A document for document's sake. A possible account for document system failures and a proposed way forward

Published date01 January 2006
DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/09565690610654756
Pages13-20
Date01 January 2006
AuthorKatherine Forbes‐Pitt
Subject MatterInformation & knowledge management
A document for document’s sake
A possible account for document system
failures and a proposed way forward
Katherine Forbes-Pitt
London School of Economics, London, UK
Abstract
Purpose – Anecdotal evidence about electronic document management systems implies that they
sound good, but implementation is difficult. This paper seeks to utilise the assertions of Hughes and
King that the document is a social artefact and to ask what this might mean for electronic document
management systems.
Design/methodolog y/approach – After analysing the layers of information contained in
documents, the study argues that documents are “wrapping” for content that ensures the provision
of social knowledge required for interpretation of the document’s content.
Findings – Some information systems writers argue that the need for social knowledge in a task
negates the possibility of the automation of it. So it can be argued that the “electronic document” is an
oxymoron; that only part of what we know to be a document can be provided electronically. The paper
concludes that greater success might be achieved by discarding the idea of electronically delivering
documents and instead focusing on the delivery of content.
Originality/value – The article explores the fundamental nature of electronic systems and the
resulting implications for the form and structure of electronic objects within such systems a
significant issue, which is transferable to the record-keeping arena.
Keywords Electronic datainterchange, Data handling, Managementtechniques,
Document management
Paper type Viewpoint
Introduction
This paper seeks to extrapolate the nature of the document and the role it plays in our
social (and therefore business) interactions within organisations. In order to achieve
this, it first attempts to decipher the document. Electronic document management
systems (EDMSs) are trying to replicate this at a basic level. Using the work of
Hughes and King (1993), it can be argued that the document, acting as a social
artefact, has social rule governing interaction with it embedded. This assertion in
turn raises the question: is it possible to replicate this artefact electronically, or
“automate” it?
Writers in information systems such as Suchman (1987), Collins and Kusch (1998)
and Dreyfus (1999) have proposed that some human action and behaviours cannot be
replicated by machines. More specifically, that where a process or behaviour is context
dependent – and such context is derived through the application of social knowledge –
it is not possible to replicate that process or behaviour by machine. Combining the
information systems arguments with those of Collins and Kusch, it is possible to
suggest that only part of any document is replicable electronically. Further, that the
documents’ existence is to enable the “wrapping” of content in such a way that social
rules applying to it are understood. It might be suggested that, with the application of
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0956-5698.htm
A document for
document’s sake
13
Records Management Journal
Vol. 16 No. 1, 2006
pp. 13-20
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0956-5698
DOI 10.1108/09565690610654756

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