Integrating EDMSs and DBMSs - High-Performance Web Databases: Design, Development, and Deployment - page 539

will suffice for the purposes of this discussion to think of a page as a com-
ponent of information and of a document as containing one or more pages
or one or more quantums of information.

is both a verb
and a noun. To document is to record (e.g., to record an event or to tell a
story). It follows that anything that records an event or tells a story can be
called a document. A document can and generally does contain many dif-
ferent types of entities. Generally there is either text or an image, but if peo-
ple expand their horizon beyond paper, a document can contain voice,
video, or, in the world of virtual reality, any combination of tactile stimuli.
In the most general definition, a document is a representation of reality that
can be reproduced and sensed by any combination of the five senses.

So, in summary, what is a document? The word document

The preceding discussion may stretch human creative capabilities
somewhat, so for the purposes of this discussion the definition of a docu-
ment can be limited to a collection of images and textual information
types. The information can be coded or uncoded. The essence of the def-
inition of the document, as a representation of reality that can be repro-
duced and sensed, is really the crucial aspect of the definition that is most
germane to this discussion. The representation of reality implies that a
document captures information at a quantum level or quantum levels
higher than simple data.

The best illustration of this is the well-known “A picture is worth a thou-
sand words.” A picture in one entity can represent a thousand data ele-
ments or more. An illustration may convey this idea better. Suppose one is
creating a document describing an automobile accident report for a prop-
erty and casualty insurance company. The document would begin with a
notice of loss, which could be an electronic form, that is created initially by
an agent within a call center. The agent would record all relevant informa-
tion about the accident, including the name and policy number of the poli-
cyholder, the date and time of the accident, the date and time of the call,
and all particulars of the loss, such as damages to the car, etc.

The agent then sends a compressed version of the document to the ad-
juster with some comments and instructions. The information to this point
is in coded data format and could be through any traditional data system.
The new capabilities of a document-based system allow the adjuster, when
the document is received, to attach a few still photo shots of the automo-
bile along with further comments and the detailed cost estimates supplied
by the body shop. In addition, the adjuster can scan in the police report of
the accident and attach it to the document. The claims document now con-
tains a much more complete description of the entire event. This more
complete description could produce a very different result by the end of
the claims process. This more complete description is not possible
through just simple coded data or traditional relational DBMS systems.