In this day and age, digital documents are the main staple, and sometimes the bane, of any workflow that requires a computer.  Students, bloggers, researchers, business professionals—anyone working on a computer deals with digital files on a daily basis.

You may be perfectly fine with folders on your computer, but think about your habits. Quick downloads from the cloud are saved quickly to the desktop. PDFs get converted and saved with the same file name. Or worse yet, files collaborated on find their way back to you with a different name.

Dealing with files like this calls for some serious organization that requires document management software. Document managers are your personal digital document assistant. They keep your digital documents organized, allowing you to keep track of your files and, depending on the tool you choose, even collaborate and share them with other users.

Be it a content project or your statistics research, there’s a tool out there for everyone. For example, there are tools which are aimed at academic purposes like Mendeley, Qiqqa and ReadCube. They offer the same abilities as other file managers, but include referencing tools, support for notes, and the ability to generate citations.

This just highlights the differences you’ll find out there. If you don’t know what document managers have to offer though, use the following as a guideline. It’s our checklist of things to look for as you shop around.

Features: What Can It Do?

This is the very first question to ask. Here are a handful of basic user features a good document managers should have to help you organize and manage files like a pro:

• Text Search—If you can’t search for or within your files easily, there’s no point in using one.
• Library Creation—How does its organization interface look? Is it easy to navigate?
• Add Tags & Meta Description—These make it easier to find individual files later on
• Back Up & Version control—Your choice should include the ability to back up file changes
• Importing—How easily does it import files from your desktop? Can it work with scanned files?
• File Interaction—You should be able to interact with your content. Check which editing applications and editing features, if any, are supported.
• Security—This is a must and may be offered in various forms (private/public visibility, access levels, password protection, etc.)
  

Also, a few extras you should keep an eye out for: brainstorming tools, fast web connection, document conversion, annotation, comments, database access, reference tools, and instant chat.

Scalability: Software, Network, Cloud, Mobile Integration

Don’t forget to look at the scalability of the document manager. Good document managers should be able to work with document processors and applications you already work with at any level in the document processing stage. Check for mobile, email, network, and cloud integration, too. Can it export to certain networks, as well? Does it allow file conversion? A document manager is only one tool in your workflow. So make sure it fits in seamlessly with your daily routine and tools.

Accounts: Seat availability, User Access, Administrative Roles

If you’re dealing with group projects, business teams, and departments, see what pricing and accounting options there are. Most document managers will come with a free trial for a basic account and paid accounts for teams. Working with a team, you’ll want to look at tools offering accounts with administrative roles and different access levels. Also, determine if there is special group plans for various team sizes and seat numbers.

Collaboration & Group: What Sharing Features Does It Offer?

Document managers are great at keeping files “in house,” and you can definitely use this capability to your advantage for collaborating and secure file sharing. For this, look for tools that offer functions that fit in with your review procedures, like version tracking and file history. Not all team members need the same freedom with certain files. Thus, a tool with a variety of file tracking abilities will help prevent duplicate versions from being created and will eliminate having to monitor and delete multiple documents.

Support: Which File Formats Does It Support?

Think long and hard about which formats you’ll need to deal with. For instance, PDF document management will be crucial to students doing research for their thesis. Spreadsheets will be a priority for finance professionals. And Word documents are always a file format to contend with, no matter what the task. Ensure that the document manager’s features can support a wide range of formats from different applications and platforms, even ones you aren’t sure you’ll be working with.

Electronic document management shouldn’t have to be hard. If you’re new to document managers, you should check one out. The above will help point you in the right direction.

Reena Cruz  writes for the Investintech.com blog, covering topics on general software and PDF converter technology. As a tech-geek, she enjoys learning about new tech trends, sharing productivity hacks, and offering helpful tips online.