The Computer Society of the Institute for Electrical and Electronic Engineers and the Association for Computing Machinery established a Joint Task Force on Computing Curricula 2001 (or CC2001) in the fall of 1998. CC2001 was tasked with a major review of curriculum guidelines for undergraduate programs in computing. In their report, CC2001 identifies information management as a major area of computer science. The report describes the area as follows:

Information management plays a critical role in almost all areas where computers are used. This area includes the capture, digitization, representation, organization, transformation, and presentation of information; algorithms for efficient and effective access and updating of stored information, data modeling and abstraction and physical file storage techniques. It also encompasses information security, privacy, integrity, and protection in a shared environment. The student needs to be able to develop conceptual and physical data models, determine what IM methods and techniques are appropriate for a given problem and be able to select and implement an appropriate IM solution that reflects all suitable constraints, including scalability and usability.