Management Information Software

Before the topics, here's the questions.

If these brief notes are your sole study guide, then you're heading for trouble. This is your starter for 10. You have notes, a text book, scholar, the blogs and more.

Word Processing and Desktop Publishing

Standard grade (and before) saw you tackle cut, copy and paste, page margins, search and replace, word wra and inserting, deleting text and all.

Additionally you used spell check, thesaurus, text wrapping around graphics, templates, page breaks and headers and footers.

Some of the main points for consideration here in terms of the exams are:

What is pagination?
Pagination determines how a page is laid out in word processing software. Involves setting page numbering and inserting page breaks,

How are house styles set?
Create a style sheet laying out the font, size , margins, headers, footers and whatever other items required to fit in with an organisation's corporate identity. This style sheet should then be set as the default on all company machines to ensure that all stuff comply with the house style.

What font types are available?
Font types are easy. They come under the headings of serif or sans-serif. Serifs are the little sqiggly bits at the edges of some letters. If the aren't there it's because the font is sans-serif (sans being French for without).

Are the fonts below serif or sans-serif? Come and see me if you don't get it.

Presentation and Web Authoring

Think PowerPoint and Dreamweaver. Then think just how good you are at using these pieces of software. Again, more consideration of house styles - templates and masters, especially in presentations and perhaps Cascading Style Sheets in web authorising. Hyperlinks and hotspots shouldn't challenge you and neither should slide transitions. Nothing to fear in this section - if you've put in the study time.

Spreadsheets

Key spreadsheet concepts involve working with advanced functions such as nested IFs and COUNT, using Goal seeking and Forecasting and also using macros, although these can be used in other types of MIS software as well.

Personal Information Management

Personal Information management (PIM) software brings together toolds such as Contacts, Calendars, Task lists and Email. The advent of mobile technologies such as Blackberries and Iphones have increased the popularity of such software in recent years. Some people use PIM software without being aware of what it is? Are you in this camp?

Project Management

You have done projects in school. How did they go? Badly? Hmm. Perhaps you failed to plan adequately for the needs of the project as a whole. Organisations can be involved in projects that can take yeasr to complete and involve a wealth of resources, such as building a new national football stadium. How do you know that all is coming together as it should. Project Management Software (PMS) is a must here to keep on top of the game.

A key component here is the Gantt Chart, providing a graphical representation of

the timeline of the project where tasks cane laid out in accordance to when they should be completed. Factor in Critical Path Analysis, and the software will clearly highlight the tasks that must be completed on time or the project will not otherwise be able to finish when required.

PMS allows for the management of resources. Resources can be people who work on a project to the materials that are used to construct the fabric of a structure. Who worked what hours in which week? Put ii in the PMS.

Finally, if a project is heading for failure PMS allows for optimisation. Optimisation come sin different forms, but involves the salvaging of the project. Can tasks be combined to meet a deadline that is looming? Can some of the objectives of the project be sacrificed to save money and/or time? Optimisation tools allow such decisions to be taken.