Document theory: from antelope to information architecture

Summary: The study provides an overview of important theoretical approaches to document definition, based on the methodology of literary research, critical analysis and interpretation of selected sources. The text of the study is divided into four parts. The first part justifies the importance of document theory. An overview of current research trends covering the period of the second half of the 20th century to the present is in the second part framed into the historical context of the first half of the 20th century, represented by two founding figures of the modern concept of documentation – Paul Otlet and Suzanne Briet, who were the first to ask the questions: What is a document? What is documentation? The third section introduces the answers of philosophers and linguists to the questions: What part of the world are documents and what can they influence from the universe? The fourth part presents theories and concepts formulated within information science. These focus on the questions: What is the subject of the processes of bibliographic control, information architecture and information management? What are the distinctions of digital documents?

keywords: document, documentation, data, document theory, documentation theory