Information Systems and Technology

This degree prepares you for a professional career in information systems and the business services they provide. It takes a broad view of how organisations use information to maintain competitiveadvantage using our expertise in computing and information management.

4 Core Module(s):

Databases

Information and Knowledge Management

A key resource for any organisation is the internal and external information which is key to its business. Employees use this information to generate knowledge given both business and technological drivers from the external environment. In this module you will learn how to manage information and knowledge a part of the IT infrastructure e.g. supporting communication/collaboration, users' needs for information and their seeking behaviour. You will investigate barriers to successful information management strategies such as information overload and what policies (both managerial and technological) can be put in place to resolve the problems. This will provide you with the knowledge to manage information effectively to meet an organisation's key strategic goals.

Information Architecture

• You will design the structural foundation of digital information environments, such as Websites and apps, to allow users to find the information they need and find it easily.
• You will understand theory of how to organise, structure and label digital information to support user navigation and information-seeking.
• You will create models and prototypes to drive the user-centred design of digital information environments (e.g. domain models, sitemaps, wireframes).
• You will develop skills in evaluating information architectures from a user perspective.

Research, Methods and Professional Issues

• You will acquire and develop skills for planning and carrying out independent, original research (which you will later apply when completing your Masters dissertation).
• You will be able to use appropriate quantitative and qualitative techniques for data collection and analysis.
• You will learn to find, interpret, and use existing academic research as a basis for your research activity.
• You will explore the legal, ethical and professional implications of applied work in the information and computer sciences and use this knowledge in your research.

Choose from 2 electives in term 1 from the following:

Systems Specification

• Demonstrate a comprehensive understanding of the changing nature of software intensive systems and the range of new methods, tools and techniques available to develop these systems
• Demonstrate a systematic understanding of the challenges of requirements elicitation
• Demonstrate a systematic understanding of the fundamentals of software quality assurance techniques
• Apply the principles and concepts involved in object-oriented analysis and design and build object-oriented analysis and design models using the constructs of the Unified Modelling Language (UML)

Requirements Engineering

• Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the range of problems which arise in requirement engineering
• Demonstrate an in-depth understanding of the state-of-the-art practices and leading academic research that are aimed at addressing the range of problems which arise in requirements engineering
• Demonstrate a systematic understanding of the differences between alternative requirements modelling techniques
• Apply start-of-the-art requirements methods and techniques to acquire, model and analyse requirements for complex systems

Choose 3 elective module(s) from the following list:

Business Engineering with ERP Solutions

• Explain the fundamental principles of ERP technology and second generation ERP systems, and evaluate their business and technical benefits in context
• Analyse the critical success factors for ERP system implementation in context
• Use Accelerated SAP (ASAP) methodology in solving complex problems
• Perform complex business process modelling using the EPC notation

Data Visualization

• Create graphics and applications that reveal the structure in data sets.
• You will understand and apply techniques for the visual presentation of data to support user exploration and understanding.
• You will create an engaging data visualization to reveal the structure in data sets.
• You will develop programming skills to support the development of interactive graphical applications for visualization.

Information Law and Policy

The Information law and policy module covers a wide range of legal issues relevant to the information profession – such as intellectual property, data protection & privacy, cybercrime and computer misuse, freedom of information, libel, and the re-use of public sector information.

Information Retrieval

Key to supporting information management are information retrieval (IR) systems. These are applied in various contexts e.g. work, mobile, social media, etc. Users have various information needs in these contexts and, as part of their overall information seeking strategy, they use IR systems to find and access the information required to fulfil those needs. In this module you will learn how to analyse information needs and create search strategies to retrieve relevant information using a variety of systems e.g. web, online and for different media such as text, images and videos. The evaluation of IR systems is also a key focus of the module, using different methodologies. The module provides a student with the theoretical and practical knowledge to use IR systems effectively.

Project Management

• Demonstrate understanding of the key issues relating to IT project management, including estimating, scheduling, resourcing, monitoring and controlling progress, quality control and risk management
• Discuss the wider context of change management and the organizational framework

Web Applications Development

• You will develop a detailed understanding of the core components of Web-based applications
• You will create Web applications that incorporate dynamic and engaging front-end user interfaces
• You will understand the importance of security and data access in Web applications.

Read the full programme specification