Record Management: Smoother Workflow

Once a document is declared as a record, the organization can be categorized according to certain criteria, retain for a certain period of time and destroy it when it determines that it no longer needed.

Traditionally, experts in records management have implemented a well-defined set of functions to sort the records, store them in a way that facilitates its recovery (in folders, boxes, etc..), Find the location of the records, retrieve them when needed for the organization and destroy them as soon as possible or move them to a permanent file. For years, managers of records and files have specialized in these functions.

This has led to the persistence of the view that the file management task is a narrow profile, and that people who are responsible for this activity have a poor relationship with other specialists in your organization.

With the development of so-called new technologies have emerged new concepts such as knowledge management, which have shown that the stored records are the living memory of the organization, with far greater importance than was granted to date. Much more if we think that electronic documents within organizations have gained in volume and importance, together with the need to manage them. This has prompted the management of files each day wins in importance.

In the early 80's, came the first computer programs for managing files, based primarily on paper records, which aimed to facilitate the work of people engaged in these activities. The new systems helped the specialists in the field to perform their daily tasks: to create design plans and grading, setting records retention programs, locate, and manage the physical storage. These people even managed the boxes of papers, but they had at least one tool that would help them find information and remind them when to move or destroy certain records.

Many organizations have begun to handle large volumes of corporate records including, in addition to traditional e-mail messages, attachments to these messages, documents created with word processing, spreadsheets, etc...Thus, the concept of system for file management is associated with actual use, reuse and availability of information in digital format, an issue vital to the company. 

Thus emerged and is now among the first in the field of hardware and software that supports the work of traditional information science and librarianship, specialty dedicated to the development of technologies for managing files.

File management as an important part of systems for electronic document management, aims to provide individuals and institutions, facilities for effective and efficient use of documents from the maximization of the profits the use of the information contained in documents and minimizing the costs of acquiring, processing, use and dispose of these documents.