Swanson and Culnan, 1978

Swanson and Culnan (1978) developed a framework for classifying document-based systems for management. They argued "An information system may be said to be a document-based system when it is based prmarily upon a store or collection of documents, rather than a store or collection of structured data. In the case of document-based systems one may therefore speak in terms of a document base, rather than a database. A document is an ordered set of recorded visual images constructed so as to communicate as a whole." (p. 32)

from Swanson, E. B., and M. J. Culnan, "Document-Based Systems for Management Planning and Control: A Classification, Survey, and Assessment," MIS Quarterly, December 1978.

appeared in DSS News, October 21, 2001, Vol. 2, No. 22