September 10, 2013
Well, if we break it down and look at it from Webster’s point of view we end up with three separate words.
“Document” turns out to have many meaning, but we will pick the one best suited to our program today. “A written or printed paper furnishing information or evidence, as a passport, deed, bill of sale, or bill or lading; a legal or official paper.” Who in the audience believes this is an accurate description of the documents we manage with regard to Document Lifecycle Management? No one is raising your hand? I don’t blame you. That definition came from the 1996 printing of Webster’s. If you go online to dictionary.com, which is owned by Webster’s you will see this definition:
doc·u·m nt (d k y -m nt) n.
- A written or printed p aper that be ars the origi nal, official, or legal for m of something and can be used to furn ish decisive evidence o r information.
- Somethin , such as a recording or a photogra ph, that can be used to furnish evidence or information.
- A writing that contains information.
- Computer Science.Apiece of work createdwith an appli ation, as byaword processor.
- Computer Science.Acomputer file that is not an executa le file andcontains data for use b y applicatio ns.
“Lifecycle” has three definitions, the first relating to biological organ isms and their continuous sequence of changes from one primary form, blah, blah, blah. The second describes a series of stages, as childhood and middle age that characterize the course of existence of an individual, group or culture. The third seems at t he surface to best describe our situation with a simple explanation – any similar series of stages (as in the life cycle of a manufactured product.) I however, think the second description is well suited to how I think of a Document’s Lifecycle, moving from one stage of existence to the next, like Creation, Active Life, Dormant Stage, and finally Destruction.
“Management” is a word we are all familiar with, but just to complete our exercise I will tell you that the word is defined as “the act or manner of managing; handling, direction, or control.”
When we put all this together what do we get?
“ The act of handling, directing and controlling the series of stages of existence of original, official or legal forms of paper, other pieces of work as created by a word processor, or other computer files that are not executable files and contain data used in other programs.”
Wow, that’s pretty heavy stuff considering all we do is stick files in Bankers Boxes.
Author: Michael Dailey Co-owner, vice president and chief marketing officer of Recordsforce, Inc. Past management experience in business-to-business services, most notable within the telecommunications industry. Extensive first-hand management experience in account acquisition, client support and product marketing M.B.A. degree, Simon School of Business at the University of Rochester; B.S. degree, University of Rochester Can be contacted at 603-766-8000 or [email protected]
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