People have been organising their data on paper or its equivalent. In the 1930’s, as radio and later television emerged, the idea of the paperless office came in to being. It was thought that very soon the need for paper would disappear. The paperless office has never been realised; in fact the opposite is actually the case. Today we use more paper than ever before in history. When writing a simple letter using a word processor it is likely that multiple drafts will be printed; commonly more than half a dozen sheets of paper being used to complete the process. Prior to computerised word processors, a hand written draft would be created and edited on a single sheet of paper. Why for many tasks do we still prefer and use paper-based hardcopy and manual pen and paper methods over their electronic equivalents? To assist in answering this question let us examine examples of hard copy systems and also pen and paper systems used to organise data. Many of these non-computer tools utilise computer technology to assist the collection and/or initial organisation of the data, however once created it is the organised hardcopy that is used to communicate the information to people.
· Telephone books use enormous amounts of paper, yet virtually every household and business throughout the world receives a new telephone book, or set of telephone books each year
· Card catalogues are used as indexes for larger collections. For example, most graphic designers store a physical proof of each design they create. This collection of proofs is indexed using a card catalogue arranged in customer name order.
· Filing cabinets, folders and paper documents are still used extensively in virtually all offices. It is likely that your school maintains a filing cabinet for each year level. Within this filing cabinet is a folder for each student and within each folder are copies of each student’s original enrolment form, schools reports and various other documents. Some of the documents within each folder are likely to be hardcopy generated by a computer system and others being handwritten. Most businesses and government departments maintain similar filing cabinet based databases.
· Many processes are still performed using manual pen and paper techniques. Pen and paper is readily available to all and furthermore the result is more personal. Consider the following common examples: Phone messages are commonly distributed on slips of paper. At school, students handwrite their notes and teachers maintain handwritten mark books. Much of the initial planning of even computer-based information systems is done using pen and paper. Many people use hand written diaries and organisers to plan and record their work and social activities.
· Telephone books use enormous amounts of paper, yet virtually every household and business throughout the world receives a new telephone book, or set of telephone books each year
· Card catalogues are used as indexes for larger collections. For example, most graphic designers store a physical proof of each design they create. This collection of proofs is indexed using a card catalogue arranged in customer name order.
· Filing cabinets, folders and paper documents are still used extensively in virtually all offices. It is likely that your school maintains a filing cabinet for each year level. Within this filing cabinet is a folder for each student and within each folder are copies of each student’s original enrolment form, schools reports and various other documents. Some of the documents within each folder are likely to be hardcopy generated by a computer system and others being handwritten. Most businesses and government departments maintain similar filing cabinet based databases.
· Many processes are still performed using manual pen and paper techniques. Pen and paper is readily available to all and furthermore the result is more personal. Consider the following common examples: Phone messages are commonly distributed on slips of paper. At school, students handwrite their notes and teachers maintain handwritten mark books. Much of the initial planning of even computer-based information systems is done using pen and paper. Many people use hand written diaries and organisers to plan and record their work and social activities.