Michael Buckland offers an examination of information systems that is comparative rather than narrowly technical in approach. With careful attention to different meanings of information, Buckland examines the nature of retrieval-based information systems such as archives, databases, libraries, and museums, and their relationships to their social context.

The introductory material examines difficulties of definition and terminology in relation to information systems. There is a systematic overview of the concepts and processes involved in the provision and use of information systems....