Manual Based Information System:
Manual based information system is the oldest system used to keep records of information of an
organization. In this system, a set of books (or files) is prepared. Each book
or file holds related information of the organization. Each department of the
organization has a separate file (or set of files) used to run the department
and information is shared from one department to another through these files
manually. Typically, there are many such files that are labeled and placed in
one or more cabinets. For security, the cabinets are locked or may be located in
secure areas of the building.
Example:
Let us consider an example of a college's manual database for maintaining records
of students and courses of different faculties etc. Suppose the manual
file-based system contains the following files.
Students record file: used to store records of each student.
Students fee file: Used to store fee records of each student.
Students result file: used to store result of examinations of students.
Students course file: used to store data of courses taken by students.
In manual systems, decentralized approach is adopted, where each department
processes and controls its own data. A typical manual file-based system managed
by each department of a university is shown in figure 1.2.
Disadvantages of Manual Based System:
There are many disadvantages of a manual file-based system. The main
disadvantages are:
(i) It is a very slow method to process data because data is analyzed and
computed manually. Similarly, data is transferred from one department to another
manually.
(ii) It is a very costly method because a large number of employees have to be
appointed to operate the file-based system.
(iii) Managers cannot easily obtain summary information required for making
decisions.
(iv) A large space is occupied by files/books. It is also difficult to search a
specific file or a piece of information.
(v) Duplication of data may exist throughout the organization.
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