Introduction

Abstract

This chapter provides a brief historical perspective on the evolution of document types and introduces a new document paradigm that has emerged with digitization. It reviews the role of documents in the overall context of today’s business world. The review then covers the contributions made by various disciplines to our understanding of the evolution of DMS and the emergence of solutions for managing content of documents, particularly for Web presentation. This chapter also introduces the benefits of an integrative approach to document and Web content management solutions. Our objectives are to: • Provide some historical background and show its influence on contemporary approaches to document management. • Examine the way a “document” is presently understood and how this may vary according to disciplinary background. • Review technological developments that have impacted on the evolution of document formats and methods of registering documents. • Review the development of DMS and show how the consideration of systems for managing documents and their content has been heavily influenced by the emergence of digital documents. • Consider the emergence of Content Management Systems (CMS) within the overall evolutionary development of document technologies. • Introduce an integrative approach to planning and implementing solutions for document and Web content management, depicted in an IDCM planning model. • Cover the high-level features of the IDCM model, which comprises a management framework and conceptual systems architecture.