1. Unit 1 Understanding computer systems: How to work with information and data to meet specific business needs OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 20131 Data capture

2. Unit 1 Understanding computer systems: How to work with information and data to meet specific business needs OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 20132 Data Information Data capture Data types Coding data Data has to be collected in a suitable format for entering into computer systems. Data capture

3. Unit 1 Understanding computer systems: How to work with information and data to meet specific business needs OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 20133 Data is the set of raw numbers, letters or characters. They have no meaning or context. This is an example of data: 20100101 It is a series of numbers that has no meaning until it is processed, put into context and given meaning, when it will become information.information Data

4. Unit 1 Understanding computer systems: How to work with information and data to meet specific business needs OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 20134 Information is data that has been processed to give it meaning and context.data 20100101 is data. 20100101 becomes information only when it is put into context as a date and then it has meaning: 2010 01 01 is 1 st January in the year 2010. Information

5. Unit 1 Understanding computer systems: How to work with information and data to meet specific business needs OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 20135 Data has to be collected in a suitable format for entering into computer systems so that it can be processed to give useful information. Data can be collected using forms or automatically from sensors, or by scanning codes such as barcodes or QR codes.forms sensors, barcodesQR codes Data capture

6. Unit 1 Understanding computer systems: How to work with information and data to meet specific business needs OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 20136 Data capture forms can be paper- based or online, and often force users to supply the information in the correct format ready for entry into the computer system.paper- based This is especially important if the form is online because the data will go straight into the computer system. Online forms can use validation rules to ensure that the data that is being entered is suitable and reasonable. validation rules Data capture forms

7. Unit 1 Understanding computer systems: How to work with information and data to meet specific business needs OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 20137 This form collects the data about a person’s address: It forces the user to put the letters and details very clearly so that they can be easily copied into a computer database. Paper-based data capture forms

8. Unit 1 Understanding computer systems: How to work with information and data to meet specific business needs OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 20138 Validation rules can be applied to data entry forms to ensure that the data being entered is suitable. Suitable rules could restrict the data to letters only, to numbers only, or to a particular range of lengths e.g. only between 4 and 8 characters, which would be suitable for a userID. Validation rules An error or information message would be given if the data did not meet the rules. Data can be restricted to named items only by using dropdown lists.

9. Unit 1 Understanding computer systems: How to work with information and data to meet specific business needs OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 20139 Sensors collect analogue data and send it, via a suitable converter, as digital data to computer systems to be processed and analysed. analogue data converter, digital data Automatic data capture using sensors Sensor Typical use Measuring the temperature of a room for use in a heating/air- conditioning system, a swimming pool for use in controlling the temperature of the pool, or the lava from a volcano. Measuring the pH level of a swimming pool for use in water quality control systems. Measuring the light level in a room for use in controlling lighting systems. Detecting the presence of a person standing on a door mat for use in opening a door automatically or setting off an alarm. Pressure Light pH Temperature

10. Unit 1 Understanding computer systems: How to work with information and data to meet specific business needs OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 201310 Analogue data is continuously varying data. Physical parameters such as temperature and light collected by sensors are analogue data. Computers cannot understand analogue data. Digital data is a sequence of 1s and 0s that can be understood by computers. An analogue-to-digital converter is used to convert analogue signals into digital data so that the computer can read and understand them. ADCs can be stand-alone, like the one shown above, or built into complex items such as set top boxes Analogue and digital data

11. Unit 1 Understanding computer systems: How to work with information and data to meet specific business needs OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 201311 Bar codes are used on almost all items that are for sale. A bar code contains data that can be used to identify an item by looking up the code in a database and retrieving the details of the item. Bar code read by scanner Data sent to computer Data looked up in database and the item can be displayed on screen or its detail shown. Bar codes

12. Unit 1 Understanding computer systems: How to work with information and data to meet specific business needs OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 201312 QR or matrix codes are used on many items. The codes can hold more data than traditional bar codes. QR codes Apps for smart phones can scan QR codes and use the data to access the website for the item being scanned:

13. Unit 1 Understanding computer systems: How to work with information and data to meet specific business needs OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 201313 RFID tags are fitted to many items. RFID tags are fixed to clothing, DVD cases and other expensive items. RFID tags can be read at a greater distance than a bar code so can be used for security purposes.security RFID tags

14. Unit 1 Understanding computer systems: How to work with information and data to meet specific business needs OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 201314 The tag is read by the RFID scanner and the data passed to a computer, which logs the item as it passes the scanners. If the item, such as a bottle, has not been logged as checked out properly, the computer system will sound an alarm. RFID tags and security

15. Unit 1 Understanding computer systems: How to work with information and data to meet specific business needs OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 201315 Data is often coded before it is entered into a database. The gender of a person, i.e. male or female, can coded as M or F to take up less space in the database and make it easier to enter. Product such as these cans of beans would be given a product code such as B987FDX, which could be looked up in a computer database to retrieve the item details, e.g. the number in stock and the price. Coding data

16. Unit 1 Understanding computer systems: How to work with information and data to meet specific business needs OCR Cambridge Nationals in ICT Level 1/2 © Hodder & Stoughton 201316 Databases store data as different types to make it easier to process. When storing data in a database, care must be taken to store the data as the most suitable type in order to enable the required processing to be carried out. Data types Data typeDescriptionExample of dataTypical use TextAny characterAbc|<.<;;65 3Names of items or people. Telephone ‘numbers’ are stored as text because telephone numbers can have spaces and leading zeros. Integer number Whole numbers19243Number of items in stock, number of people in a shop, number of tickets to a cinema performance sold in one day. Real number Any number, with or without decimal places 12.99Prices, height, weight DateTime20/07/12A date, e.g. 20 July 2012 BooleanTrue or FalseThere are only two choices: 1 or 0, yes or no, M or F Storing the gender of a person. ImageA graphic fileA photographA photograph of a member of a club shown on a membership card.