History and Background of Electronic Document and Records Management Systems

The task of managing documents and records goes far back, even before the beginning of civilization. Our early ancestors, the cavemen, used to draw pictures on the walls of their caves, depicting events of their times. This can be thought of as the earliest known form of record keeping, i.e., recording events for future reference. Egyptian hieroglyphics are another example of primitive record keeping. In both these cases, historians have been able to obtain information indirectly about the environment and activities of people from bygone eras.