The documentation center or documentary center is an information unit that gathers, manages and disseminates the documentation of a specific area of ​​knowledge or that produced by an organization or institution to which it is limited. It arises to face the documentary explosion, mainly of scientific-technical content. It presents similarities with the specialized library and is characterized by deepening some of its functions, especially the documentary content analysis, to achieve better retrieval of information, using new information technologies.

In summary, we could say that it is a specialized information unit attached to an organization (owner of this center), where the documents necessary for the operation of a service or activity of the institution or company itself are conserved and stored, and whose purpose is to serve as a reference and help to professionals or researchers.

Its main objective is to effectively satisfy the information needs of its users, who are generally researchers in a specific area of ​​knowledge, through accurate information. It fulfills the role of intermediary between the user and knowledge. Its purpose is to save time, effort and money for the researcher and companies.

A documentation center has the functions of selecting, analyzing, recovering and disseminating information. It uses new technologies to process information and for online access to other databases and electronic documents.

To fulfill its functions it is structured into various units.