The role of information and information networks in decision support: The Australian experience

Reliable information forms the basis of rational and effective decision making. However, for any one decision the required information may not be available locally, and subsets of it may even be widely dispersed. Most of us are aware of some of the origins of information. For example, weather data may be recorded on a farm; pasture and crop growth rates recorded on nearby farms or more distant research institutes; basic information on soil and atmospheric physics and plant and livestock physiology may be generated in distant laboratories and documented in the scientific literature; spatial data on soils and vegetation recorded by satellites; and some market information provided by the media. However, many decision makers do not know where essential information may be stored. In this paper, the authors identify major sources of information and how some of these may be accessed with particular emphasis on Australian databases and information networks. Finally, it considers information in relation to decision support systems per se.