Rationale:
The document tracking system is designed to improve the university's document management capabilities, focusing specifically on optimizing document flow, improving accessibility, facilitating sharing, enabling easy tracking, and enhancing document monitoring. This document serves as a comprehensive user guide, equipping individuals to harness the system's functionalities to their fullest potential, all the while maintaining the standards of security and safeguarding privacy. To fully realize the array of benefits offered by the system, users are kindly urged to strictly adhere to the following guidelines.
User Responsibilities:
Register documents into the system with accurate information such as type, classification, description, spelling, and others. This will facilitate easier searching.
Take prompt action on all documents to ensure the accuracy, completeness, and reliability of information within the system.
receive physical documents in the DTS in real-time or as soon as they arrive in the user's possession.
receive and download electronic documents (PDF) that are tagged or shared with them or their group. A balloon notification indicating a document has been tagged/shared can be seen in the Shared Document and Group Tagged Document which are located on the left-hand sidebar . see image 1.
update the status of documents in their possession regularly so as to give updates to other users. Users can add as many comments/notes as necessary. Examples of comments/notes are:
- "document is still pending action/approval due..."
- "document can now be claimed from xxx office..."
- "document is already signed, and is forwarded to xxx office, received by John Doe (4:45 PM, Sept. 3, 2023), released by xxxx.
indicate Action to a document whether "Approved" or "Disapproved". This function can be accessed from Dashboard >> Documents at Hand >> Action.
"Close a document after it has reached its final destination. This action indicates that a document has completed its circulation and can be archived if necessary. It will not be deleted from the system for a specified duration. This function can be accessed from Dashboard >> Documents at Hand >> Close.
users and offices should monitor the status of documents in their possession and take necessary actions.
individual users can check documents currently in their possession from Dashboard >> Document at Hand (name of office).
users from an office can check documents in their office possession from Dashboard >> Document at Hand (name of office).
Note:
- take note of documents labeled as "high" to facilitate their processing. A summary of this information is displayed in a pie graph at the top right portion of the screen. This information can be accessed from Dashboard >> Documents at Hand
Always check the inbox of Shared and Tagged documents since university communications can also be distributed electronically and may not be always physically.
Ensure the correctness and completeness of files or documents being uploaded into the system.
Minimize the size of electronic documents being uploaded to less than 5 Mb (if possible) to save on storage. Make sure that the file is still readable when minimizing.
Adhere to the security guidelines outlined in the security section of this document (refer to security).
Adhere to the privacy guidelines outlined in the privacy section of this document (refer to privacy).
Observe the best practices listed in the best practices portion of this document (refer to best practices).
Security:
Users are responsible for backing up copies of their own electronic documents. Additionally, users or offices may generate periodic system reports (via the dashboard > generate report) and save these files on their official storage devices for reference.
Users are responsible for securing the system as well as their user accounts by:
using strong passwords; updating of passwords periodically or as required.
not disclosing or sharing their user account details.
accessing the system only in secured devices and environments; e.g. use of public internet cafes or public Wi-Fi is discouraged.
reporting suspicious activities in the system to the system administrator.
Users are responsible for any system activities carried out using their user accounts. Users can monitor their access history from the User Logs menu.
Heads of office should notify the system administrator of users who have transferred to another office or left the university so as to remove or update the user database.
Note: to secure the system, the following built-in features were implemented
Automated backup of the system and its data (server side)
Access to the cloud server by the system administrator uses 2FA
30-minute automatic system logout if no user activity
Important data are encrypted
Privacy:
Users must secure physical documents (registered in the system) while in their possession e.g. documents be kept from public or plain view.
Users shall not disclose any sensitive or personal information derived from the system or from physical documents registered in the system.
Users should refrain from using personally sensitive descriptions or notes e.g. "disallowance of <employee name>". Alternative descriptions can be used instead.
The system is intended for typical university documents. Highly confidential documents may not be registered in the system.
Best practices:
Use concise yet comprehensive language when adding notes, comments, or document descriptions. A brief but concise description will still make it easy to search for documents using keywords.
Share common documents in the DTS with colleagues.
Use a barcode reader to easily scan QR codes. Offices with no readers should procure their own devices. Users can manually enter the QR codes into the system for the time being.
Use the document registration metadata properly.
Subject - contains brief descriptive keywords or phrases about the document.
Comment or Description - contains a more detailed and comprehensive explanation of the content, offering additional context and information beyond just the subject.
Amount - refers to the amount, especially for financial documents.
Signatory - refers to the origin or source of document <name of person and office/agency> e.g. Dr. Anduyan, CHED
Examples:
Subject: Internet bill payment ABC office
Comment or description: Payment for PLDT bill # 12345, month of August 2023, amount: P1,000.00
Signatory: Louie Luna
Subject: Memo on report submission
Comment or Description: Offices under VPAF to submit reports before Feb. 30, 2023
Signatory: <<name of current VPAF>>
see image 5 for an example of creating a good document metadata
Comply with these guidelines.
Document Update
This document is subject to updating as the need arises.