1.2.7. Databases

An office manager may wish to use, for example:

• business databases ─ giving exchange rates, commodities, etc.;

• stock market databases ─ giving details of companies;

• lexis database ─ covering all the latest court decisions.

A properly set up database showing personnel records in detail would show date of employment, educational background, work experience and language ability. By using an on-line terminal, personnel records can be searched and names of suitable employees obtained to fill the overseas assignment.

Office information system

Information about an organization can be kept very conveniently in computer systems which can give access to data immediately. Some organizations are now using modern technological developments. The main aims of these developments are to:

• provide information that could not be obtained before;

• provide accurate data, when it is required;

• help to do jobs more efficiently;

• allow a wider range of tasks to be performed;

• present data in a more understandable way (e.g. graphics/colour).

Advantages of office automation

• Reduction in costs of staff and equipment.

• Greater volume of total work completed.

• Increase in availability and accuracy of information.

• Updating of data is quicker.

• Communication between persons far apart is more efficient.

• Access to data available from many locations, e.g. home and office.

• More time available for main area of work of individual (less time on communicating, filing, retrieving).

Digital Image Processing (dip)

Paper documents can now be converted into identical electronic documents, so that they can be stored, then retrieved quickly on demand. This has been made possible by advances in software and hardware design.

Some advantages of dip

• Saving of space. The contents of a large filing cabinet can be stored on a 5.25 inch optical disk.

• Fast retrieval speed

• Indexing is easier as the electronic image can be indexed and retrieved under a variety of headings.

• Access is available to people simultaneously, as compared with a paper file which is accessed by one person at a time.

Documents can now be viewed on any standard personal computer. Optical disks can be either erasable or read only. Those read only (or WORM) disks are best where security is important, as the image cannot be altered.

Assignments

I. Match the following English and Ukrainian words and phrases:

retrieval	який можна стерти
personal records	на великій відстані один від одного
educational background	зниження собівартості
to fill an assignment	розробка
reduction in costs	кваліфікація за освітою
far apart	документація з обліку кадрів
developments	заповнити вакантну посаду
erasable	пошук (інформації)

II. Answer the questions:

1. Why is it so important to have properly set up databases?

2. What are the advantages of DIP?

3. What are the aims of the modern technological developments in office information systems?

4. What are the advantages of office automation?

III. Translate into English:

1. Бази даних з обліку кадрів дають можливість швидко знайти інформацію про будь-якого працівника, таку як: дата працевлаштування, інформація про освіту, досвід роботи і швидко заповнити будь-яку вакантну посаду.

2. Автоматизація офісної роботи дозволяє скоротити витрати на персонал та обладнання, збільшити обсяги виконаної роботи, швидше поновлювати дані, полегшити доступ до інформації.