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Information Science or Informatics is the science of information. It is often, though not exclusively, studied as a branch of computer science and information technology and is related to database, ontology and software engineering. Information science is primarily concerned with the structure, creation, management, storage, retrieval, dissemination and transfer of information. Information science also includes studying the application of information in organizations, on its usage and the interaction between people, organizations and information systems. Within information science attention has been given in recent years to human computer interaction (HCI) and to the ways people generate, use and find information.
Two definitions of Informatics taught in an introductory class at Indiana University Bloomington are "The Art, Science and Human Dimensions of IT" and "The study, application, and social consequences of technology." Informatics focuses on understanding problems and then applying information (and other) technology as needed. In other words, it tackles things problem first rather than technology first, as has been too often done in many areas, such as business and scientific research.
1 A note on international terminology
The words informatique in French and Informatik in German do not mean the same as the English informatics. Rather, they are much closer to computer science.
2 See also
- Bioinformatics – Informatics in BiologyBiology studies the variety of life clockwise from top-left E. coli tree fern, gazelle, Goliath beetle Biology is the science of life. It is concerned with the characteristics and behaviors of organisms, how species and individuals come into existence, an, especially GenomicsGenomics is the study of an organism's genome and the use of the genes. It deals with the systematic use of genome information, associated with other data, to provide answers in biology, medicine, and industry. Genomics has the potential of offering new t
- CheminformaticsCheminformatics is the use of computer and informational techniques, applied to a range of problems in the field of chemistry. Also known as chemoinformatics and chemical informatics these techniques are used in pharmaceutical companies in the process of – Informatics in ChemistryChemistry is the science of matter and its interactions with energy (see physics, biology). Because of the diversity of matter (which is mostly atomic), Chemists are often engaged in the pursuit of studying how atoms interact to form molecules, and how mo and Drug Discovery
- EcoinformaticsEcoinformatics is the science of information Informatics in Ecology and Environmental science. External links Online Resource for Managing Ecological Data and Information. – Informatics in EcologyEcology is the branch of science that studies the distribution and abundance of living organisms, and the interactions between organisms and their environment. The environment of an organism includes both its physical habitat, which can be described as th and Environmental science
- Neuroinformatics – Informatics in Neuroscience.
- Medical informatics – Informatics in Medicine and Healthcare
- Library and information science – Informatics in Libraries
- Knowledge management – Informatics and Knowledge
