Speaking from the perspective of someone who has replaced a microfilm 
operation with a hybrid (scan and film at the same time) operation I can 
tell you that filming and scanning are not the same.  Everything is 
different, from the rationale behind deciding why to migrate a particular 
record series from paper to the amount of resources involved in the actual 
operation.

I'm all for centralization because it gives RM more control over what is 
scanned/filmed and it also has the probability of reduced cost to the 
institution because of "economy of scale".  However, unless you can convince 
your administration to provide you with enough resources or you can operate 
on an effective charge-back system you'll probably soon find yourself 
overwhelmed by the amount of paper that departments want you to scan.

IMHO, long-term preservation of institution records on microfilm is a fairly 
easy sell to your administration.  Adding funding for sufficient scanning 
equipment and staff will probably be more problematic especially if 
university funding gets tighter.

Gary Vocks


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Gus Harris" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, March 22, 2006 4:38 PM
Subject: [RM] help!


> Yikes.  I really need some help folks.  Of late there are people within 
> our
> organization who want to have certain records scanned to optical disk.  Of
> course there are issues regarding "what records," retention requirements,
> cost feasibility, etc.  But, what has me alarmed is that they seem to want
> our Records Management Department to do their scanning!  Now, I've been 
> the
> records manager here for many years and we've provided microfilming of
> university records, based on my analysis etc., for all these years.
> However, I have always felt this was the proper thing to do since we are 
> the
> department with the expertise in micrographic processes...and in this way 
> we
> could ensure that the process was done correctly.  However, I think it is 
> a
> different situation when you're doing electronic scanning.  I just don't
> believe that is something to centralize in your Records Management
> Department.  I can think of numerous reasons why....but would like to hear
> from others why document scanning shouldn't be centralized within a large
> organization...but rather a function within the departments that are
> utilizing it.
>
> Thanks for any info and opinions in advance!
>
> Gus Harris
> Records Manager
> The Univ. of West FL
> Pensacola, FL
> [log in to unmask]
>
> List archives at http://lists.ufl.edu/archives/recmgmt-l.html
> Contact [log in to unmask] for assistance
> 

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