Document Management Guide and Directory. 12th ed.

Citation

Cronau, D.A. (2001), "Document Management Guide and Directory. 12th ed.", Online Information Review, Vol. 25 No. 5, pp. 329-337. https://doi.org/10.1108/oir.2001.25.5.329.2

This multi‐purpose, comprehensive resource is broadly aimed at a growing audience – corporate information and records managers, project managers, systems professionals, archivists, office managers, micrographics specialists, system suppliers, service companies and consultants.

The Contents page is excellently broken down with the contents of the Guide and the Directory treated separately.

The first section is an extensive guide to the theory and practice of information and document management designed to help both newcomers and experienced professionals understand the issues and the technology. This is divided into 11 chapters, some of which are subdivided. Early chapters discuss general document and content management, developing document management strategies, and Cimtech itself. Chapter four is the lengthiest, it deals with dividing up the document management marketplace and is divided into 13 parts: Implementation options; scoping the project; supplier product/services categories; supplier application focus; case processing; transaction processing; customer relationship management; document enabling ERP; office automation/work management; electronic records management; project and technical document management; publishing; and library and knowledge services.

The later chapters deal with monitoring trends, technology and e‐business, m‐commerce, and a very useful selection of case studies.

The guide section of the book deals with:

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  Making the business case for document management – An introduction to what is meant by document management. Defines the key requirements of a system and considers the business case for investing in document management.

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  Developing a document management strategy and managing your first project – A guide and checklist to help the reader develop a document management strategy. It describes how to set up and run a document management project.

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  Dividing up the document management marketplace – The options for implementing a system and classification of available systems.

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  Charting the latest trends in document management – A review of developments in the marketplace over the last 12 months.

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  Articles – Forward‐looking articles by industry experts exploring the developments occurring in workflow management, Internet applications, electronic records management and the role of mobile communications.

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  Case studies – Document management at work in a range of key applications.

The second section of the book contains an up‐to‐date classified listing of all the key categories of imaging and document management products and services on the UK market. This section is divided alphabetically and occupies around half the book. It really is extensive and a valuable reference, probably invaluable for those based in the UK.

Even though the world is growing smaller and technology access makes many companies universal, the one fault with the directory, the last section of the book – Section U – in particular, for an international market, is that it is UK based.

This book is easy to use and I think, in its CD‐ROM form, would also be something regularly accessed, even kept in the disk drive. Pages, chapters, and sections are all clearly identified and great for quick access. Information provided is not wordy or bulky but gets straight to the point. References in section one are current and not excessive. Diagrams, where used, are helpful, clear and easy to follow. There are a couple of dozen advertisements in the book but these are unobtrusive and placed in appropriate sections and tend to even support the literature as providing visual examples of what is available.

All up, a great resource worth purchasing for a variety of business or library situations.