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  Lindgren  Lars-Olof 
 

Information Modeling for Document Management: the Key to Successful System Selection and Deployment

 

Synopsis

 This session will address the central role that identification and analysis of document components plays in the selection, design, and deployment of document management systems. The key to success in installing such a system is a thorough analysis of your information model. The SGML document analysis process is the cornerstone of this effort. The total effort should be no less rigorous than that used for designing and deploying any database management system. Additionally, information analysis should be independent of the deliverables such as paper documents that traditionally inform the design of a document management system.
 Analyzing information to get the most from your document management system requires understanding that the infrastructure required for delivery is distinct from that required for component information management. Many people understand that they have a delivery problem. Not everyone in an organization can understand that managing document data is an information management, not simply a delivery, problem. In fact, vendors of such systems can often confuse delivery and management requirements. A document management system can fail to live up to the promise of SGML for reusable, component-based information, when the information model is restricted to delivery considerations.
 Component management systems represent a huge explosion in complexity in the underlying repository, while at the same time making it much easier and more functional for the users and creators of information. This is analogous to the changes in and proliferation of business applications available with the advent of relational database technology, in which file-based records could be organized as database rows. In SGML-based component management systems it is imperative to shield end users from the underlying complexity that naturally follows the move from a single local file to a distributed information repository. It is incumbent upon vendors and those responsible for the design and deployment of component management systems to shield users from this complexity through applications. However, ease-of-use requirements should not limit the power and flexibility of the repository.
 SGML is today’s most powerful comprehensive object model for document information, and as such is an ideal mechanism to migrate the underlying document structure need to change to move from a file based to a component based DBMS system. The SGML document analysis process is the starting place for the information analysis required for successful component management.
 Analysis should also include identification of:
 
 
  • current and potential uses of the data
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  • metadata required to identify information distinct from content or structure
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  • where and how data is shared
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  • current and potential output formats
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  • security and access considerations
    •  Once the information model is understood, other issues to address include determining at what point a modeling conflict between the underlying database and the document model can cripple the flexibility of a document management system, and how these issues can be overcome.
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