Northwest

The Computer Information Systems (CIS) department faculty at Northwest-Shoals Community College (NWSCC) works diligently to provide quality learning opportunities in all areas of CIS to all students who desire to increase their knowledge and skills and become more employable in all aspects of CIS. Classes in the CIS area are taught on both the AS/400 midrange system and on personal computers. Most all CIS classes require lab work in addition to classroom lecture. The hands on experience seems to be irreplaceable when converting to the "real world" work experience. Faculty and their email addresses can be located via the CIS Department Home Page at the link below.

CIS is a very diverse field at NWSCC in that degrees are offered in both technical and academic arenas. The academic degrees available are in Computer Information Systems and Computer Science. Details can be found at the link below.

The technical degrees available are in Business Systems Programming Option and Personal Computers Systems Option. Details can be found at the link below.

Certificates are also available for Computer Technology Personal Computer Systems Hardware Technician and Personal Computer Systems Software Technician. Details can be found at the link below.

Classes in the CIS area consist of traditional classroom settings with just lecture, a combination of lecture and hands on, a combination of lecture, hands on, and web assisted, and distance education classes. To view the web portion of a web assisted class, click the link listed below.

To view a web or distance education class, select the link listed below. You will need to call Mrs. Roberson at 331-5276 to get the user name and password in order to access this web site.

Word is a vital part of the CIS curriculum as is Excel. Access and Power Point are also taught in the CIS curriculum at the current time.

Some graduates from the NWSCC CIS department are employed locally. A few local companies that have hired our graduates include: Coffee Health Group, Florence Utilities, Goldstar, Avix Electronics, E. S. Robbins, Wise, Local Courthouses, Local High Schools, Local Banks and Credit Unions, Aqua Glass, ABCO, Evergreen Transportation, Cinram, Whitsall, Winston Furniture, Net Related, ITC Delta Com, Sears, Long Lewis Ford, Teleco 4 Bye 4, American Wholesale Book Company, Bruderers, State Farm, Marley Flexco, Sunshine Pet Nutrition Center, Lambert Moving and Storage, Riverchase Homes and NWSCC.

Some of our graduates have moved around the country to obtain higher paying positions. Companies not in our vicinity that have hired our graduates consist of, but are not limited to: Swift Denim, Phifer Wire, U. S. Department of Defense, Tech-Core Solutions, World Book, Coca Cola, Gateway, McDonalds, Beta Consultants, Publishers Resources, Dollar General, Source Recovery, Kenda Kare, Tractor Supply, U. S. National Guard, JVC, Medibase, Advanced Technology, Johnston Industries, Enterprise, Service Experts, West Marine, National Speciality Service, Kanus Corporation, Primal Systems Incorporated, Headway Technologies, Hannah Steel Incorporated, Ice-O-Matic, Garan, Keeler Brass, Nasba, Westpoint Stevens, HMS, the Hedg Group, Sellon construction Company, Arch Paging, Ozborn Transportaion, LWSI, Elmco, Vesta Insurance, and Nike Corporation.

Salaries of our graduates vary from $18,000 to $100,000 plus, depending on experience and area of expertise.

