Book excerpt: Effective Document and Data Management illustrates the operational and strategic significance of how documents and data are captured, managed and utilized. Without a coherent and consistent approach the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization may be undermined by less poor management and use of its information. The third edition of the book is restructured to take this broader view and to establish an organizational context in which information is management. Along the way Bob Wiggins clarifies the distinction between information management, data management and knowledge management; helps make sense of the concept of an information life cycle to present and describe the processes and techniques of information and data management, storage and retrieval; uses worked examples to illustrate the coordinated application of data and process analysis; and provides guidance on the application of appropriate project management techniques for document and records management projects. The book will benefit a range of organizations and people, from those senior managers who need to develop coherent and consistent business and IT strategies; to information professionals, such as records managers and librarians who will gain an appreciation of the impact of the technology and of how their particular areas of expertise can best be applied; to system designers, developers and implementers and finally to users. The author can be contacted at [email protected] for further information.