Skip to main content

Technical Specification of an Information System

  • Chapter
Perspectives of Information Systems
  • 142 Accesses

Abstract

In the design of information systems, the technical specification process produces a technical specification model documented in the system specification report. It provides a detailed description of system design products, starting from the results of logical design activities that constitute the cycle of creation, refining and selection of solution versions. In most traditional information systems design methodologies, there are no such specification models that cover all the subtasks of the technical systems specification (Leppänen and Savolainen, 1989). Not even new computer-assisted system engineering (CASE) tools offer satisfactory facilities (Avison and Fitzgerald, 1995, pp. 229–260). This chapter constructs a framework for the technical systems specification process, placing it in the context of the system specification report. The ideas that we applied in constructing the corresponding parts of OSSAD methodology (cf. Conrath and Dumas, 1989, pp. 181–196 and 206–209, Savolainen, 1989) form the foundations of this chapter.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Ahituv N, Neumann S. (1982) Principles of Information Systems for Management. Dubuque, IL: Wm. C. Brown.

    Google Scholar 

  • Avison DE, Fitzgerald G. (1995) Information Systems Development: Methodologies, Techniques and Tools, 2nd ed. London: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baron R, Beslmüller E (eds.). (1989) OSSAD Field Test Report, ESPRIT Project No. 285, R&D Area 4.1, Office Systems Science and Human Factors. Munich: IOT.

    Google Scholar 

  • Batini C, Lenzerini M, Navathe SB. (1986) A Comparative Analysis of Methodologies for Database Schema Integration. ACM Computing Surveys 18(4), pp. 323–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cilva P. (1996) Windows 95 Programming with Custom Controls. Scottsdale, AZ: Coriolis Group.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conrath DW, Dumas PJ (eds.). (1989) Office Support Systems Analysis and Design, Final Report on Office Modelling, Language and OSSAD Methodology, ESPRIT Project No. 285, R&D Area 4.1, Office Systems Science and Human Factors. Munich: IOT.

    Google Scholar 

  • Davis GB, Olson MH. (1985) Management Information Systems: Conceptual Foundations, Structure and Development. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fortino A, Golick J. (1996) Multivendor Networking: Linking PC’s, Minis, and Mainframes over LASs and WANs. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Friedman B (ed.) (1997). Human Values and the Design of Computer Technology. Stan-ford, CA: Center for the Sudy of Language and Information, Stanford University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galitz WO. (1985) Handbook of Screen Format Design. Amsterdam: North-Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gehani N, McGettrick AD. (1985) Software Specification Techniques. New York: Addi-son-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Held G. (1995) Data Communications: A Comprehensive Approach. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirschheim RA. (1985) Office Automation: A Social and Organizational Perspective. Chichester: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hirschheim R, Klein H, Lyytinen K. (1995) Information Systems Development and Data Modeling, Conceptual and Philosophical Analysis. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Holsapple CW, Whinston AB. (1986) Managers Guide to Expert Systems Using GURU. Dow Jones-Irwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hussain D, Hussain KM. (1985) Information Processing Systems for Management. Homewood, IL: Richard D. Irwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • ISO. (1984a) A Database Management Systems Reference Model for Standardization. ISO/TC97/SC5/WG5 N170.

    Google Scholar 

  • ISO. (1984b) Open Systems Interconnection (OSI)—Basic Reference Model. ISO 7498/ TC97/SC21 Information Processing Systems.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson MA. (1975) Principles of Program Design. New York: Academic Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jenkins AM. (1983) Prototyping: a methodology for the design and development of application systems. Disc. Paper No. 227, Indiana University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Leppänen M, Savolainen V. (1989) A classification framework for OIS methodologies. In Boyanov K, Angelinov R (eds.), Network Information Processing Systems. Amsterdam: North-Holland, pp. 299–307.

    Google Scholar 

  • Loomis M. (1987) The Database Book. New York: Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lum VY, Ghosh SP, Schkolnick M. (1979) 1978 New Orleans data base design workshop report. In Proceedings of the 5th International Conference on Very Large Data Bases. IEEE Computer Society Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Maclntyre B, Feiner S. (1996) Future multimedia user interfaces. Multimedia Systems 4, pp. 250–268.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Brien J. (1982) Computers in Business Management. Homewood, IL: Richard D. Irwin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olle TW, Sol HG, Tully CJ (eds.). (1983) Information Systems Design Methodologies: A Feature Analysis. Amsterdam: North-Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olle TW, Sol HG, Verrijn-Stuart AA (eds.). (1982) Information Systems Design Methodologies: A Comparative Review. Amsterdam: North-Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Olle TW, Verrijn-Stuart AA, Bhabuta I (eds.). (1988). Computerized Assistance during the Information Systems Life Cycle. Amsterdam: North-Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Puuronen S, Savolainen V. (1996) Evaluation of mobile IT services: state-of-the-art and future expectations. Final Report of Project EMPIS (Executives’ Mobile Personal Information System), University of Jyvaskyla, Department of Computer Science and Information Systems.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rock-Evans R, Engelien B. (1989) Analysis Techniques for CASE: A Detailed Evaluation. London: Ovum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Savolainen V. (1989) Technical specification model of an information system. Paper pre-sented in the Tenth International Conference on Systems Science, Wroclaw.

    Google Scholar 

  • Savolainen V. (1993) Analysis of decision criteria for ISD tool selection. Systems Science 19(2), pp. 43–54.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sernadas A, Bubenko J, Olive A (eds). (1985) Information Systems: Theoretical and Formal Aspects. Amsterdam: North-Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shneiderman B. (1987) Designing the User Interface. New York: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Teorey TJ, Fry JP. (1982) Design of Database Structures. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Thierauf RJ. (1986) Systems Analysis and Design. Columbus, OH: Merrill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsichritzis D, Klug A (eds.). (1978) The ANSI/X3/SPARC DBMS framework report of the study group on database management systems. Information Systems. 3(3).

    Google Scholar 

  • Uhlig R, Emerson R. (1985) Architectural implications of office systems. Invited paper in IFIP Office Systems Conference in Helsinki, Amsterdam: North-Holland.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wiederhold G. (1977) Databace Design. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wasserman AI. (1983) Interactive Development Environments. Seminar Notes. University of Tampere.

    Google Scholar 

  • Waterman DA. (1986) A Guide to Expert Systems. New York: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood LE. (1997) Semi-structured interviewing for user-centered design. Interactions 4(2), pp. 48–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yao SB. (1985) Principles of Database Design. Vol. 1: Logical Organizations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media New York

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Savolainen, V. (1999). Technical Specification of an Information System. In: Perspectives of Information Systems. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-1464-9_6

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-1464-9_6

  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4612-7153-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4612-1464-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics