Advanced Information Technology in Office Environments

PREFACE PREFACE As indicated by its subtitle, this report provides a contemporary introduction into the field of office automation. The adjective " contemporary " indicates that the topics in this introduction focus on modern, integrated computer support for office tasks, as opposed to older work focusing on more isolated support for specific tasks. Also, this introduction covers recent developments like multi-media information systems and workflow management systems. The introduction to office automation in this report is based on the three major aspects of business information technology: the use of advanced information technology, organizational aspects related to the use of information systems, and methods and techniques for the design of business information systems. As such, it provides a rather complete coverage of an important application area in the field of business information technology. This document is intended for master students in business information technology and computer science curricula. Basic knowledge of information technology and organization structures on an academic level is required for the effective use of this work. In 1995, the first version of this report has been produced for the course on office automation in the business information technology curriculum at the University of Twente. The 1996 version of this report is in many ways improved and extended with respect to the first version of 1995. An important improvement is the introduction of an example office setting used throughout this document. A major extension is a completely new chapter on specific office automation applications, dealing with workflow management systems and document information systems. Another extension is the inclusion of expert systems in the chapter on information technology. The 1997 version of this report has been improved at a number of points to further clarify important issues. More attention has been paid to the integration of aspects of office automation. The report has been extended on various points to reflect recent developments in the field of office automation, like the use of intranets and virtual organizations. An index has been added to the end of this report for easy reference. In the 1998 version, a number of additions has been included. The chapter on organization forms has been extended with a discussion of virtual organizations. The section on OIS design support has been extended with a subsection on special purpose design tools. The presentation of workflow management has been further elaborated. Recent developments, like DVD, have been included. Some textual …