Principles of Business Document Production and Information Management

numerical information

Business information from tables, charts or graphs.

salutation

A greeting, usually on a letter. For example, 'Dear sir'

business letter

A means of communicating, usually outside a business, which can be formal or informal. It is usually written in paragraphs and includes the addresses of the sender and recipient, the date, a salutation and a complimentary close

document version control

A way by which companies make sure that the most up to date version of a document is available to use. Changes to these documents can only be done by authorised people who have to ensure that everything is correct.

archiving

A way to save or transfer data to a storage device, folder or physical location for the purpose of saving space or organising the data.

report

A written account of something that one has observed, heard, done, or investigated. It is set out with a title, terms of reference, subheadings, findings, a conclusion and any recommendations that can be made.

minutes of meetings

A written record of the issues discussed at meetings. These include: a title, date and place for the meeting; people who attended or apologised for not attending; matters arising from previous meetings; record of business; action points to be dealt with and details of the next meeting.

emails

An electronic business document.

lists

Information ordered either alphabetically or in numerical order.

accuracy

Checking for quality and precision in documents is essential, which can be assisted by using electronic spelling and grammar checkers or proof reading.

copyright

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, is the current UK copyright law. It gives the creators of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works the right to control the ways in which their material may be used. Within a business, permission to use copyrighted material must be authorisation by a manager or other department. For further information, please go to: https://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/ uk_law_summary

customer records

Data about customers that a company deals with.

appropriate

Ensuring something is suitable for the situation.

intellectual property

Intellectual Property Act 2014 deals with property that is the result of creativity, such as patents and copyrights. In a business, there will be agreements about the ownership of materials and authorisation to use these will have to come from a manager. For further information, please go to: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2014/18/contents/enacted

consistency

Making sure something is done in the same way over time, especially so as to be fair or accurate.

accountability

Making sure that someone is responsible for what is being done and decisions that are being made.

security

Making sure that something is safe and free from danger or threat. In a business, this can relate to customer information and documentation.

financial records

Organised summaries of a business' financial information and activities.

business protocol

Rules or guidelines that are particular to every organisation, and are supposed to be observed everyone when working for a business.

regulatory requirements

Rules or laws that regulate how a business is run, which must be obeyed for the business to become meet the required standards set.

newsletters

Small articles of information by which one can continually inform people of updates in the business. These usually are in the form of columns containing written text and images.

approved

Something that has been officially agreed or accepted as satisfactory.

instructions

Steps or rules to be followed, usually in the form of short phrases that can be bullet-pointed or numbered, and often in chronological order.

data protection

The Data Protection Act 1998 is an act of Parliament which defines UK law on the processing of data on identifiable living people. It is the main piece of legislation that governs the protection of personal data in the UK. Within a business, it states information is: *used fairly and lawfully *used for limited, specifically stated purposes *used in a way that is adequate, relevant and not excessive *accurate *kept for no longer than is absolutely necessary *handled according to people's data protection rights *kept safe and secure *not transferred outside the European Economic Area without adequate protection. For further information, please go to: https://www.gov.uk/data-protection/the-data-protection-act

complimentary close

The ending of a letter. For example, 'Yours sincerely'

policies

The guidelines used in making decisions, which can be set within a business or by the government.

customised software

This can be bespoke to your company and designed to meet your company's specific needs. These can be for things such as payroll or customer records.

desktop publishing software

This can be used to create documents such as newsletters or promotional items.

confidentiality

This involves a set of rules or a promise that limits access or places restrictions on certain types of information.

statistical data

This is numerical data for a business which can be the collected, organised and interpreted.

presentation software

This is used for digital presentations.

intended audience

Those for whom a document is meant for.

authorised

To have permission or approval of something.

spreadsheet software

Used to create and maintain financial records

word processing software

Used to create documents such as letters or reports.

database software

Used to create, maintain and amend customer records.

house style

When creating documents, these are the agreed set of layout and format rules that might involve logo placement, fonts, colour schemes.