Software is comprised of instructions that control the hardware and direct its operation. There are two general types of software present in all computer systems; system software and application software. System software includes the operating system and device drivers for each hardware device. In regard to collection, these software components communicate with each hardware collection device and with the current software application. That is, they provide the interface between application software and hardware collection devices. Application software, such as word processors, spreadsheets and databases, receive the collected data and process it during other information processes. In many cases the source of the data is the user, and in virtually all software applications the user controls or initiates the collection process; the application software must display data entry forms to enable the efficient collection of data. Therefore software performs two essential tasks during the collection process; it provides an interface with the collection hardware and it provides a mechanism for data entry. Existing data is often moved from other systems rather than being collected directly. For instance, a large variety of different data is available from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. This data can be converted into a form suitable for use by a variety of different applications. We consider a variety of examples where participants can move data between different applications. In this section we consider:
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