Document classification and information management may sound technical, but you probably already classify documents every single day. Anytime you author a file, give it a name, modify it or store it in a folder, you are classifying a document, using the basic concepts of information management. The real question is how well (or how poorly) you and your organization manage this classification process. Looking beyond the basics and taking a strategic approach to enterprise information management produces many tangible benefits.
At this point, computer users are well-acquainted with Windows Explorer-type file sharing and classification: storing documents in nested folders that grow increasingly specific. This familiar organization has advantages, but tends to create data silos that hinder collaboration and information sharing across an organization. That’s why many organizations are moving from vertical, nested folder structures to a flatter information management structure.
To visualize this flat structure, think about creating an Excel spreadsheet. All of the documents are listed in the rows, with columns that define common attributes, such as author, date, file type, size and so on. Those attributes then become ways to filter and sort the documents, instead of digging down through file folders.
When these attributes reflect thoughtful metadata and taxonomy design, this flattened approach to document classification and information management offers several benefits.
- Improved enterprise search: Good document classification directly benefits enterprise search, making it easier and faster to find and retrieve documents. By registering specific metadata with your search engine as a classifier, it helps to promote documents tagged with that particular word or phrase. With a controlled vocabulary, all of the metadata may be used as filters to help narrow the results you get from a search query.
- Smarter browsing: Enterprise information management systems typically provide out-of-the-box classifications, such as when a document was uploaded or modified, and other properties that are inherent to the document. But custom metadata allows you to take this classification a step further and describe what that document is about. What is the subject? What product does it relate to? Does the document belong to a certain region, department or office? All of these are typical metadata fields that help people find relevant content by browsing through attributes.
- Accessible, efficient storage: Businesses are also starting to see how document classification is truly beneficial in storing information. Well-organized, accessible document storage makes it easier for users to reuse documents, reducing inefficient duplication of efforts and recreation of documents they need but can’t easily find.
The benefits and challenges of implementing this type of enterprise information management structure depend on whether you decide to assign metadata manually or through auto-classification technology. Auto-classifiers allow you to register your taxonomies and metadata fields and assign rules against them based on document context, resulting in a very consistent way to tag your content. Both approaches have benefits and drawbacks — and both are better than flying by the seat of your pants.
Document classification doesn’t have to be difficult for users, but planning your information management and taxonomy design does take time and effort. In most organizations, people never agree completely on a classification structure, and have subjective views when describing what a document is about. And that variety of perspectives is part of the beauty of document classification. By improving your information management, you provide users with multiple ways to retrieve a document they need, whether that means browsing by geography or department, or searching by product name.
Learn more about the benefits of leveraging enterprise information management tools by contacting Portal Solutions.
