A DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEMThe present invention relates to a document management system and to filing products associated therewith.
A number of document management systems exist for organising documents in an electronic form. That is, documents created on a PC by a wordprocessing program such as Microsoft Word (Regd.
TM), can be included in a PC filing index in the form of electronic folders or the like which organise electronic documents by holding in a common folder documents in the same category. Categories can be identified by users and may be, for example, project references or the like. Other PC filing indexes exist which utilise a database holding a keyword or keywords associated with each document, the keywords being used for searching and retrieval. Still other systems compile a filing index automatically from the textual content of a document.
Document management systems exist which allow the PC filing index to include not only electronically created documents, but also paper documents. Many existing systems assume that a user will scan in any papers required to be incorporated in the PC filing index. Once an electronic record of the paper document has been created, that electronic record can be incorporated in the PC filing index. It is onerous to utilise a paper scanner for all paper documents which are required to be filed, particularly when it is the paper version of the document which is required by a user and not the electronic record which has been created for filing.
Some systems therefore utilise bar codes to mark, identify and track paper documents or other material. However, these systems require the use of a bar code scanner and additional manual operations to identify any particular file to the computer.
Filing is thus still very tedious and the systems are most suitable for a centralised record-keeping facility rather than for individual PC users.
It is therefore desirable to provide a document management system which will allow the computerised filing of paper documents through a system which is nevertheless simple and easy to use, in order to encourage filing by everyday office users.
According to one aspect of the present invention there is provided a document management system comprising:a computer having an electronic storage means for holding an index for organising documents;at least one physical data storage device containing a plurality of documents, said data storage device carrying an identifying tag which comprises an integrated circuit including memory containing a device identity and a transmitter for transmitting an ID signal including the device identity; anda tag reading device connected to said computer and operable to read the device identity from the identifying tag, said system having means for entering into the electronic storage means in association with the device identity read from the identifying tag, information about the documents contained in the physical data storage device whereby the documents can be incorporated in said index in association with the device identity.
It is also desirable to provide a common filing system for paper documents and documents in an electronic format. To that end, the electronic storage means can hold documents in an electronic format, said documents being incorporated in the index.
Thus, the computer can hold a comprehensive index of all documents that an individual may need to handle. No matter where or in what form a document exists it can be incorporated into the index. In a preferred form, the location of the physical data storage device in a physical environment is held in the index so that a document can be located by a user whether it held in electronic form or physical form. The location can be entered by a user at the user input device. Alternatively, the identifying tag carries information about the location of the physical data storage device so that that location can be read from the identifying tag by the tag reading device for incorporation in said index.
By using a single filing index for electronic and paper documents, they can be "gathered up" by the computer for use in a project. All relevant documents can be identified by the index and can be associated together by a user at a user input device.
A complete project file can then be established.
The physical data storage device can be a container for holding paper documents, for example a physical filing product such as a file folder (e.g. of cardboard or plastic), magazine rack, ring binder, lever arch file etc. Alternatively, the physical data storage device may be a case for holding a digital storage disk on which a plurality of documents are held in an optically, magnetically or electronically readable format. As a still further alternative, the filing product can be designed to hold both paper documents and digital documents on a suitable storage medium. For example, a case for a CD ROM can have an identifying tag which identifies the location of the CD ROM so that that location can be associated in the index with information about the digital documents held on the CD ROM.
In one embodiment described herein, the identifying tag takes the form of an integrated circuit or "smart chip" embedded in the physical data storage device. Another embodiment uses a smart card acting as the tag, which would normally be held in a holder attached to the physical data storage device. The smart card can be removed from its holder and inserted into a smart card reader connected to the computer which would act as the tag reading device. Alternatively, contactless smart card technologies can be used.
The integrated circuit includes a memory which holds the device identity and can also include a processor for controlling the operations of the identifying tag. This allows information transmitted from the tag to be encrypted for security purposes.
In addition, access rights can be held in the tag and monitored by the processor.
The identifying tag further includes a transmitter for transmitting an identification signal including the device identity to the tag reading device. The identifying tag thus provides an electronic label for the data storage device. The electronic label can associate the contents of the labelled physical data storage device with that storage device through the index of the computer. Thus, the device identity may be a simple identification code which links the physical data storage device to the information about the documents contained in the index.
