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With information awareness rising along with the population increase of Internet users, many businesses and government offices are turning more and more on document management as the best way to ensure a smooth workflow and quick data access.
What is Document Management?
Document management is a technology and a discipline that can increase the potential of the filing system of a computer. A document management system lets users store, retrieve, and use their documents easily and effectively by allowing them to characterize their individual files for effortless indexing within the filing system.
Originally a computer program, a document management system is used to track and store paper documents. Modern document management systems also support electronic documents for storage and retrieval.
Components
A primary component of document management is document scanning. Paper documents are passed through a scanner to create image copies which are then digitally stored in computerized databases. These stored images can be retrieved using recognition software like OCR or Optical Character Recognition which can recognize both text and images within a scanned document.
Files are more often than not converted into the portable document format or PDF. PDF is the standard file format used in document management and distribution because of its universality and storage benefits. PDF files are compact, compressed, and easily readable in any type of platform. In this regard, PDF is preferable to any other file format in secure, reliable, and efficient document management and distribution.
Functions
Essentially, document management systems act as a sort of digital library for electronic documents. Like the ordinary library, document management systems organize files into specific categories as provided by the user or the data source. These categories are contained in a virtual card catalog which functions much the same as an ordinary card catalog. It is by far a more efficient and sensible way of accessing information than physically scanning countless directories, looking for the right file.
Document management systems also has version tracking to see how a document evolves over time, document sharing that functions as a kind of forum, electronic review for users to add comments without changing the content, document security, publishing management, and workflow integration to associate the document with people and projects.
In today’s digital world, complex, personalized documents is the core of every business. They represent the promises made, the products sold, the transactions completed, and the analysis reported. Ensuring their security and accessibility can mean a lot to any business. This is why having a proper document management system is a must.
About the Author:
Will Mathison is a freelance writer who writes articles for http://www.pdfconverter.com
Source: www.isnare.com
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