Content Management

Content management and document management closely related. Documents contain content,… well, of course they do. Content management systems allow documents to be attached or stored. Yes?

So why bother with any distinctions? Just load the container.

Today, most of the focus on content management is on web-based content and the systems that provide tools to manage it. Document management, on the other hand, is often seen as ‘old-school.’ Why bother with documents anyway? They just take up space. Nobody wants printed pages anymore.

Content can be text, an image, or even a video. Documents can contain text and images. Shouldn’t that content be managed? And, if there’s a search option, should only the content on a web site be indexed? The same principles apply to both content and document management. If you can’t find the information, how can you use it?

Publishing used to focus on documents. Information collected in a document could be approved, printed and distributed. Printing is no longer necessary. Distribution is more often via the internet. And approval, well, that comes at random from whoever happens to read the published work. Is this the best approach? For personal use, perhaps. For business, not so much.

For several days after my first book was published, I carried it about in my pocket and took surreptitious peeps at it to make sure the ink had not faded.
– James M. Barrie
(Scottish dramatist & novelist) 1860 – 1937