Linking to documents in another document library

Q: I want to eliminate duplicate documents by creating a link in one document library to a document that exists in another document library. In Windows SharePoint Services 2.0 and Microsoft SharePoint Portal Server 2003 this is a tedious task. I have to create an HTML file and use JavaScript code to redirect access to the other file. Has this process been simplified in the most recent SharePoint versions?

A: I'm glad you asked because the answer is a definite yes. One of the new features in Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 is the ability to extend a document library to support multiple content types. (Content types are groups of settings that you can apply to a category of SharePoint content to help you organize content in a more meaningful way.) One of the built-in content types is Link to a Document. This content type lets you store a title and URL to an existing document in either that document library or a different one. Figure 1 shows the New drop-down menu after I added the Link to a Document content type to a document library.

When you select Link to a Document, you're presented with the appropriate fields to enter the document name and location (URL), as Figure 2 shows. After you create a link to another document, the document name will be displayed in your document library and identified with the link icon, as Figure 3 shows. You can now access the linked document from this document library.