It is possible to envisage a situation where the integrated circuit includes writable memory which is capable of holding more comprehensive information about the document, for example to maintain a history of the use of those documents. That is, that information could identify the owner of any of the contents, date internal items which were last checked in or out and to whom, and other summary information as necessary. It would in principle also be possible to store in the electronic label the entire text content of all the documents in a physical data storage device, or complete document images and associated information.
The facility to write to the tag allows a number of different facilities to be provided. Information about documents associated with those in the physical data storage device can be written to the tag so that information about these associated documents can be read by a PC. This information can include information about associated documents contained in the index but not necessarily in the user's possession, for example the URL (unique resource locator) of documents on the web. The physical data storage device can be handled by a number of different users in a number of different locations and the writable tag will synchronise itself with the filing index of any PC with which it comes into contact. This therefore allows automatic tracking of documents to be accomplished. In particular, the relevant part of a PC filing index can be written to the tag so that it is readable at any other PC where the data storage device is used.
The device identity can be in the form of a name for the data storage device or a unique code which is associated in the computer with a user readable name which can be displayed to a user when the device ID is read. Preferably, the device identity is associated with information about the location of the device in a physical environment, e.g. magazine rack 4.
A suitable tag reading device can be realised in a variety of different forms. For example, a contactless smart card reader could be used e.g. of the type manufactured by SONY for transit applications. In one embodiment described herein, the tag reading device is implemented as part of a graphics tablet which can be used in association with a cordless, batteryless pen. US 5,557,076 describes such a graphics tablet which detects movement of a pen to allow writing?? to a computer. The graphics tablet itself is connected to the computer, but the pen is freestanding.
In US 5,557,076, the pen can transmit to the graphics tablet a unique identification signal and it is envisaged that identifying tags for use in the present invention could use the same technology to transmit an identification signal to a graphics tablet.
Alternative technologies exist for implementing an identifying tag capable of transmitting a unique identification signal to a tag reading device in the art of electronic tagging generally, and will thus not be described further herein.
The document management system can also include a writing unit for writing information to the identifying tag and this writing unit can be implemented together with the tag reading device, for example in a graphics tablet or smart card read/write device (coupler).
A suitable tag reading device and/or writing unit can operate when the embedded smart chip is passed close to it but not necessarily requiring physical contact. In particular it is useful if the identifying tag can transmit the identification signal over several centimetres and through thick pads of paper or plastic.
In another embodiment described herein, a smart card read/writer is used, for example of the type manufactured by Fujitsu Limited.
Such a read/writer is connected to a computer and requires a smart card to be inserted therein for reading and writing.
The document management system can include within the computer a program capable of automatically compiling an index from a number of documents entered into the computer, either by scanning in or by reading a disk. Suitable software for doing this is currently marketed under the name Paperlite.
For a better understanding of the present invention and to show how the same may be carried into effect, reference will now be made by way of example to the accompanying drawings in which:Figure 1 is a diagram of a computer system;Figure la is a block diagram of the elements of an identifying tag;Figure 2 illustrates a folder for holding paper documents;Figure 3 illustrates a plurality of ring binders for holding paper documents;Figure 4 illustrates a folder for holding floppy disks;Figure 5 illustrates a CD ROM casing;Figure 6 illustrates a computer index;Figure 7 is an example of a screen which can be displayed by the computer; andFigure 8 is an example of a ring binder according to a second embodiment.
Figure 1 illustrates the computer elements of a document management system. A personal computer (PC) 2 has a display 4 and is connected to a plurality of user input devices. These include a keyboard 6, a mouse 8 with associated mousepad 10, and a graphics tablet 12 and associated pen 14. The graphics tablet 12 is connected to the computer, but the pen 14 is "freestanding". One possible implementation for the graphics tablet 12 and pen 14 is described in US 5,557,076. The computer is also attached to devices for providing digital documents to the PC 2. These include a document scanner 16, a CD drive 18 and a modem 20. The document scanner scans paper documents and electronic images of these paper documents are held in the PC.
The CD drive holds digital documents in an optically readable form and the optical head of the CD drive reads these documents and transfers the documents in an electronic format to the PC 2.
The modem 20 is capable of receiving documents and images in an electronic format from a remote site via a telephone line or anISDN line for example.
The PC could also be connected to a network across which electronic documents are supplied to the PC from other users in the network.
