Postgraduate courses and subjects 2000 - School of Information Management and Systems (SIMS)

School of Information Management and Systems (SIMS)

General information
Research

General information

The School of Information Management and Systems (SIMS) occupies the social science end of the information technology spectrum. Through teaching and research it advances the organisation, management and use of information and information technology, and enhances our understanding of the impact of information on individuals, institutions and society.
The school's programs focus on the general professional discipline of information management and systems, as well as specialist professions within it including systems analysts, Internet and intranet developers, information managers, records managers/archivists, electronic publishers and multimedia practitioners. The majority of academic staff have significant professional experience and the school enjoys close links with the relevant professional bodies and corporations who are leaders in the information field.
The first contact point for information on any of the school's programs is the school office, telephone (03) 9903 2208, fax (03) 9903 2005. Information may also be requested electronically from info@sims.monash.edu.au You can also visit the school office at level 7, Business and Economics building, 26 Sir John Monash Drive, Caulfield campus. More details about SIMS's teaching and research can be found at http://www.sims. monash.edu.au
The strength of the academic base of the school has allowed the development of a range of industry training services. Commissioned work is being undertaken to develop and deliver on-site training on complex information systems, intensive residential professional education programs in decision support systems and electronic commerce and one-day events such as programs on data communications and Internet access, and a forum on OLAP, EIS and data warehousing.

Research

Decision support systems laboratory - The DSS laboratory, led by Professor David Arnott, is investigating ways to design and implement systems to support management decision making. The DSS laboratory has projects in the areas of evolutionary development, decision biases, decision specification using influence diagramming, executive information systems, data warehouses, and organisational issues in DSS. The DSS laboratory takes a strong behavioural view of decision support. The laboratory has created the Monash DSS Development Method and the Monash EIS Development Method.
Knowledge management research group - The knowledge management research group, led by Dr Frada Burstein, is extending the notion of decision support by adding techniques originating from artificial intelligence such as knowledge bases, neural networks, and genetic algorithms. The group has projects in organisational memory information systems, knowledge reuse, hybrid soft computing techniques for intelligent decision support, adaptive decision support systems, and cognitive overload in decision support systems.
Information and telecommunication needs research group - The information continuum research group, led by Professor Don Schauder, seeks to explore and articulate a new theoretical framework - the information continuum. This theory serves as a conceptual aid for understanding a wide range of information phenomena, as a tool for analysing and addressing practical information problems in organisations, and as a 'map' which helps pinpoint opportunities for innovative information products and services.
Each year, under the broad umbrella of the theoretical work, it is intended that a selection of practical issues and problems will be addressed, often through collaboration with industry partners such as corporations, government departments, libraries, schools, archive authorities, publishers, and community groups, or in the development of Australian and international standards. Such empirical projects not only use but also test and refine the theory while hopefully also bringing immediate benefits to the world of information management practice.
Records continuum research group - The records continuum research group is led by Associate Professor Sue McKemmish. The scope of the research group includes the full information spectrum comprising accountability information, knowledge-base information, and infotainment. These are interpreted in terms of attributes (action/structure, memory, technology and metadata) and dimensions (create, capture, organise and pluralise) which are in a continuous state of interplay.