Document facts for kids

A document is a piece of information that helps us communicate something. Most often, it's a paper with ink marks, like a letter or a school report. But today, many documents are digital, meaning they are stored on computers or phones.

To document something means to create a record of information. For example, when you write down notes from a class, you are documenting what you learned.

What Are Different Kinds of Documents?

Documents come in many shapes and sizes! Here are some common types:

• Everyday Documents: These are things like letters you send, notes you write, or instruction manuals that tell you how to use something.
• News and Stories: Newspapers and magazines are documents that share news, articles, and stories.
• Books: From textbooks for school to exciting novels, Recipe books, and even encyclopedias, books are a huge category of documents. Don't forget comic books!
• Important Historical Texts: Some documents are very old and important, like the Bible, the Quran, or ancient laws like the Code of Hammurabi. These have shaped history and cultures.
• Documents for Deals: When you buy something, you might get a Receipt. A contract is a document that outlines an agreement between people. A Cheque is a document used to pay money.
• Digital Files: Many documents today are digital, like PDF files, XML files, or emails.
• Unexpected Documents: Sometimes, even things you wouldn't expect can be documents! Think of a Post-it note, a Fortune cookie message, a Map, or even a Painting. A cereal box can be a document because it has information like ingredients and nutrition facts.
• Online Documents: The internet is full of documents! Every web page, blog post, and Wiki article (like this one!) is a digital document.

How Documents Are Used Every Day

When people talk about documents, they usually mean something that gives information, especially if it's official.

• Documents often provide facts or details.
• They can show someone's thoughts or ideas through words or symbols.
• Some documents prove ownership or an agreement, like a car title or a loan paper.
• We use documents to record things in detail, like a diary or a scientific report.
• A digital file on your computer is also a document.
• Documents can help prove a claim, like showing a receipt to prove you bought something.

Managing Documents Over Time

Documents need to be managed carefully, especially important ones. This includes keeping them safe, storing them, and sometimes even destroying them when they are no longer needed. This is called the "document life cycle."

Keeping Documents Safe

• Physical Safety: Paper documents can get old and fall apart. That's why special acid-free paper was invented to help them last longer. Digital documents on things like old computer disks can also become unreadable if the technology changes.
• Storing Documents: Libraries and offices need smart ways to store many documents. This can mean using special shelves or even robotic systems to find books. For digital documents, saving space is important, so we use things like file compression.
• Cultural Safety: Libraries have always worked to collect, organize, and store important documents in safe places. Imagine if all the books in a famous library like the Library of Alexandria were burned – that's a huge loss of knowledge!

Organizing and Using Documents

• Finding Information: When there are many documents, it's important to organize them so people can find what they need. Systems like the Dewey Decimal System in libraries help categorize books. For digital documents, this means using search engines and tags.
• Managing Digital Files: With so many digital files, companies use special systems to manage them. These systems control who can see or change a document, handle different file types, and help people work together on documents.

Protecting and Moving Documents

• Security: Keeping documents secret and safe from being changed or copied by others is very important. This involves things like Encryption for digital files and special features like watermarks on money to prevent counterfeiting.
• Destruction: Sometimes, documents need to be destroyed safely, especially if they contain private information. This can involve shredding paper or using special methods to erase digital files completely.
• Transportation: Moving documents from one place to another is a big job! The entire postal system and courier services are built around the need to deliver documents.

Related pages

• Book
• Illuminated manuscript
• Seal (device)
• Typewriter

Images for kids

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  A page from a birth register for Jews from 1859, showing a historical document.

See also

In Spanish: Documento para niños