Information services may sound self explanatory, but the phrase has a different meaning in the business world than it does in every day speech. You think this refers to media outlets, but it doesn't. Instead, information services pertain to an agency that is responsible for providing carefully constructed material to a business' shareholders, clients, or the public at large. Information services also include companies that provide access to public records and databases. In some parts of the business world, information services are sort of like public relations campaigns. A company may not be able to hire an in house PR team, so it might choose to pay an information services firm to draft necessary documents, write website content, create ads and brochures, etc. This helps a small business market itself without having to pay an advertising staff. Other times, the term refers to a company's information technology department. In this instance, information services or IS departments are responsible for technology related work, data management, and networking. The connection between electronic equipment and 'information services' lies in the management of databases. This terminology isn't common outside of the corporate world, though. The data management side of information services is all about optimizing computer performance. It is about getting rid of so called 'dirty data' that can slow down a system network in addition to data backup and storage. Some IT professionals consider themselves information services technicians.
