Concluding the series on IMPLEMENTING DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT FOR A LAW FIRM.

Integration with Other Products
Make sure that the proposed document management program will integrate not only with Microsoft Office but Acrobat, various scanning products, or other specialized programs. If the program does not natively integrate, can integration be easily added?

Integration with E-mail
Client-related e-mails sent or received by various people in the firm should be integrated into the document management system so that they are available to everyone working on a case. You need to establish policies for how emails are stored in the document management system. You want to make it possible for people to exclude personal email, RSS feeds, or spam, etc. You also need to decide how to deal with existing email stores.

Working Off-line; Web Access
What provisions will you make for lawyers to take copies of files home with them or access the document management system remotely from home? Most document management programs provide for some sort of Web access, usually as an add-on module. Since copies of files will be taken away from the firm, you also need to establish policies governing web access to your document store.
In many cases, it is also possible to set up remote access to restricted areas of your document repository so that specified clients can access those documents (and only those documents) that the firm makes available to them.

Training
Most document management systems are sufficiently easy to use that many firms do not feel training is necessary. However, in the process of "hand crafting" ways to keep track of documents in the past, users will inevitably have created procedures for naming and storing documents that may have been useful to specific individual users, but are either not necessary, inefficient, or even counter-productive in the context of a document management system. In addition, most users do not get the most power out of the program’s capabilities. As with any other program, adequate training can multiply the effectiveness of a document management system many times.

Conclusion
Given the fundamental problems in managing large numbers of documents, compounded by employee and lawyer turnover, adopting a document management system is increasingly a vital necessity for most firms. Once you have decided on a system, the difference between a well-thought out and implemented system can be a make or break issue determining how effective and successful it actually is.

Hopefully you've been able to grasp a few knowledge from IMPLEMENTING DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT FOR A LAW FIRM series. You may read through my previous series here Part 1 and Part 2. A document management system is meant to increase productivity at work tremendously and save you time. It is a tool that helps you to manage paper documents as well as find them easily without spending countless hours searching.

Julius Macaulay is the Principal Consultant at TECRES Consult (www.tecres.com.ng) providing document management consultancy services for organizations. He holds a Masters degree in Information Technology with special interest in "the paperless office" and a decade experience in Information Technology.

Remember to follow me on twitter @tecres_consult and we can get talking.

IMPLEMENTING DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT FOR A LAW FIRM. Part 2

Continued from Part 1.

Plan, Plan, Plan
Once you have a list, how exactly do you want the system to work? Do different practice areas/departments require different settings or levels of security? Generally speaking from one to three profiles (containing basic information about the document) suffice to meet the needs of most firms. This is an area where most often "less is more." You will likely want a different level of security for the Firm’s Management Committee and/or administrative, human resources or financial personnel so that only authorized personnel have access to whole categories of documents. In specific cases very sensitive areas of a practice (trusts & estates; mergers & acquisitions) might need a "walled-off" area. There is a trade-off between security and convenience. If you lock a system down too much, it can have a serious effect on usability. You need to establish your comfort level here.

Involve End Users; Set Expectations
If end users are taken by surprise when a system is rolled out, you could be in for a rocky implementation. In addition, Partners who are used to certain work habits (and don’t want to "share" their documents) may have to modify them, so it is critical for Partners to "buy in" to document management. Users will have questions such as "what about my personal documents?" "I keep the partner’s personal correspondence on my local hard drive, what will happen to that?" "I keep drafts on the hard drive and only put the final copy on the network." If these issues are not addressed before hand, you could have a revolt on your hands. The actual answer you give is less important than addressing the issue – and you may also be led to modify the structure of your system to accommodate certain concerns or requirements.

Designing the System
Document management systems create "profiles" to facilitate organization and faster searching. These typically include Client, Matter, Document Type, Author and sometimes Secretary in addition to the document description. You need to decide whether this is adequate or whether you have special needs.

