Development of the School of Document Scientific in the Era of Digital Transformation

Scientific article

DOI 10.28995/2073-0101-2026-3-778-795

For citation

Surovtseva, N. G., (2026). Development of the School of Document Scientific in the Era of Digital Transformation, Herald of an Archivist, no. 3, pp. 778-795. DOI 10.28995/2073-0101-2026-3-778-795

Surovtseva, N. G., Russian State University for the Humanities, Moscow, Russia

Development of the School of Document Scientific in the Era of Digital Transformation

Abstract

The modern development of the information society is characterized by the digital transformation of all spheres of activity, branches of science and industry, and public administration. Digital transformation requires data-driven management, which poses a challenge for document management specialists, as well as for the Russian national school of document management, which has traditionally addressed the fundamental theoretical issues related to the creation and functioning of documents in management. This article analyzes the development of key document management issues and the prospects for their resolution in the context of digital transformation. The author first identifies the key issues traditionally addressed in document management since the inception of this scientific discipline by K. G. Mityaev. These issues include the concept of "document", the characteristics, properties, and functions of a document, documentation and document creation, documentation systems, and document classification. Theoretical approaches to addressing these issues have varied greatly throughout history. The fundamental principles of document management, outlined by K. G. Mityaev in his 1964 seminal article "Document Science, Its Tasks and Development Prospects", underwent significant changes in the 1970s and 1980s, amidst the advancement of automation. Information became the key concept in defining a document; the document form details were considered the primary characteristic of a document, alongside the physical medium; the documentation system emerged as a complex of documents, and so on. The development of document management during that period not only shaped document management theory for several decades but also had a powerful practical impact: the development of the Unified State System of Records Management (USRM) and unified documentation systems (UDS) became the foundation for document management practices in management for many years to come. Today, the potential of the methodological approaches of that period has been virtually exhausted. Document science must define the concept of a "document" in the digital environment, its attributes and characteristics, creation methods, and classification models within an information system, as well as the conditions under which a document is stored in this environment and when it can be seamlessly replaced with data. The problem of the relationship and interconnection between documents and data in the context of digital transformation should become a pressing research topic for the scientific school of document science.

Keywords

Document science, K. G. Mityaev, document, document attributes, scientific school of document science, digital transformation of documents, key issues in document science, Unified State Records Management System (USRMS), Unified Documentation System (UDS).

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About authors

Surovtseva Natalia Gennadievna, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor, Russian State University for the Humanities, Historical and Archival Institute, Department of Automated Document Management Systems, Professor, Moscow, Russia, 7-916-020-21-65, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

ORCID 0000-0002-2942-8372

Grant information

The paper was written as a part of the project "Formation of a Russian National School of Document Science, Names and Ideas" with the support of the "RSUH. Project Research Teams" program in accordance with the order of the RSUH rector dated July 29, 2025, No. 01.1-20/25-757 "On approval of the composition of RSUH project research teams, technical assignments for the implementation of research papers, cost estimates for their implementation, and the deadline for submitting reports on the implementation of research projects".

The article was received in the editorial office on 30.05.2025, recommended for publication on 20.06.2026