Whatever paper the fellow didn't harbour within his own precinct was to be found near his secretary's hand. Today the fellow uses a lot of computer technology and a lot of paper in his office. Authors haven't given up on the subject, though. While information takes this digital form in a computer, for us humans it exists as documents. Photographs, music tapes and CDs are documents of a sort as well.
Documents have a life cycle.
A person or group will have created each one. Once created, it must be distributed in order to affect others. Once distributed, it must be stored at each destination. If that repository is a library or other redistribution site it will undergo further distribution, a phase of the cycle that may be repeated as often as users demonstrate an interest. Meanwhile, the originating person or group may revise the document.