How to Design a Document Management System
Designing a document management system may be as simple as arranging files in alphabetical order for a small home office or as complex as software programs that require extensive training to use. Although these document management systems may sound diametrically opposed, the basic concept is the same: being able to find what you need when you need it. Designing a document management system will pay dividends every time you need to retrieve information.
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Instructions
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Determine what your document management system needs to file, store and be able to retrieve when you need it, and design accordingly. Although free software (See Resources) is available on the Internet to help you manage your electronic documents, print materials including birth certificates, wills and photographs also need to be retrievable.
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Ask friends and colleagues about the document management systems they use. Researching a broad base of information will help you customize your own document management system by incorporating other people's ideas and then honing the design.
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Use the KISS method: Keep it short and simple. The easier the design, the easier it will be to find things. Avoid getting carried away making subsections for subsections if at all possible.
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Study different Internet options. Key applications are central to repositories that link business process applications, data bases and desktop applications. Pick a design that you can work with and serves your needs. Unless you have the knowledge, avoid complicated programs that require a degree in computer science to understand.
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Test your design and adjust accordingly. Just as Rome wasn't built in a day, designing your document management system requires you to evaluate its reliability as you go along and to be prepared to change things that don't work.
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References
Resources
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