Putting documents into their work context in document analysis

In trying to achieve document standardization the goal is to find more effe ctive, consistent, and standardized ways to utilize information technology. The specification and implementation of document standards may take severa l years requiring a profound analysis and understanding of document managem ent practices. Document standardization does not concern documents only: it concerns workers, their work, business partners, and future systems as wel l. In this paper we discuss two ways of describing the work context of docu ments: process modelling and life cycle modelling. In process modelling, do cuments are regarded as resources produced and used in inter- or intra-orga nizational business processes. Different types of documents are typically p roduced and used in a business process. In life cycle modelling work relate d to processing of a document of a specific type is described. The modellin g methods have been tested in an SGML standardization project called RASKE during the analysis of four case domains: the enquiry process in the Finnis h Parliament and Government, national Finnish legislative work, budgetary w ork, and the Finnish participation in EU legislative work. This paper discu sses the modelling requirements in document analysis and describes the tech niques used in the RASKE project. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.