# Document > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Document > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Document.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Document > Source revision: 1353678440 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Short description|Written material conveying information}} {{Other uses}} {{redirect|Paperwork}} {{technical reasons|prefix=yes|Document #|other uses|Document 5{{!}}Document #5|and|Document 7{{!}}Document #7|and|Document 8{{!}}Document #8|and|Document 12{{!}}Documenat #12}} {{More footnotes needed|date=April 2018}} {{Use British English|date=July 2022}} {{multiple image | perrow = 2 | total_width = 350 | image1 = LibreOffice Writer 6.3.png | image2 = Bundesverfassung Schweiz, auf blauen Untergrund.jpg | image3 = Vinyl record close up.jpg | image4 = GigaMesh Screenshot 20190514 Salmanasssar III Tablet Fragment.png | footer = '''Documents across mediums'''. '''Top-left''': a word processor document using [LibreOffice](/source/LibreOffice_Writer). '''Top-right''': a copy of the [Swiss Constitution](/source/Swiss_Federal_Constitution) in [German](/source/Swiss_German).''' Bottom-left''': a vinyl record holding a set of songs. '''Bottom-right''': a computer program interpreting a fragment of a clay tablet with [cuneiform script](/source/Cuneiform) about king Shalmaneser III }} {{LibraryandInformation-TopicSidebar}} A '''document''' is a [written](/source/writing), [drawn](/source/drawing), presented, or memorialized representation of thought, often the manifestation of [non-fiction](/source/non-fiction)al, as well as [fiction](/source/fiction)al, content.{{Cite web |date=2025-10-29 |title=document |url=https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/document |access-date=2025-10-31 |website=dictionary.cambridge.org |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |title=Dictionary.com {{!}} Meanings & Definitions of English Words |url=https://www.dictionary.com/browse/document |access-date=2025-10-31 |website=Dictionary.com |language=en}} The etymology of the word "document" derives from the Latin ''{{Lang|la|documentum}}'', which denotes a "teaching" or "lesson": the verb ''{{Lang|la|doceō}}'' denotes "to teach". Historically, the term "document" was usually used to indicate written proof useful as [evidence](/source/evidence) of a truth or fact. In the [Computer Age](/source/Computer_Age), the term "document" typically refers to a primarily textual [computer file](/source/computer_file), encompassing its structural and format elements, such as [font](/source/font)s, colors, and [image](/source/Computer-generated_imagery)s. In the contemporary era, the definition of "document" has expanded beyond its [traditional medium](/source/transmission_medium), such as paper, to encompass [electronic document](/source/electronic_document)s as well. History, events, examples, opinions, stories, and creativity can all be expressed in documents. "Documentation" is distinct because it has more denotations than "document". Documents are also distinguished from "[realia](/source/Realia_(library_science))", which are three-dimensional objects that would otherwise satisfy the definition of "document" because they memorialize or represent thought. Documents are usually considered to be two-dimensional representations. ==Abstract definitions== The concept of "document" has been defined by [Suzanne Briet](/source/Suzanne_Briet) as "any concrete or symbolic indication, preserved or recorded, for reconstructing or for proving a phenomenon, whether physical or mental."{{cite journal|author=Briet, S.|date=1951|title=Qu'est-ce que la documentation?|journal=Éditions Documentaires Industrielles et Techniques.}} Quoted in {{Cite web |last=Buckland |first=Michael |date=1991 |title=Information as Thing |url=https://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~buckland/thing.html |access-date=2023-10-18 |website=people.ischool.berkeley.edu}} An often-cited article concludes that "the evolving notion of ''document''" among Jonathan Priest, [Paul Otlet](/source/Paul_Otlet), Briet, [Walter Schürmeyer](/source/Walter_Sch%C3%BCrmeyer), and the other [documentalist](/source/documentalist)s increasingly emphasized whatever functioned as a document rather than traditional physical forms of documents. The shift to digital technology would seem to make this distinction even more important. [David M. Levy](/source/David_M._Levy) has said that an emphasis on the technology of digital documents has impeded our understanding of digital documents as documents.{{citation |url=http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.119.8813&rep=rep1&type=pdf |title=Fixed or Fluid? Document Stability and New Media. |last=Levy|first=David M. |citeseerx=10.1.1.119.8813 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130606180031/http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.119.8813&rep=rep1&type=pdf |archive-date=2013-06-06 |access-date=2023-10-18 }} A conventional document, such as a mail message or a [technical report](/source/technical_report), exists physically in digital technology as a string of bits, as does everything else in a digital environment. As an object of study, it has been made into a document. It has become physical evidence by those who study it. "Document" is defined in [library and information science](/source/library_and_information_science) and [documentation science](/source/documentation_science) as a fundamental, abstract idea: the word denotes everything that may be represented or memorialized to serve as [evidence](/source/evidence). The classic example provided by Briet is an [antelope](/source/antelope): "An antelope running wild on the plains of Africa should not be considered a document[;] she rules. But if it were to be captured, taken to a zoo and made an object of study, it has been made into a document. It has become physical evidence being used by those who study it. Indeed, scholarly articles written about the antelope are secondary documents, since the antelope itself is the primary document."Buckland, M. "What Is a Digital Document?" 