TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Subject:Re: storage of documents From:"Dick Margulis " <margulis -at- mail -dot- fiam -dot- net> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Wed, 10 Oct 2001 14:29:18 -0400
Mike (m w <midwest_technical -at- yahoo -dot- com>) wrote:
>Where do you keep your paper documents once they have
>been signed-off on? Do you keep them in a file at
>your desk? If not, what location do you keep your
>paper docs in?
When I worked for a medical device manufacturer, where the FDA required that we implement an ISO 9001-like quality system, signed paper was kept in a locked file, organized by document number, active versions in one cabinet, obsolete versions and meeting markups archived in additional cabinets.
>
>How many of you use a standard locked file cabinet, or
>a reinforced lock outside of the cabinet?
We used standard locking file cabinets. However, the building was guarded 24 hours a day and security badges were required at all times. So there was some additional level of security.
>
>What sort of procedure do you use for the signing out
>of documents?
Paper form. Date and time checked out, document number, title (redundant to the doc number, of course, but there for verification), borrower's name, signature, date and time checked in.
>
>For those of you who store documents electronically,
>which method works best for you? Do you use any sort
>of version control?
There was ONE official repository for documents, maintained by a small team (mine) that had write access to it. Engineers could read only the current (active) version. All prior versions were stored in an archive folder below the doc number. If someone needed to revise a doc, they sent an email to the doc admin requesting a checkout, which was then recorded in the index (to avoid parallel checkouts). When they submitted the revision electronically, it sat in a holding area until they delivered the signed paper. Then the doc admin verified that all the i's were dotted, etc., and if everything was okay moved the revision into the active folder, pushed the previous version down to the archive folder, made the appropriate index entry, and filed the paper. Otherwise the admin kicked the revision back for any needed corrections (signatures, for example).
>
>Thanks for your input.
>
>Mike
>>
You're welcome, Mike.
Dick
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Announcing new options for IPCC 01, October 24-27 in Santa Fe.
Attend the entire event, select a single day, or sign up for
a Saturday postconference workshop. http://ieeepcs.org/2001
Your monthly sponsorship message here reaches more than
5000 technical writers, providing 2,500,000+ monthly impressions.
Contact Eric (ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com) for details and availability.
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