The PC 2 also has connected to it a smart card reader/writer 19.
The smart card reader/writer 19 has a slot for receiving a smart card 17 on which is incorporated an integrated circuit. As an alternative, the smart card reader/writer could be implemented within the PC itself, so that the PC would merely have a slot for receiving a smart card 17. In order to implement the present invention, only one of the graphics tablet 12 or smart card reader/writer 19 is necessary, depending on the technology used to implement the identifying tag, as described in the following.
As is well known, the PC can also include its own document creation means in the form of a wordprocessing program such asWord. Thus, electronic documents can be created in response to user input and these documents can also be held in the memory of the PC.
The document management system also includes a variety of different physical data storage devices. These can take the form of any case or holder for documents which can be physically moved from one location to another and which typically, but not necessarily, hold related documents, such as documents for use in a single project or in association with a single work product.
Thus, a data storage device can take the form of a hanging folder 22 as shown in Figure 2 or a ring binder 24 as shown in Figure 3, both for holding paper documents 23. As an alternative, the physical data storage device can be a folder 26 for holding floppy disks as shown in Figure 4 or a CD ROM case 28 for holding a CD ROM as shown in Figure 5. It will be appreciated that a wide number of possibilities exist for suitable physical data storage devices and those described herein are described by way of example only to illustrate the principles of the present document management system.
In accordance with the principles of a first embodiment of the present document management system, each of the physical data storage devices includes an identifying tag in the form of an embedded smart chip 30. (Although not shown in Figure 4, the embedded smart chip 30 would be on the front or rear face of the folder 26.)Figure la illustrates diagrammatically the principle components of an identifying tag. A memory MEM 11 contains at least a device identity and is connected to a transmit/receive circuit 13 for issuing a signal ST containing the device identity. The identifying tag also includes a microprocessor 15 for controlling operations of the tag. The transmit/receive circuit 13 is capable of receiving a signal SR for writing information to the memory 11. The microprocessor 15 can cause the device identity to be encrypted prior to transmission for security purposes.
Moreover, the memory 11 can contain data defining access rights for the tag, and the microprocessor 15 can enforce those access rights.
A simple document management system will first be described in which the embedded smart chip 30 contains information identifying the physical data storage device to which it is attached. A unique or serial number will suffice for this purpose. A PC filing index, described later, can be used to associate the smart chip's number with a location name or description typed in by a user. It is nevertheless possible to consider that the embedded smart chip also contains information identifying the location of that device in a physical environment. The embedded smart chip issues a unique identification signal containing this information to a tag reading device which in the described embodiment is embedded in the graphics tablet 12. The embodiment will be described in relationship to a ring binder 24 as illustrated inFigure 3. In order to open up a new folder on the PC 2, a user places the ring binder 24 flat on the graphics tablet 12, that is in the position shown in the lower half of Figure 3. This allows the tag reading device embedded in the graphics tablet 12 to read the identification signal from the embedded smart chip 30. At the same time, the user enters a name into the PC 2 through one of the user input devices. For example, the name of the ring binder can be entered by typing or by hand-printing it using the pen 14. The position of the pen 14 is sensed by the graphics tablet 12 through the thickness of the ring binder and thus allows the ring binder name to be entered in this way. In this way, the unique identification signal from the embedded smart chip becomes associated in the PC 2 with a user readable file definition. For example, the user readable file definition could be:Cabinet 4: Sales indicating that the ring binder contains sales documents and can be found in filing cabinet 4 in the office.
In order to enter a document to that file, information about the document is entered into the PC. This can be done by scanning the document using the document scanner 16 or by entering abstracted information about the document, such as its title or a brief explanation as to its contents, using one of the user input devices. The PC identifies the document and allocates a number to it. Then, the ring binder 24 is placed flat on the graphics tablet 12 once again and the user readable name is displayed on the display 4. The user is prompted:document [document name] is to be stored in container[container name].
Is this correct? Yes or no.
If the user indicates that the answer is yes, then the document number becomes associated with that file in the PC. If a search is then carried out on the PC, when the document is located, its title and/or the abstracted information about its contents is displayed together with the user readable file name which allows a user to locate the physical version of the document.
