Similarities and Differences between Information Science and Information Systems

Meaning of Information Science and Information Systems

Information system refers to how people and organizations or enterprises interact with both hardware and software in order to gather, categorize, create or disseminate data (Alter, 2013). On the other hand, information science is a discipline that primarily concentrates on collection, categorization, safe storage, and efficient exchange or access to information.

Similarities between Information Science and Information System

There are a number of similarities between information science and information systems. Firstly, both information science and information systems depend on the existing mathematical models to formulate and present relationships within the healthcare industry. Secondly, both information system and information science channel important data and information which helps in the design and improvement of the vital software used with the nursing industry (Alter, 2013). Lastly, there are a variety of fields that borrow from advancements in the field of information science as well as information systems; for instance, nursing informatics rely on the two fields to record, retrieve, and interpret data effectively.

Differences between Information Science and Information System

Information system targets organizations while information science targets software development. The other difference is that information system is geared towards problem solving while information science defines the relevant logical procedures in obtaining the relevant solutions. Thirdly, whereas information system determines the organizational requirements, information science works towards meeting such requirements (Alter, 2013). Lastly, Information science is derived from the basic scientific disciplines like mathematics and physics, while information system is derived from the field of business management.

The Importance Standardizing Nursing Informatics

With the revolution in the field of information exchange, it is becoming increasingly important to standardize terminologies that convey accurate information particularly in the field of nursing (Alter, 2013). Standardized terminologies will facilitate unified improvement in nursing literature and ease comparison of medical data between various health institutions.

References

Alter, S. (2013). Work System Theory: Overview of core concepts, extensions, and challenges for the future. Journal of the Association for Information Systems, 14(2), 72-121.