Information is summarized data. Technically, data are raw facts and figures that are processed into information (totals, projections, etc.). But since information can also be the raw data for the next job, the two terms can blur, and both are used interchangeably. See
data.
Document Structures
The document types (blue headers on top) are how information and data are commonly identified. The file structures (black headers) are how the software and user view and work with the digital file.
Information Has "Meaning"
This excerpt from an R&R Report Writer ad exemplifies the idea that information is more usable for the manager than raw data. (Image courtesy of Concentric Data Systems, a subsidiary of Wall Data, Inc.)