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Document Processing

designed to teach students how to create a variety of com- together into a total information system of which word
puter-based documents—anything from business, techni- processing was a part.
cal, medical, and/or legal documents, tables, forms, Advances in technology have made it easier for indi-
reports, presentations documents, to documents for elec- viduals to create and manage documents. Tablet PCs,
tronic publishing. scanners, voice-recognition software, and the Internet are
Nonetheless, computer science or library and infor- all changing the face of document processing.
mation science show marked differences in their defini- Doctors’ offices use wireless tablet PCs for inputting
tion of document processing. In these areas, document patient data during examinations. Prior to this technolog-
processing might “explore the issues involved in building ical development, patient reports would have been dic-
natural-language-processing applications that operate on tated by the physician and transcribed by an assistant. The
large bodies of real text such as the ones found in the hard-copy form of the patient’s report would have then
World Wide Web” (Dras and Cassidy, 2005, para. 2). been stored in the patient’s file. The use of the tablet PC
Others find document processing to relate to electronic also eliminates the need for storage space for hard-copy
publishing—and to include such topics as typography, records and makes retrieval of materials faster and simpler.
computer languages, file formats, specifications for docu- Also archiving stored records from a computer is a simpler
ment style and semantics, and electronic document stan- process because older files may be stored on compact
dards. disks, jump drives, or external hard drives so that the data
Document processing has also been described as pro- is available if needed but is not consuming space on an
cessing text documents, including methods of indexing active hard drive.
for retrieving text based on content. Thus, document pro- Prior to the advent of scanners, documents were
cessing appears akin to nonverbal language in that it is stored in file folders, file cabinets, file centers, and depart-
learned terminology, one not easily or readily defined— ments. Hard copies of documents can now be scanned
one whose meaning varies with the culture of the organi- and stored in an electronic file. This technological
zation and/or individual. advance decreases the space formerly needed for docu-
While an administrative assistant considers docu- ment storage. Also, when a customer or other individual
ment processing as using a computer to keyboard a letter, needs a document, a copy can be sent immediately by
memo, electronic mail (e-mail), or report, other individu- scanning the requested document and attaching it to an e-
als see document processing as a means of coordinating mail message.
and conducting business transactions. An order submitted Voice-recognition software is an important develop-
to purchase a certain product, for example, becomes a ment, particularly to physically challenged individuals.
document for processing. Through the use of a microphone, individuals can dictate
From the word-processing perspective, in its simplest letters, memos, e-mail, and reports and have those docu-
form the term document processing means the production ments convert to type on the computer screen. The use of
of paperwork. Originally the term encompassed all busi- voice-recognition software in industry reduces the num-
ness equipment concerned with the handling of text. The ber of repetitive stress injuries (such as carpal tunnel syn-
term word processor came to represent stand-alone units. drome) and decreases the amount of time required to
In 1981, with the advent of the IBM personal computer input data.
(PC), the playing field for word processors changed. Soft- Companies are using e-mail as their official commu-
ware-based word processors gradually replaced dedicated nication channel, thereby eliminating the need for hard
word processors. In this fashion, the term went from rep- copies of interoffice memorandums. In addition to being
resenting hardware to referring to software. a faster means of communication, e-mail messages provide
a hard-copy record, when needed, by simply printing the
THE FUTURE OF DOCUMENT message. E-mail messages may also be stored electroni-
PROCESSING cally, reducing the required storage space for hard-copy
documents.
In 1980 R. I. Anderson reported that “an even broader
concept of word processing is emerging which ties auto- SEE ALSO Word Processing; Writing Skills in Business
matic typing equipment into a communications network
for input and output” (p. 55). At this time, optical char-
BIBLIOGRAPHY
acter recognition, output to phototypesetting equipment,
Anderson, R. I. (1980). Word processing: The changing office envi-
output onto microfilm, or output routed to automatic fil- ronment (Margaret H. Johnson, Ed.). Reston, VA: National
ing systems were separate units that were being tied Business Education Association.

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