The objective of this thesis is to develop and define the concept of a total management information system. The term "total system" has been grossly misrepresented since its coinage, however, the misuse can be attributed to ignorance of its full meaning. The misuse is also attributed to narrow thinking on behalf of the user for its application has mainly been directed to a specific circumstance. The study defines the term "total management information system" and it also outlines the attributes which make up the total system. As in all situations where an ideal is created, there is resistence to reaching the ideal - these barriers are enumerated and commented upon. To test the validity of the concept, it is applied to an existing company's informational system by the methodology of a systems analysis. Conclusions are reached on the soundness of the concept and on the status of the case company toward its claim of holding the totality status. Primary research was conducted on the theory of a total system; secondary research was conducted into the existing systems of the case company. Throughout the study, observations were made concerning the problems associated with the topic and an evaluation is made on the status of the evolution of the total information system. / Business, Sauder School of / Graduate

With the growing use of computers as tools for the automation of clerical tasks, there has come not only a proliferation of documentation, but the realization that computers could be employed in automating certain aspects of the production of documents — not only such documents as describe computer developments, but also papers, briefs, letters, etc. The runoff program, usually an adjunct to a text editing facility, has been in existence for a long time, but its use has been limited to computing installations and those directly involved with computing. The reason for this is two-fold: public unawareness, and the ad hoc nature of runoff program design have prevented wider use. This thesis is an attempt to present a reasoned design of a program which acts enough like a rather intelligent typewriter to be usable by members of the public, but gives the user with a greater computing background enough power of expression in terms of programming language and layout design, to overcome some of the limitations of earlier runoff programs. Previous work in the area of text processing which relates to document processing is examined in some detail. The underlying ideas common to existing document-processing facilities are brought forth, and examined in the light of what a user might reasonably expect of such a facility. The resulting design for a document processor is presented in an orderly fashion, outlining the reasons for design decisions and backing away respectfully from designs which are unfeasible for economic implementation. An entire chapter is devoted to a description of the resulting document processor, in the form of a somewhat rarified user's manual. Suggestions for and details of an implementation are given, based on the author's own experiences with implementation. A bibliography and a short glossary of the most important terms and those most likely to confuse are appended to the thesis. / Science, Faculty of / Computer Science, Department of / Graduate

No description available.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--University of Hong Kong, 1980. / Typescript.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1978.

Thesis (M.B.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1979.

Thesis--University of California. / Bibliography: leaves 198-209.

No description available.

Includes bibliography. / The Institute for Medical Literature (IML) provides an online bibliographic service to the biomedical community in South Africa. The requirements of the users of the services of IML were evaluated in respect of needs and satisfaction of these needs. A non-user population was also identified and evaluated. The research study was undertaken by (a) conducting a review of the literature; and (b) conducting an empirical study of users and non-users of IML to construct both a "personal" and "information behaviour" profile of both the user and non-user groups. The literature was studied to provide (i) a conceptual framework for the field of research, (ii) a compilation of findings in studies related to this study and (iii) a basis for the selection of the methodology employed in the study. The "personal" profile comprised details of age, rank and work activity type and the "information behaviour" profile comprised details of use of information channels. The needs of the users, as measured by various criteria for satisfaction of these needs, were also measured. The reasons for the non-use of the service were also investigated. The principal conclusions reached were: (a) The expressed information need of the users of IML were satisfied; (b) the majority of non-users had not heard of IML; (c) there was a difference between the information seeking behaviour of users and non-users of IML; and (d) age, rank and work activity type influenced the use or non-use of IML.

No description available.