Creating a Document Management System

Documentation has endowed us with the practice of putting all our records into file folders with serial modes; thus the liability of minding them is generated. We may try to shrink the space and to minimize the labour of document keeping, but the performance of information workers and the people beyond will significantly improve only if we think of the documentation as a corporate fixed asset. As a pioneer of computer‐based document management for the Taiwanese Government, the Industrial Development Bureau (IDB) of the Republic of China has enhanced its reputation owing to a high level of performance and user satisfaction at low cost of a computer‐based document management system (DMS). Describes some key issues and practical experience on designing, measuring, and justifying a DMS with the innovative use of information technology in the IDB′s case. Also provides the steps for guiding decision‐making success and the process flow chart for a DMS. These issues should provide guidance to develop a DMS.