transmission has been completed and enables the user to scale bandwidth up and down as needed.
Virtual product: A product without tangible features created through the process of digitization.
Virtual teams: Work teams that are composed of members that may be from different organizations and different locations that form and disband as needed.
Viruses: Destructive programs that disrupt the normal functioning of computer systems.
Visual programming languages: Programming languages that have a graphical user interface (GUI) for the programmer and are designed for programming applications that will have a GUI.
Voice mail: Telecommunication technology that allows callers to leave voice messages in a voice mailbox, much like leaving a message on an answering machine.
Voice over IP: A collection of hardware and software that enables the use of the Internet as the transmission medium for telephone calls.
Volatile: Memory that loses its contents when the power is turned off.
WAIS (Wide Area Information Server): Internet tool that enables users to locate information by indexing electronic data using standard keywords.
Watermarked: The process of marking products so that they can be traced to the original purchaser.
Web browser: A software application that can be used to locate and display Web pages including text, graphics, and multimedia content.
Web page: A hypertext document that contains not only information, but also references or links to other documents that contain related information.
Web page builders or HTML editors: Programs for assisting in the creation and maintenance of Web pages.
Web server: A computer used to host Web sites.
Web site: A collection of interlinked Web pages created by the same author.
What-if analysis: A capability of some information systems (e.g., a decision support system) that allows a user to make hypothetical changes to the data associated with a problem and observe how these changes influence the results.
Wide area network (WAN): A computer network that spans a relatively large geographical area; typically used to connect two or more LANs.
Wireless local area network (WLAN): Local area network using a wireless transmission protocol.
Wireless media: The tools used to transmit and receive electromagnetic signals using methods such as infrared line of sight, high-frequency radio, and microwave systems.
Wisdom: Accumulated knowledge, gained through a combination of academic study and personal experience, that goes beyond knowledge by representing broader, more generalized rules and schemas for understanding a specific domain or domains; wisdom allows you to understand howo apply concepts from one domain to new situations or problems.
Work profile matrix: A chart which consists of job categories and work categories and shows how much time is spent on each of the job categories and each of the different types of work.
Workstation: A special class of microcomputer designed for individuals that has the power of some midrange computers but fits on a desktop.
World Wide Web (Web): A system of Internet servers that support documents formatted in HTML, which supports links to other documents, as well as graphics, audio, and video files.
Worm: Destructive computer code that is designed to copy and send itself throughout networked computers.
Zip drive: A high-capacity, removable diskette drive that typically
uses 100MB Zip disks or cartridges.