Document Management
Document management refers to the administration of electronic documents using databases. Electronic documents are not only scanned documents which were originally on paper, but also all types of weak and unstructured information which exists within a data processing system as a closed unit. This definition includes both scanned documents and also digitally transferred documents/faxes, files from Office programs, XML test files, database tables, images and graphics - even multimedia data such as sound and video files.
The aim of document management is to administrate these diverse types of information and document units in a meaningful way and make them available for the completion of business processes. This will ensure that the execution of tasks within these processes is supported in a logical way and as a scheduled procedure.
In addition to functions such as checking documents in and out and document versioning, a range of other administration functions are also required, such as the provision of metadata for document searches supported by a database, the collection of information which belongs together from various sources or automatic electronic archiving.