Hello Sheila,

Do you mean that you need a scanned document to be available to read to only one user at a time? All scanned documents are stored as TIFF images and are therefore read-only by default. For electronic documents like PDF and DOC files which can be edited, the Check-In / Check-Out feature allows for users to edit documents without the possibility of another user attempting to make unsaved changes.

If you need a system to make scanned documents available for reading one at a time, there is no such built-in functionality. It could possibly be done using access rights and a workflow. Exact implementation would vary according to set-up and needs, but a general picture off the top of my head is as follows:

• A field "ReadLock" as a list, with two fields "Lock" and "Unlock" (with default at "Unlock")
• When a user wants to read a document, he/she changes the field to "Lock" and saves. This triggers a workflow which moves the document to a designated "reading folder" for the user, which only that user can see. In particular, this document is no longer in the "public" view, so no other user can read the file.
• When the user is finished, he/she changes the field to "Unlock" and another workflow moves the document back to the "public" view, so others can read it again.

This is a far from complete or optimal implementation, with the following unresolved considerations:

• how to efficiently set up the "reading folder" structure for large number of existing users
• how to figure out where the document belongs for proper return on "Unlock"
• how to indicate to other users that the document is in a "reading folder", and not absent entirely

Still, if this is what you're looking for, the thought process may be a good place to start, and perhaps someone else has a better idea of how to proceed.

Hope this helps!