1998. In ''Document Numérique'' Paris. 2(2). [http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~buckland/digdoc.html] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111002042527/http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~buckland/digdoc.html|date=2011-10-02}}.{{Cite journal |last=Buckland |first=Michael |date=2018 |title=Document theory |url=https://www.nomos-elibrary.de/10.5771/0943-7444-2018-5-425.pdf |journal=[Knowledge Organization](/source/Knowledge_Organization_(journal)) |volume=45 |issue=5 |pages=425–436 |doi=10.5771/0943-7444-2018-5-425 |access-date=2023-10-18 |archive-date=2022-05-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220506030602/https://www.nomos-elibrary.de/10.5771/0943-7444-2018-5-425.pdf |url-status=bot: unknown }} This opinion has been interpreted{{By whom|date=January 2023}} as an early expression of [actor–network theory](/source/actor%E2%80%93network_theory). ==Kinds== A document can be structured, like tabular documents, lists, [forms](/source/Form_(document)), or scientific charts, semi-structured like a [book](/source/book) or a [newspaper article](/source/newspaper_article), or unstructured like a handwritten note. Documents are sometimes classified as [secret](/source/Classified_information), [private](/source/Privacy), or public. They may also be described as [drafts](/source/Draft_document) or [proofs](/source/Proofreading). When a document is [copied](/source/Copying), the source is denominated the "[original](/source/Originality)". Documents are used in numerous fields, e.g.: * [Academia](/source/Academy): ** [manuscript](/source/manuscript), ** [thesis](/source/thesis), ** [paper](/source/Academic_publishing), ** [journal](/source/Academic_journal), ** [chart](/source/chart), ** and [technical drawing](/source/technical_drawing) * [Media](/source/Media_(communication)): ** [mock-up](/source/mock-up), ** [script](/source/screenplay), ** [image](/source/image), ** [photography](/source/photography), ** and [newspaper article](/source/newspaper_article) * [Administration](/source/Administration_(government)), [law](/source/law), and [politics](/source/politics): ** [application](/source/Patent_application), ** [brief](/source/brief_(law)), ** [certificate](/source/certificate_(disambiguation)), ** [commission](/source/Commission_(document)), ** [constitutional document](/source/Constitutional_documents), ** [form](/source/Form_(document)), ** [gazette](/source/gazette), ** [identity document](/source/identity_document), ** [license](/source/license), ** [manifesto](/source/manifesto), ** [summons](/source/summons), ** [census](/source/census), ** and [white paper](/source/white_paper) * [Business](/source/Business): ** [invoice](/source/invoice), ** [request for proposal](/source/RFP), ** [proposal](/source/Proposal_(business)), ** [contract](/source/contract), ** [packing slip](/source/packing_slip), ** [manifest](/source/Ship's_manifest), ** [report](/source/report) (detailed and summary), ** [spreadsheet](/source/spread_sheet), ** [material safety data sheet](/source/MSDS), ** [waybill](/source/waybill), ** [bill of lading](/source/bill_of_lading), ** [financial statement](/source/financial_statement), ** [nondisclosure agreement](/source/nondisclosure_agreement) (NDA), ** mutual nondisclosure agreement, ** and [user guide](/source/user_guide) * [Geography](/source/Geography) and [planning](/source/planning): ** [topographic map](/source/topographic_map), ** [cadastre](/source/cadastre), ** [legend](/source/Legend_(map)), ** and [architectural plan](/source/architectural_plan) Such standard documents can be drafted based on a [template](/source/Template_(word_processing)). ==Drafting== The [page layout](/source/page_layout) of a document is how information is graphically arranged in the space of the document, e.g., on a page. If the appearance of the document is of concern, the page layout is generally the responsibility of a [graphic design](/source/graphic_design)er. [Typography](/source/Typography) concerns the design of letter and symbol forms and their physical arrangement in the document (see [typesetting](/source/typesetting)). [Information design](/source/Information_design) concerns the effective communication of [information](/source/information), especially in industrial documents and public [sign](/source/sign)s. Simple textual documents may not require visual design and may be drafted only by an [author](/source/author), [clerk](/source/Data_entry_clerk), or [transcriber](/source/transcriber). [Forms](/source/Form_(document)) may require a visual design for their initial fields, but not to complete the forms. ==Media== thumb|A page of a birth register for Jews from 1859 Traditionally, the medium of a document was [paper](/source/paper) and the information was applied to it in [ink](/source/ink), either by handwriting (to make a [manuscript](/source/manuscript)) or by a mechanical process (e.g., a [printing