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Table of Contents
Figures
Tables
Acknowledgments
Introduction
Part 1: Describing Information
What Is an Information System?
What Is a System?
What Is Information?
Working Definitions of Information
Information Distortion
Exercises and Research Questions
Part 2: Representing Information
The Cumbersome Decimal System
The Simple Binary System
Converting Binary to Decimal and Back Again
The Hexadecimal System
Number Humor
How Did the Romans Deal with Fractions?
Prefix and Postfix Representation
Exercises and Research Questions
Part 3: Organizing Information
Fundamental Information Structures
Who Wants Short Sorts?
Exercises and Research Questions
Part 4: Retrieving Information
The Nature of Information Retrieval
Boolean and Beyond
Vector Methods (Simplified)
Fuzzy Information Retrieval
Inverted Files
Exercises and Research Questions
Part 5: Networking Information
Network Topologies
Bridges, Switches, Routers, and Gateways
Part 6: Securing Information
Physical, Data, Server, Backup, and Network Security
First Line of Defense: The Lowly Password
Viruses, Worms, Trojan Horses, Logic Bombs, and Other Nasties
A Dangerous Script
Misdirection
Exercises and Research Questions
Part 7: Concealing Information
Codes and Ciphers
Key Issues
The Unbreakable One-Time Pad
Symmetric (One-Key) Cryptography
Asymmetric (Two-Key) Cryptography
The Secret History of Public Key Cryptography
Other Cryptographic Systems
Steganography: Hiding Information in Plain Sight
Exercises and Research Questions
Part 8: Measuring Information
Bibliometrics: Measuring the Printed Word
Sabermetrics: Measuring Baseball Information
Web Metrics
Exercises and Research Questions
Part 9: Counting Information
Counting Tools
Counting Methods
Counting Things
Exercises and Research Questions
Part 10: Numbering Information
Prime Cuts
The Intriguing Nature of Pi
Pascal’s Triangle
Exercises and Research Questions
Part 11: Managing Information
Characteristics of a Successful Information System
Building a Successful Information System
Why Things Go Wrong
Costs and Risks
Part 12: The Computer as an Information System
How Big Is an Exabyte?
Data Compression: Reducing Redundancy
Information Issues in the Background
Exercises and Research Questions
Part 13: The Internet as an Information System
Basics of Internet Protocol Addressing
Addressing Schemes
The Internet Metaphor Project
Is Internet Access a Privilege or a Right?
Other Internet Issues
Exercises and Research Questions
Part 14: Music as an Information System
The Nature of Music and Sound
Tuning Information Systems
How Many Tones Belong in a Scale?
Making Cents of It All
Melody Machines
Fundamentals of Music Information Retrieval
Exercises and Research Questions
Part 15: Interpreting Information: Numbers as Meanings
Gematria
The Numerology of 666
Exercises and Research Questions
Part 16: Counterintuitive Information
Not Quite Paradoxes
The Trouble with Infinity
Exercises and Research Questions
Appendices
Which Librarian Has the Server?
The Square Root of Two Is Irrational
Who’s on First?
Answers to Selected Exercises
References
Index
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