Document Lifecycle

Abstract

As you start reading this book, pause and ask yourself: are you in a document factory? Most office workers are the consumers and producers of documents. There has been extensive office automation in the last few years, so in all likelihood you are sitting next to a computer. Such computers have enabled us to produce documents more rapidly, and these documents have more impressive presentation than was the case in the past. Often, these documents are distributed electronically and may be read on-line. However, we overwhelmingly prefer to read paper and, significantly, tend to treat the paper version as the real document. It is not surprising that we do not have good electronic document management systems given that paper is the prime form.