press](/source/printing_press) or [laser printer](/source/laser_printer)). Today, some short documents also may consist of sheets of paper [stapled](/source/Staple_(fastener)) together. Historically, documents were inscribed with ink on [papyrus](/source/papyrus) (starting in [ancient Egypt](/source/ancient_Egypt)) or [parchment](/source/parchment); scratched as [runes](/source/runes) or carved on stone using a sharp tool, e.g., the [Tablets of Stone](/source/Tablets_of_Stone) described in the [Bible](/source/Bible); stamped or incised in [clay](/source/clay) and then baked to make [clay tablet](/source/clay_tablet)s, e.g., in the [Sumer](/source/Sumer)ian and other [Mesopotamia](/source/Mesopotamia)n civilizations. The papyrus or [parchment](/source/parchment) was often rolled into a [scroll](/source/scroll_(parchment)) or cut into sheets and [bound](/source/Bookbinding) into a [codex](/source/codex) (book). Contemporary electronic means of memorializing and displaying documents include: * [Monitor](/source/Computer_display) of a [desktop computer](/source/desktop_computer), [laptop](/source/laptop), [tablet](/source/tablet_computer); optionally with a [printer](/source/computer_printer) to produce a [hard copy](/source/hard_copy); * [Personal digital assistant](/source/Personal_digital_assistant); * Dedicated [e-book device](/source/e-book_device); * [Electronic paper](/source/Electronic_paper), typically, using the [Portable Document Format](/source/Portable_Document_Format) (PDF); * [Information appliance](/source/Information_appliance); * [Digital audio player](/source/Digital_audio_player); and * [Radio](/source/Radio) and [television](/source/television) [service provider](/source/Telecommunications_Service_Provider). Digital documents usually require a specific [file format](/source/file_format) to be presentable in a specific medium. == In law == Documents in all forms frequently serve as material [evidence](/source/evidence) in criminal and civil proceedings. The [forensic](/source/forensic) analysis of such a document is within the scope of [questioned document examination](/source/questioned_document_examination). To catalog and manage the large number of documents that may be produced during [litigation](/source/litigation), [Bates numbering](/source/Bates_numbering) is often applied to all documents in the lawsuit so that each document has a unique, arbitrary, identification number. == See also == * [Archive](/source/Archive) * [Book](/source/Book) * [Documentality](/source/Documentality) * [Documentation](/source/Documentation) * [History of the book](/source/History_of_the_book) * [Identity document](/source/Identity_document) * [Letterhead](/source/Letterhead) * [Realia (library science)](/source/Realia_(library_science)) * [Travel document](/source/Travel_document) == References == {{Reflist}} == Further reading == {{Commons category|Documents}} {{refbegin}} * Briet, S. (1951). Qu'est-ce que la documentation? Paris: Documentaires Industrielles et Techniques. * Buckland, M. (1991). Information and information systems. New York: Greenwood Press. * Frohmann, Bernd (2009). Revisiting "what is a document?", Journal of Documentation, 65(2), 291–303. * Hjerppe, R. (1994). A framework for the description of generalized documents. Advances in Knowledge Organization, 4, 173–180. * Houser, L. (1986). Documents: The domain of library and information science. Library and Information Science Research, 8, 163–188. * Larsen, P.S. (1999). Books and bytes: Preserving documents for posterity. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 50(11), 1020–1027. * Lund, N. W. (2008). Document theory. Annual Review of Information Science and Technology, 43, 399–432. * Riles, A. (Ed.) (2006). Documents: Artifacts of Modern Knowledge. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, MI. * Schamber, L. (1996). What is a document? Rethinking the concept in uneasy times. Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 47, 669–671. * Signer, Beat: [https://www.academia.edu/241739/What_is_Wrong_with_Digital_Documents_A_Conceptual_Model_for_Structural_Cross-Media_Content_Composition_and_Reuse ''What is Wrong with Digital Documents? A Conceptual Model for Structural Cross-Media Content Composition and Reuse''], In Proceedings of the 29th International Conference on Conceptual Modeling (ER 2010), Vancouver, Canada, November 2010. * Smith, Barry. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20130805073310/http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/articles/HowToDoThingsWithDocuments.pdf How to Do Things with Documents]", ''Rivista di Estetica'', 50 (2012), 179–198. * Smith, Barry. "[https://web.archive.org/web/20131101121830/http://ontology.buffalo.edu/smith/articles/document-acts.pdf Document Acts]", in Anita Konzelmann-Ziv, Hans Bernhard Schmid (eds.), 2013. ''Institutions, Emotions, and Group Agents.Contributions to Social Ontology ''(Philosophical Studies Series), Dordrecht: Springer * Ørom, A. (2007). The concept of information versus the concept of a document. I: Document (re)turn. Contributions from a research field in transition. Ed. By Roswitha Skare, Niels Windfeld Lund & Andreas Vårheim. Frankfurt is Main: Peter Lang. (pp. 53–72). {{refend}} {{Authority control}} Category:Documents Category:Information science --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Document](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Document) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Document?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.