subject: Why Paper Document Management Must Not be Ignored [print this page] The paperless office is still a mythThe paperless office is still a myth. Often, documents are printed and left in printer trays from minutes to hours. This is particularly the case where printers are shared. Workers print a document, and, if the printer is a personal printer, have a tendency to leave it in the tray for extended periods of time. Others walk by, the desk is unattended for periods of time and a number of other conditions occur where printed documents are unattended. Where the is no regular policy and user-friendly method of document management, printed documents are susceptible to misuse and misinterpretation. While this may not be a common event, when it does happen and a document is misused the price can be inestimable. Unfortunately, this occurs daily in tens of thousands of companies on an all-to-frequent basis. For any number of reasons, when documents are printed, it is often without any form of label or identification to prevent misinterpretation or misunderstanding. Unfortunately, rubber stamps are the most common form of paper document marking and compounding the problem is thier use in the margins. Labeling and marking of a document should be done when the document is printed or made into a PDF from Microsoft Word. In the case of a PDF, if the document is not stamped when it is created, it requires the worker to run another program to put the stamp on the document. If only selected pages of the PDF required marking, the process become more time-consuming. A paper document management program can only be effective if the worker is able to mark a document in a manner that makes the document incapable of alteration. The program should, likewise, be flexible to accommodate the marking of any combination of pages based on simple user input. Finally, it must be able to create most any type of marking the worker requires. While a stamp in the margin is better than no stamp at all, it doesn't make much of an improvement over the old-fashioned rubber stamp. In order to be effective, the method must be automated. And the method must be capable of combining the text and the indicia in such a manner that it cannot be removed. User-friendliness is of paramount importance. If the use of the product requires data entry or command-line use, it is not likely to be used in an effective manner. Shaded gray images (watermarks) are useful in small settings and where mishandling or misappropriation are low-risk. However, the security provided by this marking minimal given today's copier technology. Using shaded color offer additional protection but still doesn't prevent alteration or duplication and deletion of the marking.
Why Paper Document Management Must Not be Ignored
By: Michael Ross
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