The key word when dealing with computer information systems is "information." How many people want it? How can they access it? How can they be sure it is accurate? What role does mathematics play?

Millions of people want a variety of information. The greater the number of people who want the information, the more a computer is needed to store and retrieve it quickly, and the greater the chance that mathematics will be used to enable the entire process. It was estimated that in 1998, 100 million people around the world used the Internet. As the number of Internet users increases to one billion by 2005, terms such as Internet, Super Information Highway, the World Wide Web, or e-commerce (electronic commerce) will merely be a reference for the basic notions of computer information systems.

Computer information systems are several subsystems that rely heavily on mathematical processes to...