I've gotten, and read, many responses to my question, and I'd like to
thank you all for your input. To answer some of the common questions
you've asked in return - because of the nature of our law practice
(homeowner association representation, along with construction defect
litigation)our files are quite voluminous once each matter has been
concluded (it's not unusual for one matter to be contained in 20-50
"standard size" boxes); we contract with our clients to hold their files
for a period of years after the completion of their case (after which
they must accept responsibility for their destruction or transfer to
their own storage facility)and to satisfy the California Statute of
Limitations regarding Attorney Malpractice, (for our own protection, of
course). Larry mentions the costs imposed on us by our commercial
records center...and he's right about the charges for every service we
ask them to provide. It ends up not just being the cost to store, but
includes incoming data creation fees, retrieval fees, transportation
fees (and with the price of gasoline these days....)for the files coming
to and going from us to them, removal fees, destruction fees, etc.,
etc., etc.
Years ago I supervised a micrographics department in a public utility
(gas & electric)where we converted everything from maps to accounting
records, so I'm somewhat familiar (it was over 25 years ago...I can't
remember everything)with quality control practices before and after
conversion. I'm imagining that the intent of QC here would be the same.
Basically, we're not looking to keep the converted media for archival
purposes in this instance. We would plan on retaining these file types
for our usual retention period and then following our SOP, contact the
client for permission to either destroy or return the media to them.
Oh, one of our other considerations in trying to think through this
process is that when a client is faced with finding space to store 50
boxes, they sometimes tend not to respond to our requests for
instruction. The time and energy my staff and I expend contacting
clients and convincing them to take their files in some cases should
also be figured in the benefits. My thinking is that our clients would
be much more receptive to accepting a packet of CD's over 50 boxes.
Sorry about the length of this email, but I appreciate your help and the
chance to "talk" out loud some of my ideas. It helps the process to
have a diversity of opinions from such a knowledgeable group! My thanks
again!
Laura A. Steinberg
Records Manager
[log in to unmask]
-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
Behalf Of Larry Medina
Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2005 8:51 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Question re Paper to CD/DVD/Tape Conversion
Where to begin?
First, I question the comment about "fulfill retention requirements"
related to the storage of closed client files... for the most part, your
requirements are fulfilled when the case is closed, at least when it
comes to what are TRULY "client files", unless in your agreement with
your clients you've been requested to hold the files for some agreed
upon period of time.
Thee are the firms files related to the matter that you might be
required to retain for some period of time, but the client files are the
client's property and any obligation for their retention should be on
the client. I know many firms don't bill their clients for record
storage, but some have begun notifying their clients when a matter is
settled that the client files are stored at the XYZ company, there are X
boxes and they should contact the company to arrange to either have them
transferred into their name, delivered to them, or destroyed after 60
days or whatever time period the firm feels comfortable with.
As far as conversion by scanning/imaging or whatever goes, whether you
do it in-house or have a service bureau perform the service, I have to
agree with what's been said by many others. The decision shouldn't be
based on the cost of a wholesale backfile conversion, but rather on the
value of converting and indexing the files determined by:
- how frequently you need to access the content,
- if you want to access them randomly,
- need to have them available to multiple people simultaneously, or
- have people in a number of locations that may need access to them at
the same time
... and you want to avoid retrieval and copying the physical documents.
Keep in mind that there needs to be quality control performed of the
captured images (you set a threshold of how many to check, and if
satisfied with the results, you raise the threshold) and you need to
store the images and the index (metadata) and backups. And you need to
ensure the images are properly managed to limit/control access to them,
especially if there is any PHI or financial information included on the
images.
You mentioned storing the images on some form of media... that indicates
you intend to store the information off-line and if you do, then you'd
need to load the images and indexing to be able to search and view them
when you need access. Depending on the size of any one repository, this
could be very time consuming. Also, if you're using removable media, you
will have to contend with the potential of media degrading and needing
to be periodically refreshed. And every time you replace media, you have
to contend with the possibility of losing a percentage of the images
and/or index data because it's considered a "lossy" process.
The one thing I'd like to add into the costs that Glenn mentioned when
calculating the cost of storage is the cost of a "permanent removal fee"
than many of the large service providers are now placing on your
holdings.
These fees are in addition to the normal retrieval, delivery, etc. fees
you pay and are appended to the invoice when you take final custody of
YOUR OWN assets, or when you have them destroy them for you. Not all
providers feel it's necessary to charge you this fee, but the largest
vendor in the marketplace is one who does, unless you've been able to
successfully negotiate it out of your contract.
Larry
--
Larry Medina
Danville, CA
RIM Professional since 1972
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