lexical query

[Paul A. Klanderud]

Regarding the question over the terms "vychislitel'naia tekhnika" and
"informatika," I can offer a perspective on American business usage.

Two virtually identical rubrics, which encompass a vast array of
specialties, are "information systems" (IS) and "information technology"
(IT); I'd guess they are very close to "informatika." Unlike the narrower
terms "computer science" or "programming," IS and IT cover such job titles
as: programmer, programmer analyst, business automation specialist, systems
programmer, database analyst, data security specialist, professional
productivity consultant, telecommunications analyst, and others.

Although "computer science" (perhaps the closest to the Russian "vychis.
tekh.") can involve such topics as business process design, lifecycles of
systems development, etc., generally speaking, topics such as high-level
organizational, systems, database, and business-process design belong to the
realm of IS and IT. Thus degrees such as MIS (Management of Information
Systems) as a rule focus more on business-driven, upper-level design and
organization of computer applications, while computer science -- although
certainly concerned with theory -- focuses more on the actual _applications_
(e.g., the actual "tools": C++, DB2, etc.).

Paul Klanderud