Digital information

The term digital information refers to data stored on computers and in other digital media (e.g., magnetic or optical discs). Computer programs are used to manage and retrieve digital information. Software is necessary for users to access and manipulate digital information stored inside a computer or on storage media.

Digital information is not just words and numbers. Anything that can be seen or heard can be digitized, so databases can include music, motion pictures, or photographs of art works. Some databases consist primarily of images. Mixed media or multimedia works are those that package together information in the form of images, sound, and/or text.