diff --git a/docs/src/site/docbook/reference/readersAndWriters.xml b/docs/src/site/docbook/reference/readersAndWriters.xml
index b6e0184a2..10b8f90e9 100644
--- a/docs/src/site/docbook/reference/readersAndWriters.xml
+++ b/docs/src/site/docbook/reference/readersAndWriters.xml
@@ -286,6 +286,32 @@
+
+
+ Filtering Records
+
+ One typical use for an item processor is to filter out records
+ before they are passed to the ItemWriter. Filtering is an action
+ distinct from skpping; skipping indicates that a record is invalid
+ whereas filtering simply indicates that a record should not be written.
+
+
+ For example, consider a batch job that reads a file containing
+ three different types of records: records to insert, records to update,
+ and records to delete. If record deletion is not supported by the
+ system, then we would not want to send any "delete" records to the
+ ItemWriter. But, since these records are not
+ actually bad records, we would want to filter them out, rather than
+ skip. As a result, the ItemWriter would receive only "insert" and
+ "update" records.
+
+ To filter a record, one simply returns "null" from the
+ ItemProcessor. The framework will detect that the
+ result is "null" and avoid adding that item to the list of records
+ delivered to the ItemWriter. As usual, an
+ exception thrown from the ItemProcessor will
+ result in a skip.
+