Old ("Legacy") Documents
A major issue when implementing a document management system is what to do with your old documents. It is a safe bet most firms will never access up to 75-80% of the documents created before the document management system is implemented. I recommend setting up a "legacy" category for your old documents. Force users to move old files into the new system the first time they access them. This will be far less time-consuming (and hence less expensive) than trying to convert your old documents. However, if you are switching from one document management program to another, there may be conversion utilities available to convert your old information.

Integration with Other Products ... (to be continued)

Julius Macaulay is the Principal Consultant at TECRES Consult (www.tecres.com.ng) providing document management consultancy services for organizations. He holds a Masters degree in Information Technology with special interest in "the paperless office" and a decade experience in Information Technology.

HAPPY EASTER HOLIDAY

HE IS THE MORNING STAR,HE IS THE REDEEMER, HE IS THE SAVIOR. MAY HIS BLESSINGS BE UPON YOU ON EASTER AND ALWAYS.

IMPLEMENTING DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT FOR A LAW FIRM. Part 1

There are no hard and fast rules when implementing a document management system, although experience shows that some configurations tend to work better than others for most firms. Therefore I will focus on some general guidelines based on my experience as a consultant with document management systems.

What Do You Want to Accomplish?
Most vendors focus on feature lists that promise to do just about everything except have coffee ready for you in the morning. Forget the feature list and focus on your wish list. To the extent a vendor’s feature list does not match your wish list, consider a vendor that more closely matches your needs. One need that is frequently cited is to avoid losing documents (you would be surprised how often users simply drag entire directories from one place to another without even realizing it). Re-typing documents because the original file could not be found is not uncommon. Do you want better search capabilities? Both speed and the ability to do boolean searches can be important here (find a and b; a within x words of b, etc.).

By integrating email into the document management system, all the firm’s emails become searchable and you can easily locate all emails concerning a given matter, regardless of who sent or received them. Outlook cannot do this. Do you want to be able to access your documents from home over the Web? Do you want to make specific documents of selected clients available to them, again, over the Web?

A critical issue is whether you want to "lock down" the system, that is, oblige everyone to use it all the time. Practice Management programs such as Time Matters or Amicus Attorney offer "document management" modules that are optional–users are not obliged to use them. In my experience, this is a recipe for disaster. If a system is optional, then some significant portion of your users are going to opt out of it some or all the time. And of course, just at the wrong time or with the wrong document. To have to depend on the good will and discipline of users when implementing any system is not a great idea. In business, there is a principle that you never start negotiating from your fallback position. The same is true here. Start from your maximum wish list. You may not eventually want to devote the time and money to implementing all of it, some things on your wish list may not be realistic, but at least you won't be in a position of saying three months from now, "If only I had...." In short, the list of what you want it to do mirrors your existing aggravations. Plus, the process of creating a wish list helps to focus your thinking and will improve the implementation.

Plan Plan Plan...(to be continued)

Julius Macaulay is the Principal Consultant at TECRES Consult (www.tecres.com.ng) providing document management consultancy services for organizations. He holds a Masters degree in Information Technology with special interest in "the paperless office" and a decade experience in Information Technology.

TIPS FOR TAKING JAMB UTME COMPUTER BASED TESTING (CBT) PART III

TECRES Consult has developed the following strategies to help you on exam day:

1. Before beginning to solve the questions, it is a good idea to read through all instructions carefully.
2. You can determine which subject you feel most prepared to answer.
3. You can then proceed to solve the questions in a sequence that will allow you to perform your best.
4. Monitor your time appropriately on the top section to ensure that you do not spend too much time on one question that you do not have enough time to attempt all the subjects and questions.
5. For questions involving calculations, you can pull up the calculator on your computer by Clicking on Start Button, All Programs, Accessories , and Select Calculator. You can change from simple calculator to scientific calculator by clicking on view and select the desired view.
6. Marks for each section in English Language is awarded independently, so you should attempt to solve each section.

JAMB CBT EXAMINATION STEPS
When you enter the CBT exam center, you see a Welcome page on the allocated computer.

1. Please type your jamb registration number and click submit to Login in to your exam area.
2. Please read the following instructions carefully.
3. Click the start button to retrieve questions.
4. The timer will start immediately.
5. Your UTME registered subjects are provided for you on the top of the screen.
6. .... like our facebook page and drop your email address, we will send your the concluding section.

