or appropriateness to the documents in the publication 6 when a user selects a publication for retrieval the system performs an appropriate transfer of the publication the transfer of the publication may take place using an internet transfer or some other locally appropriate network protocol depending on the system 39 s configuration the document may require decryption following the transfer the system may provide an additional facility that allows for the packaging of multiple publications together so the system may transfer them as a single document the document certification method provides definitive third party proof that no person or system has altered a particular document since a particular date using this method alone is applicable where a client does not desire full document safeguarding document certification is the final step to document safeguarding the optional archive method provides the ability for clients to store an encrypted version of their documents on the service provider 39 s computers this optional facility is useful for clients who wish to know that a secure third party copy of their information remains available when using document certification the system neither centrally indexes documents nor makes documents searchable if the optional archive is not included the service provider does not maintain a copy of any documents on the service provider 39 s offsite computer systems these methods are appropriate to applications.