Computer	An electronic device that operates under the control of instructions stored in its own memory unit, that can accept data, process data arithmetically and logically, produce output from the processing, and then store the results for future us
Information Processing Cycle	Input, Process, Output, Storage.
Data	Raw Facts.
Information	Data that has been processed into a form that is meaningful.
Computer User	People that use a computer or the information generated by a computer.
Software	Instructions that tell the computer what is to be done.
Primary Computer Components	Input Devices, CPU, Memory (RAM), Output Devices, Storage Devices, and Communication Devices.
System Unit	A box like case that houses the processor, memory, and storage devices.
Input Devices	Hardware components used to enter data, programs, commands, and user responses into a computer: Keyboard, Mouse, etc.
Keyboard	Function Keys, Main Keyboard, Modifier Keys, Num Lock Key, Caps Lock Key, Shift Keys, Alt Keys, Control Keys, Cursor Movement Keys, Cursor/Numeric Keypad, Enter Key, Backspace Key, Escape Key, Tab Key.
Mouse	A point device you can use instead of the cursor control keys to change the location of the insertion point.
Central Processing Unit (CPU)	Contains the electronic circuits that cause processing to occur within the computer.
Microprocessor	Chip that holds the CPU for a personal computer.
Processor Unit	Control Unit, Arithmetic/Logic unit.
Main Memory (RAM)	Consists of electronic components that store data; data is lost if computer is turned off.
Read Only Memory (ROM)	Holds data that is required for the internal workings of the computer; cannot be changed; remains intact if the computer is turned off.
Kilobyte (K or KB)	One thousand.
Megabyte (M or MB)	One million.
Gigabyte (G or GB)	One billion.
Byte	One character.
Nibble	Half a byte.
Binary	Base 2 numbering system.
Output Devices	Designed to make results available to the user: printer, monitor.
Impact Printers	Print by striking an inked ribbon against the paper: dot matrix.
Non Impact Printers	Form characters by means other than striking a ribbon against the paper: Ink Jet, Laser.
PPM	Pages per minute.
Display Devices	An output device that visually conveys information to the user.
Monitor	A plastic or metal case that houses a display device.
CRT	Cathode Ray Tube.
LCD	Liquid Crystal Display - Flat Panel Monitor.
Pixel	Picture element.
Auxiliary (Secondary) Storage Devices	Store instructions when they are not being used.
Storage Media	Floppy Disks or diskettes; zip disks, hard disks: optical discs, tape, miniature storage media.
Portable	Can be carried from one computer to another.
Floppy Disk	Portable inexpensive storage medium encased in plastic.
Floppy Disk Drive	Device that allows data to be read from and written to a floppy disk.
Formatting	Preparing a disk to receive information.
Track	Narrow recording band.
Sector	Small arcs.
Access Time	Time required to access and obtain data from a disk.
Diskette Write Protect Feature	Prevents the accidental erasure of the data stored on a diskette by preventing the disk drive from writing new data or erasing existing data.
Zip Disk	Holds more information than floppy disks.
Hard Disk	More rigid than floppy disks; usually mounted permanently inside the computer.
Optical Discs	CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW, DVD-ROM, DVD-RW
CD-ROM	Compact disc read only memory - used to store prerecorded information.
CD-R	A compact disc onto which you can record on each part one time.
CD-RW	An erasable disc you can write on multiple times.
DVD-ROM	Digital video disc ROM - a very high capacity optical disc that you can read from but not write to.
DVD-RW	A very high capacity optical disc that can be read from and written to.
Tape	A magnetically coated ribbon of plastic housed in a tape cartridge; primarily used for long term storage and backup.
Miniature Storage Media	Rewriteable media usually in the form of a flash memory card.
Communications Device	A hardware component that enables a computer to send and receive data, instructions, and information to and from one or more computers.
Transmissions Media	Cables, telephone lines, cellular networks, and satellites over which communications work.
Software (Computer Programs)	Systems software and Applications software.
Systems Software	Controls the operations of the computer - contains the operating system.
Booting	Loading the operating system into memory: Cold boot or Warm boot.
GUI	Graphical User Interface.
DOS	Disk Operating System.
Applications Software	Instructs the computer as to how information is to be produced: Word Processing, Electronic Spreadsheet, Database Management System, Presentation Graphics.
Network	A collection of computers and other peripherals connected via communications media that allows users to share resources.
LAN	Local area network.
WAN	Wide area network.
Internet	Worlds largest network.
ISP	Internet Service Provider.
OSP	Online Service Provider.
World Wide Web	The most popular portion of the Internet.
Web Page	A document that has hyperlinks to other Web documents.
Web Site	A set of related Web pages.
Web Browser	Software program used to access and look at Web Pages.
Uniform Resource Locator (URL)	Unique address for a Web page.
HTTP	Hypertext Transfer Protocol.
Domain Name	Used to identify the Web Site.
Web Server	Computer used to deliver the Web Pages as requested.
E-Commerce	Electronic Commerce - conducting business activities online.

Computers utilize the binary (base 2) numbering system and we are accustomed to the base 10 numbering system. Therefore when a program is written in a programming language, we have to have a compiler (translator) to convert the code into machine language. An example of the binary system is shown below.

Number	Binary Representation
0	00000000
1	00000001
2	00000010
3	00000011
4	00000100
5	00000101
6	00000110
7	00000111
8	00001000

We can perform mathematical operations with binary numbers just like we can with base 10 numbers. To add 1 and 2 in binary, the problem would look like the following.

CIS is a very interesting field so if you are up to the challenge (constantly changing, never boring), you might consider a career in this area.