An Information Management System is any system, paper or electronic, which manages the relevant information.
In one of the simplest paper forms it can consist of a ledger into which details of Sales are written. The information on Sales is 'managed' by by being held in a searchable form in a central location in a recognisable form, albeit the form is somewhat restricted by today's standards.
These days it is more usual to think of electronic storage, i.e. computers. But even then the information can be fragmented across several computer systems.
An integrated Information Management System is a system where all the information is held in such a form that it conforms to the single input/ multiple output model.
This would mean, for instance, that the information on a Customer's purchases, not only records those purchases, but can also be used to produce Invoices, personalised letters, and perhaps advertising mail-merge letters.
Taken to the extreme, a Totally Integrated Information Management System in an office would take account of all paper and computer information flows, bridging the disparity between the relevant systems to produce the highest efficiencey possible.
Back to information Management