Semiotics, the science of signs, has long been recognised as an important discipline for understanding information and communications. Moreover it has found wide application in other areas of computer science, as it offers an effective insight into organisations and the computer systems that support them. An organisation may be viewed as a system of information and communication in which human actors, with the assistance of information technology, are able to process, represent, store and consume information. Computer systems that fit into an organisation and that support and enhance its performance and competitiveness, can be better delivered if semiotic principles are understood and applied. In this book, first published in 2000, semiotic methods are introduced and illustrated through three major case studies, which demonstrate how information systems can be developed to meet business requirements and support business objectives. It will appeal to academics, systems developers and analysts.

Review of the hardback: '… an excellent overview of a rich and complex research program in the analysis, specification, and design of information systems … will be of interest to researchers in information systems methodologies. In educational settings, it will be useful ancillary reading in a project-oriented course on information systems design, and might be the central text, if the course in fact adapts the MEASUR methodology.' H. Van Dyke Parunak, Computing Reviews

Dr Kecheng Liu, Fellow of the British Computer Society, is a full Professor and holds a Chair of Informatics and e-Business in Business School. He is the Director of Informatics Research Centre (www.irc.rdg.ac.uk), one of the departments in the Business School, University of Reading, UK. He has published over one hundred papers in journals and conferences, and serves on the editorial boards of several journals. He has chaired conferences, written 1 and edited 5 books in the field of informatics and organisational semiotics. He has also been responsible for several research projects. He is Visiting Professor at Fudan University, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing Jiaotong University, Dalian University of Technology and the Graduate School of Chinese Academy of Science, all in China. He has been invited to deliver lectures in information systems and semiotics in Australia, Brazil, Chile, China, Czech, France, Hong Kong, Portugal, Sweden, the Netherlands and the United States.