Information Systems Development and Data Modeling
Conceptual and Philosophical Foundations

Summarises ideas in Information Systems Development for graduate students and professionals.

Rudy Hirschheim (Author), Heinz K. Klein (Author), Kalle Lyytinen (Author)

9780521373692, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 27 October 1995

304 pages, 6 b/w illus. 15 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.62 kg

Review of the hardback: : 'I strongly recommend this book to people who view information systems only as a technology and do not remember that any technology that can change the way people live and work is necessarily a social and philosophical subject.' G. Rumolo, Computing Reviews

Information systems development is not merely a technical intervention but involves social and ethical dilemmas that affect the human, social and organizational domains. To demonstrate this point, the authors conduct a thorough and substantive description and analysis of the conceptual and philosophical underpinnings of systems development. In particular they analyse a number of systems development methodologies including structured methods, prototyping, ETHICS and Soft Systems Methodology to reveal the underlying conceptual and philosophical foundations. The book provides an in-depth analysis of data modelling theory and its links with theories of language and cognition. It offers a framework to describe and analyse different systems development approaches and to explain their strengths and weaknesses. The book is aimed at graduate students taking courses in information systems and data modelling, but will also appeal to information systems managers and professionals for whom the summary of methodologies will be useful.

1. Introduction
2. Definition and evolution of information systems development methodologies and data modeling
3. Philosophical foundations
4. Conceptual and paradigmatic foundations of ISD
5. Paradigmatic analysis of ISD methodologies
6. Conceptual and paradigmatic foundations of data modeling
7. Paradigmatic analysis of data modeling approaches
8. Conclusions
Appendix A. Summaries of selected methodologies
Bibliography
Index.

Subject Areas: Computer science [UY], Algorithms & data structures [UMB], Legal aspects of IT [UBL], Ethical & social aspects of IT [UBJ]