Document Assembly versus Document Management
A discussion
Editors Comment and Summary: Pathagoras is a very complete document assembly AND document management program. The programs complement each other, but were created to accomplish two quite different goals. The different aspects of the program sometimes create confusion among users as when to use what. This page is aimed at dispelling some of that confusion. In retrospect, it would have been much easier to market Pathagoras as two separate programs: 'document management' and 'document assembly.' That way, a page such as this would not be necessary. But the bottom line is that the two go hand-in-hand. A good document assembly program needs a good 'assistant' to manage saving and retrieving of documents once they have been created. Once you have the basics behind you, what may now seem to be a 'conflict' between the two modules becomes a synergy--the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Then, distinguishing between the document assembly vs. the document management choices become second nature. Please read on. |
General Concepts and Distinctions:
‘Document assembly’ focuses on the rapid creation of documents from component parts. It also includes personalizing the document for the client or customer or other intended object of the document. Document Assembly settings are saved in 'libraries' (building on a "clauses->books->library" metaphor to describe the system. Document assembly libraries are not 'personal' to the user (as PathSmart profiles, discussed below, typically are). Rather, they are subject oriented (wills, trusts, marketing, etc.). In this regard, books and libraries are 'whole office' oriented.
‘Document management’ focuses on the storage, retrieval and organization of documents. This side of Pathagoras is expressed in its PathSmart and SaveSmart modules. PathSmart and SaveSmart settings are saved under 'profiles.' The SmartPaths which constitute the elements of a profile allow the user rapid access to any document folders. A user at a workstation would have a profile personalized to his or her specific needs (typically bearing his or her name or initials). Users will frequently overlap in the assignment of SmartPaths, but just as frequently they won't. So, all users might have a SmartPath mapped to 'Client Documents,' but only Bobbi Sue will have a SmartPath mapped to 'Bobbi Sue's Personal Documents.' Plus, if Attorney Smith's clients do not overlap those of Attorney Rodriguez, even the SmartPaths to the client documents folder may not overlap.
The single focus of both applications is to improve speed and accuracy of document creation, retrieval and storage. Both applications operate in similar fashions. Indeed, they even overlap in certain areas. But to fully take advantage of the program, the user must understand that the two applications are distinctly different. Keep this in mind as you provide settings for, and become more familiar with using, the myriad of Pathagoras’ functions
So what exactly is 'document assembly'?
The answer is best provided by example.
Let's make everyone reading this an attorney. Your assistant's name is Jordan. Here is the method that you now typically 'write' a new contract for Robert Graham, a new client.
(1) "Jordan, please put together a real estate sales contract for the building that Mr. Graham owns on Main Street. Insert the typical preamble language. But change the reference to 'residence' to 'commercial property.' Do what you have to do to clean up the rest of that paragraph to make it consistent with 'commercial.' After that please find the Jacob Smith contract that we drafted last week. Take the first 4 paragraphs from that contract and put it in this one. Then get the 10th paragraph from the Jones contract we just, and put that in as well. Let me have a rough draft. You can get Mr. Graham's address from some a recent letter that we mailed to him.”
(2) Following your instructions, Jordan cuts and pastes the contract together. Jordan looks in one place for the standard preamble language, and then tries to add the correct 'commercial property' variations; Jordan hunts for the two other contracts. After blocking and copying and pasting in the language in the appropriate spots, a rough draft is done, except for getting the client's address from yet another document. Jordan runs a search and replace on the variable terms (names, amounts, relationships, etc.), and then prints the draft.
(3) You edit the resulting draft. You notice that the language you asked for out of the Smith contract was not the latest version you thought it was. "Doggone it," you mutter. "I know I changed that language before." Out loud: "Jordan, please take out this paragraph 11 and put in the parallel clause from the Johnson contract we wrote a couple of days ago. I know that one has the updated text " Sometime during the edit, you find stray references to both 'Smith' and 'Jones.' "Hmmmm," you say to yourself, "that could have been embarrassing."
(4) You edit paragraph 17 and say to yourself, "This is a keeper." So you write a note on a slip of paper, "Don't forget paragraph 17 of the Graham contract for future contracts." You put it with the 25 other slips of paper saying the same thing that you still haven't gotten to.
(5) You finalize the contract and Jordan shoots it over to Mr. Graham for review. Two hours later, Mr. Graham calls and says "Who is Jacob Smith?" And what does 2710 Mulberry Avenue that appears on page 5 got to do with the contract I wanted you to write for me?" Groan!
How much easier it would be if all of the substantive paragraphs likely to be used in a future contract (and the variations of them), were stored in a central glossary of terms. How nice would be if, when a new clause is created (or found in another work), it could be harvested and placed with the existing clause library.
How nice it would be if future documents could be quickly assembled just by checking off desired paragraphs from a checklist of the available clauses. Places where personal data needs to go are marked with clear variables. They can be smoothly and quickly replaced as the final step in the document assembly process. A complete, accurate, personalized document, without the headaches of an potentially inaccurate 'cut & paste' job, is the goal here. That is what a good document assembly system does.
So what is Document Management?
A. Document management programs are designed to help you to store documents efficiently so that you can retrieve them quickly. By various devices, they help you to logically organize your documents so that you can find them when you need them. Document storage and retrieval is the only goal of these programs.
There are two distinct types of document managers, complex (but still very good) and Pathagoras (very simple). Most document management programs require you to provide indexing words for each document. (Other do the indexing for you automatically by scanning the text of the document and culling out key words.) With these programs, you can look for documents by typing in key words onto an overlay screen, and the program displays what it has found. This is sophisticated and powerful, and there is nothing wrong with them. However, many of these programs 'take over' your system. They file things according to the program's logic, and you surrender control over the placement of the document to the program in exchange for increased speed. Most times, if you do not have the document manager loaded, you cannot find the document.
Pathagoras takes an entirely different, very 'low tech' approach. With Pathagoras, Word and Windows document folder are not surrendered to the manager. The way you currently find and save documents remains the same. But by using the tools that come with Pathagoras, you can increase the speed of navigation (actually you avoid it altogether) by assigning a number and a nickname as a short cut to the folder.
Q. So how does Document Management differ from Document Assembly?
It's a matter of 'what is your motivation?' Your 'motivation' in using a document management tool is to find a document so that you can read it, edit it, print it, etc.
Document Assembly refers to the document creation process. Document assembly program lead through the processes of building clause libraries, displaying the contents of the various libraries so that you can select from their contents to quickly build a document, and then to provide you a method to personalize the created document.
In Pathagoras, there can be an overlap between the two systems. You could easily assign a folder to Document Assembly libraries that is the same as a SmartPath in a PathSmart profile (for example, a folder containing 'Office Forms'). This is a perfectly acceptable thing to do, but conceptually speaking, it is important to know why you have done so:
- In mapping a folder to a PathSmart profile, you do so in order to be able to quickly access the original of the forms (most likely in order to edit them). You also might map a folder to a PathSmart profile in order to be able to quickly save new forms to that same folder.
- In mapping a folder to a document assembly library as a 'book', you do so in order to be able to quickly call up a copy of the form so that you can personalize it for a customer or client. You aren't intending to work from the original text -- you are creating a new document.
While 'Office Forms' might be in both a PathSmart profile and a Document Assembly library, a folder containing personalized client documents (mailed letters, completed contracts, etc.). would almost never be part of a Document Assembly library. Why? Because personal client documents aren't be used to create future documents, at least not in a good document assembly system.
Both document assembly and document management program are designed to tame the unwieldy DOS directory tree, but they do so for different purposes.