Information systems accept (as inputs), store (in files or a data base), and display (as outputs) strings of symbols that are grouped in various ways (digits, alphabetical characters, special symbols). Users of the information systems attribute some valu

Information systems accept (as inputs), store (in files or a data base), and display (as outputs) strings of symbols that are grouped in various ways (digits, alphabetical characters, special symbols). Users of the information systems attribute some value or meaning to the string of symbols. Sometimes a distinction is made between the mechanistic representation of the symbols, which is called data, and the meaning attributed to the symbols, which is called information. A given output datum, under this definition, can result in different information to different users.