As shown in Figure 6, the PC 2 has a memory 50 which holds a PC index for organising the documents. The documents are organised into electronic folders, such as folder 1, folder 2, folder 3 etc. Each electronic folder holds a plurality of documents.
These documents may be held in an electronic format within thePC memory or they may be physical documents which are held in some physical location externally of the PC. In the case of physical documents, the PC index holds a file identification (FILE ID) which is displayed to a user when that particular document is identified to indicate to a user the location of that physical document. It will be appreciated that the electronic folders can hold documents in an electronic format from a variety of different sources. For example, these can be digital images scanned in from the document scanner 16 digital images and text received by the modem 20 and/or digital images and text read from the CD drive 18. It will also be appreciated that physical documents are not necessarily paper documents held in a paper folder. As an example, file identification for a particular document could identify a CD ROM casing together with the location of that casing in an office environment. Once the casing has been located, the CD ROM within it would be inserted into the CD ROM drive 18 and the correct document picked up off that CD ROM by the PC.
Thus, an integrated PC index is possible holding information about a variety of different electronic and physical documents.
Figure 7 illustrates a display which the user sees after a particular document has been located within the PC index. The top five display fields hold document information which was inserted when the document was entered into the PC index. The three lower fields hold information generated by the computer when the document was categorised.
Finally, a smart file display field displays the file identification which allows the physical paper document to be retrieved by the user.
In the above described example, all that is needed is to provide a readable identification on each physical data storage device for holding documents. As described herein, each physical data storage device has an embedded smart chip. It is also possible to provide a set of labels, each label including an embedded smart chip and then these labels being adhered to physical data storage devices to identify them. In a more complex arrangement, the embedded smart chip can include writable memory so that thePC can write information to the embedded smart chip as well as read information from it. This allows more complex and detailed filing strategies to be developed and for the embedded smart chip to hold a complete list of documents within each physical data storage device and/or a history of the storage device and/or its documents.
According to a second embodiment of the invention, a physical data storage device has a pocket or holder for holding a smart card 17. As one example, a ring binder is illustrated in Figure 8 which has a pocket 40 holding a smart card 17. The physical data storage device can take any suitable form and need not be a ring binder. The smart card includes an integrated circuit having components illustrated in Figure la. The memory 11 can be remotely read or written to. The smart card 17 holds in the memory 11 a unique identifier for the ring binder and also holds other information about the documents in the ring binder. This information can be updated and augmented each time the ring binder is used by removing the smart card 17 from the pouch 40 and inserting it into a smart card reader/writer such as that denoted by reference numeral 19 in Figure 1. The second embodiment of the invention can work in the same way as has been described with reference to the first embodiment. That is, a folder can be opened and a document entered to it in the manner already described, except that instead of placing the ring binder flat on the graphics tablet 12, the smart card 17 is removed from its pouch 40 and inserted in the smart card reader/writer 19.
In addition, the facility to write to the smart card introduces a number of other possibilities.
Say that a folder has been opened for the ring binder on the PC, and a number of documents have been entered to it which are now incorporated in the PC index 50. The portion of the PC index 50 associated with that ring binder (through the unique identifier) can be written to the smart card 17 from the PC via the smart card reader/writer. Thus, the smart card 17 now holds with the ring binder information about the documents that are held in it.
It can also hold information about the name of the user, the date of last use and the identification of the PC where that use took place. If a different user then wishes to use the ring binder at a different PC, he firstly removes the smart card 17 from its pouch 40 and inserts it in a smart card reader/writer. This allows the PC to read the information about the documents from the smart card 17, and including the relevant portion of the PC index. This can be correlated on that user's PC with any existing index information about that ring binder, or can create on that PC a new index for the ring binder. If a user at that PC modifies or enters further documents, these will be added to the index and then written back to the smart card 17. Once a user has finished with the ring binder, the smart card 17 is inserted into its pouch 40 and kept with the ring binder for subsequent use. In this way, the smart card can synchronise itself with any PC filing index with which it becomes associated thereby allowing the automatic tracking and filing of documents.
It is also possible to hold on the smart card 17 information about documents associated with those in the ring binder so that, if necessary, those documents can be tracked and located also.
The associated documents may be physical paper documents or electronic records.
It will also be appreciated that the facilities provided by writing to the memory as described in relation to the second embodiment can be implemented with the tag of the first embodiment where the memory 11 is writable.