Information Science or Informatics is the science of information. It is often, though not exclusively, studied as a branch of computer science and information technology and is related to database, ontology and software engineering.

Information science is primarily concerned with the structure, creation, management, storage, retrieval, dissemination and transfer of information. Information science 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." While an alternative definition of Informatics, given at the School of Informatics, University of Edinburgh as "The study of the structure, behaviour, and interactions of natural and engineered computational systems.", is more widely use in 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 merge of artificial intelligence, cognitive science, computing science, and related fields.

Informatics focuses on understanding problems and then applying information (and other) technology as needed. In other words, it tackles the problem first rather than technology first, as has been too often done in many areas, such as business and scientific research.

A note on international terminology

The words informatique (French), Informatik (German), and informatica (Italian) do not mean the same as the English informatics. Rather, they are much closer to computer science.

See also

• Bioinformatics – Informatics in biology, especially genomics.
• 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.
• Knowledge management – Informatics and knowledge.
• Library and information science – Informatics in libraries.
• Medical informatics – Informatics in medicine and healthcare.
• Neuroinformatics – Informatics in neuroscience.
• Hydroinformatics – Informatics as a tool in resolving water-related problems.
• Veterinary informatics – Informatics in veterinary medicine.

External links

• What is Informatics?
• What does Informatics mean?
• What is Informatics at Edinburgh?
• University of Washington's Overview of Informatics
• Wikitionary Definition of an Informatician
• Wikitionary Definition of an Informist