informatics

the sciences concerned with gathering, manipulating, storing, retrieving, and classifying recorded information

Informatics is the study of information. It is often, though not exclusively, studied as a branch of computer science and information technology and is related to database, Ontology (computer science)ontology and software engineering. Informatics is primarily concerned with the structure, creation, management, storage, Information retrievalretrieval, dissemination and transfer of information. Informatics also includes studying the application of information in organizations, on its usage and the interaction between people, organizations and information systems. Within information science attention has been given in recent years to human computer interaction (HCI) and to the ways people generate, use and find information.Two definitions of Informatics taught in an introductory class at Indiana University Bloomington are ''"The Art, Science and Human Dimensions of IT"'' and ''"The study, application, and social consequences of technology."'' An alternative definition of Informatics, given at the University of Edinburgh School of InformaticsSchool of Informatics, University of Edinburgh as ''"The study of the structure, behaviour, and interactions of natural and engineered computational systems."'', is more widely used in the United Kingdom. It studies the representation, processing, and communication of information in a system, including all computational, cognitive and social aspects. The central notion is the transformation of information - whether by computation or communication, whether by organisms or artifacts. In this sense, it is more or less a merger of artificial intelligence, cognitive science, computing science, and related fields.Informatics focuses on understanding problem solvingproblems and then applying information technologyinformation (and other) technology as needed. In other words, it tackles the problem first rather than technology first.

A note on international terminology - The words ''informatique'' (French), ''Informatik'' (German), ''informática'' (Spanish) and ''informatica'' (Italian, Dutch), among others, False frienddo not mean the same as the English ''informatics''. Rather, they refer to computer science or Enformatika.

See also -

Bioinformatics – Informatics in biology

*especially genomics, biomedical imagery, proteomics, systems biology, transcriptomics, regulation analysis

*Biodiversity Informatics – Informatics in taxonomy and systematics.

*Medical informatics or Biomedical informatics – Informatics in medicine and healthcare

Quantum information science.

Cheminformatics – Informatics in chemistry and drug discovery.

Cognitive psychology - the mind as an information processing system.

Cognitive science - the mind as an information processing system.

Ecoinformatics – Informatics in ecology and environmental science.

Hydroinformatics – Informatics as a tool in resolving water-related problems.

Knowledge management – Informatics and knowledge.

Legal informatics - Informatics in the legal field.

Library and information science – Informatics in libraries.

Neuroinformatics – Informatics in neuroscience.

Social informatics – Informatics and social/organziational structure and change.

Veterinary informatics – Informatics in veterinary medicine.

International Federation for Information Processing – Global body for Informatics

External links -

informatics.indiana.edu - What is Informatics?

? dai.ed.ac.uk - What does Informatics mean?

inf.ed.ac.uk - What is Informatics at Edinburgh?

informatics.buffalo.edu - Informatics defined

ischool.washington.edu - University of Washington's Overview of Informatics

en.wiktionary.org - Wikitionary Definition of an Informatician

en.wiktionary.org - Wikitionary Definition of an Informist

pubmedcentral.nih.gov - What are the Grand challenges in medical informatics?

ifip.or.at - International Federation for Information ProcessingCategory:Computer scienceCategory:Information science

Healthcare Informatics Online
A monthly magazine for informatics managers.
http://www.healthcare-informatics.com/

American Medical Informatics Association
US not-for-profit organization dedicated to the development and application of medical informatics in the support of patient care, teaching, research, and health care administration.
http://www.amia.org/

Mouse Genome Informatics
Contains information on genetic markers, molecular segments, phenotypes, comparative and experimental mapping data. Includes graphical displays for genetic, physical, and cytogenetic maps.
http://www.informatics.jax.org/

The Informatics Review
An on-line journal devoted to the field of clinical informatics and computer-based decision making.
http://www.informatics-review.com

International Medical Informatics Association
International not-for-profit organization promoting medical informatics in health care and biomedical research. Includes membership information, member societies, newsletter and events.
http://www.imia.org/