Storing information is when you file or put away the information that you have obtained. Systems for this involve either being put into a cabinet or saved onto a hard drive. Retrieving is when you regain that information that you have stored away to use for matters that you need it for.
These both contribute significantly in ensuring the company works as well as it possibly can and allows things to be done time effectively allowing little/no time for confusion to get in the way.
Information is stored away to essentially just make work easier. Obviously, businesses have to do it but by doing so means retrieval of information becomes quicker than if it’s just placed anywhere with no systematic approach. Usually, when procedures are followed, files etc are stored away in cabinets in alphabetical order of the last name and therefore means when going back to look for a file it is easily located. Again, if information is stored on a computer or memory stick, there are different folders to allocate what you’re looking for. For example, at Parkinson Wright for our department of wills and probate, we have a wills and probate folder. Within the folder are also more folders that take you to different aspects of the department. So, if you’re looking for a new client and want to see what information you already have about them you find the folder with their name on it and within it will be any documents we have about them. And, as a company as a whole we have a system called ‘Legal Enterprise’ which is where all private and confidential information about all clients are stored under their name and/ or client number. Because of the data protection act, companies and businesses have to make sure files are stored following all the confidentiality procedures in order to provide the service that is promised to be offered.
Whereas information storing is done to make the businesses life easier and to keep the business running smoothly. The retrieval of information is done in order to provide clients with the best service that can be given. This is because, once its stored away we are aware of where it all is, which means that when the information is required, our procedures mean we can have it to hand quickly or look on the system to find anything out that we need. Information retrieval isn’t always just for clients, it can be done for surveys, for purposes of marketing and also if any other companies may need any information.