Document management systems typically have a document name field and also a separate document date field. The document name and the document date are used together to identify the document but the date is a separate field so that it can be used by the document management system to arrange documents in chronological order when such ordering is specified.
A map typically does not have an exact date because it is the result of surveys carried out over many months so when published it is simply given a year only.
A plan of a particular site produced by a land surveyor may take a day or two and usually such surveys are given a month and year.
Google Earth images consist of a mozaic made up of satellite images taken on different days and so do not have an exact date.
Some documents must actually have an exact date but it is not possible to establish when that exact date was and only an inexact date can be given for them. A non-digital photo taken decades ago must have been taken on some specific date but, although there may be some indication of date - for example the photo may show a child whose birth year is known and whose age can be estimated from the photo, or it might show the presence of, of lack of, permanent structures whose dates of construction and dates of removal are known - the exact date the photo was taken may be unknown.
So these are some of the reasons why a document may have an inexact date and why a document management system should, ideally, cater for the possibility of some documents having inexact dates.
Some document management systems have no special provision for inexact dates. All dates entered in the date field must be exact - year, month and day-of-month - and the full date is always displayed for every document. There may be the option to not enter a date at all, but all dates which are present have to be full dates.
If you have a set of documents identified by year which naturally would be in a section/folder by themselves then - to avoid entering a full date which appears more accurate than is justified - you can not enter anything in the date field and rely on the sorting of the name field which starts with the year to achieve chronological order:
Document date field typed in Document date field displayed Document Name field
1954 Map
1962 Map
1972 Map
1980 Map
Document date field typed in Document date field displayed Document Name field
1954 Photo of garden
1962 Photo of garden - summer
1972 Photo of garden
1980 c. Photo of garden
This will generally be appropriate for maps and plans, Google Earth images, and for historical non-digital photos.
If, however, the document with an inexact date needs to be in a section/folder together with other documents which do have exact dates, so that the sequence of events can be appreciated, then you will wish to enter a full date for a document with an inexact date so that it is positioned in a sensible, at least approximately correct, place in the sequence of documents. But you will need to add words at the end of the document name to avoid giving a misleading sense of accuracy:
Document date field typed in Document date field displayed Document Name field
01-11-1994 1 Nov 1994 handwritten note - Nov 1994 exact day unknown
15-11-1995 15 Nov 1995 Letter Jones to Smith
01-01-1995 1 Jan 1995 handwritten note - 1995 exact day unknown
15-01-1995 15 Jan 1995 Letter Smith to Jones
Some document management systems, whilst requiring full dates to be entered in the date field, provide an option for only part of the date (year and month, year only, circa year) to be displayed:
Document date field typed in Document date field displayed Document Description field
01-06-1995 Jun 1995 Handwritten note
01-07-1995 1995 Handwritten note
01-07-1995 c. 1995 Handwritten note
This is a neater solution because the only information which is displayed is correct. It avoids having to have a note correcting the potentially misleading impression created by a too-exact date.
For some documents, although you might not know the exact month, you may nevertheless be able to be a bit more specific than just the year, e.g. summer 1995. In this case you can set the date so that it shows just the year and add summer 1995 at the end of the Document Description.
Document date field typed in Document date field displayed Document Description field
01-06-1995 1995 Handwritten note - summer 1995
If you don't know the exact year the system may have a circa option. If not you will need to add words at the end of the document name to avoid giving a misleading sense of accuracy:
Document date field typed in Document date field displayed Document Description field
01-07-1995 1995 Photo mid 1990s exact year unknown
01-07-1998 1998 Photo circa. 1998 exact year unknown
Some document management systems may provide an option for only part of the date to be displayed, and to appear on lists, but still include the full entered date in bulk downloads (backups). In this case you could use the system as if it had no special provision (see above). Alternatively you could make use of the provision but include, within the download (backup), a list of all the documents in the backup showing partial dates where applicable, and containing a prominent note saying, for example
The documents in this ZIP file are listed below.
Please note that where a document in the ZIP file has a filename commencing with a date ending in -01 for example 2024-09-01 that might mean that only the month and year are known for the document. Consult the date column on the list below to see whether the document date is exactly e.g. 1st September 2024 or whether the exact day is unknown and it just means September 2024.
Similarly where a file name commences with a date ending in -01-01 for example 2025-01-01 that might mean that only the year is known for the document. Consult the date column on the list to see whether the document date is exactly 1st January 2025 or whether the exact day is unknown and it just means January 2025 or just 2025.
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The information on this page about specific computer techniques is provided for information purposes only. Every reasonable effort has been made to ensure that the information is accurate and up to date at the time it was written but no responsibility for its accuracy, or for any consequences of relying on it, is assumed by me. You should satisfy yourself, before using any of the techniques, software or services described, that the techniques are appropriate for your purposes and that the software or service is reliable.
This page was lasted updated in June 2025. Disclaimer