TECRES Consult provides Special Computer Based Testing CBT Tutorial Class for Jamb/SS3 Students. We guide students using JAMB-UTME Practice Software which consist of JAMB past questions from inception to date. We train and provide useful tips to help students get familiar with computer based Testing.

Don’t waste another year at home using trial and error, Contact us today!

• by email: info@tecres.com.ng
• follow us on twitter.com: @TECRES_CONSULT
• like us on facebook: facebook.com/tecresconsult
• visit our website: www.tecres.com.ng

INTRODUCTION TO COMPUTER BASED TEST (CBT)

Definition Computer based testing is the administration of an examination in fixed or adaptive formats using the power of a computer. Over the past four decades, there has been incremental growth in computer-based testing (CBT) as a viable alternative to paper-and-pencil testing.

Introduction
Today, CBT is a broad-based industry that encompasses a large variety of assessment types, purposes, test delivery designs, and item types appropriated for educational accountability and achievement testing, college and graduate admission testing, professional certification and licensure testing, psychological testing, intelligence testing, language testing, employment testing, adult education, military use. The delivery of CBT has also undergone many changes from the early days of “dumb” terminals connected to a mainframe or minicomputer. Testing locations or sites include dedicated CBT centers, classrooms or computer labs in schools, colleges, and universities; temporary CBT testing facilities set up at auditoriums, hotels, or other large meeting sites; and even personalized testing in the privacy of one’s home, using a PC with an Internet connection and an online proctoring service.

Modern CBT can be implemented in any of five ways: (a) on a stand-alone personal computer (PC); (b) in dedicated CBT centers; (c) at temporary test centers; (d) in multipurpose computer labs; or (e) using a PC, laptop, netbook, tablet, or hand-held device connected to the Internet, possibly remotely proctored. One of the first large-scale computerized-adaptive testing programs to go operational was the College Board’s ACCUPLACER® testing program, which in 1985 consisted of four tests: Reading Comprehension, Sentence Skills, Arithmetic, and Elementary Algebra. These examinations were introduced to assist in placing entering college students in English and mathematics courses.

Navigation
Navigation relates to how the examinee moves around in a test. There are two aspects to navigation: (1) visual style of the navigation control and (2) blocking review and/or changing answers to previously seen items. The design and visual style of navigation software controls differs across test delivery drivers (and sometimes across test delivery system platforms). Every test has some navigation mechanisms. Some CBT test delivery drivers merely use “forward/next” and “back” keys or mouse-clickable buttons to move item by item. Some CBT test delivery drivers provide a full-page “review screen” to display all of the items, the examinee’s item response (if any), and any flags left by the examinee indicating that he or she wants to possibly review the item later. Many of the recent genres of CBT graphical user interfaces now provide an “explorer” or “helm” style of navigation control that continuously shows an ordered list of the test items in a narrow scrollable window within some segment of the display screen. This ordered list format is particularly helpful to examinees who want to skip items and go back to them later, if time permits.

Security Risks
One of the most important CBT implementation issues for high stakes examinations is item pool exposure (Haynie & Way, 1994; Stocking, 1993). The inherent flexibility of offering CBT on-demand or over a wide range of test dates potentially exposes the item pools to both small-scale and large-scale efforts aimed at cheating. That is, realizing that item pools may remain active over an extended period of time, examinees can conspire to memorize items, their intent being to reconstruct as much of the pool as possible to advantage re-takers or to share with future first-taker examinees.

“Extracts from a Research Report 2011-12 "A Review of Models for Computer-Based Testing" By Richard M. Luecht and Stephen G. Sireci.”

Julius Macaulay is the Principal Consultant at TECRES Consult (www.tecres.com.ng) providing ICT Training for Schools and Computer Based Testing Tutorials for Senior Secondary School, JAMB and Post-JAMB UTME students. He holds a Masters degree in Information Technology with Distinction and over a decade experience in Information Technology consultancy.