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Special Report
Desktop Productivity

Special Reports:

• Information Assets Management

• Records Management Systems

• Backbone of a Successful System

• Classification Technology

• Desktop Productivity

• DNA of Knowledge Management

• Enterprise-wide Solutions

• Retention Scheduling

• Merging Records

• Planning a KM Program

Information Assets Management  Series

• Overview
• About IAM
• Industry Standards
• Manager's Perspective

By Lowrie McIntosh

Infologics has researched leading personal scanner manufacturers to develop a new highly productive desktop interface. This interface would use the scanner software and a records management system to provide a natural and logical storage scheme for everything scanned into the system before it is compressed on the server.

This productivity improvement allows a user to scan and store documents or images into a desktop area, select the classification on a hierarchical folder structure, and when ready, file them away in the System.

The classification folder structure on the desktop level temporarily puts away active documents that a user may wants to work on later. By organizing documents electronically at a desktop level before storing away into the system, it allows one to make decisions on whether to keep or store the item before moving into the System.

The hierarchical classification structure in a records management system should parallel the Uniform Subject Classification System. Later (routinely at the end of every month), the items can be picked up by the System and stored on the file server for retention purposes.

By managing the flow of paper generated around a person's workspace, the move toward a paperless environment is virtually made possible. It gives a user the ease of scanning every piece of paper that comes across their desk and put it into their electronic desktop area. It then gives them the flexibility of dropping that scanned document into an application. This essentially gives a person the benefit of moving from a "random access filing system" (paper stored on their desk) to an electronically managed desktop.

Not only does this desktop level hold the items a user is working on, it also has a life to it. While on this desktop platform, a user can bring up the document scanned and drop it into any number of applications for work, such as a word processing application, spreadsheet, graphics, finance or expense application, forms application, or database program. Any application on the user's machine can be added to this desktop area.

A user can rearrange their documents into any classification and save it to any application they want. They can also maintain a task listing of action activities sitting on their desktop area, thereby managing tasks, as well as paper and electronic documents. Furthermore, the ability to retrieve documents by subject is possible at this desktop level.