Boy, where to start in advising you Gregory. But a topic I plan to blog on for AIIM!
Lots of folks start out with the idea that they should scan all the paper because, after all, its modern and nifty keen. Wrong!
If there isn't a clear business need or benefit, forget about it. Some valid reasons to do it are:
* The records need to be publically accessible, and the cost of finding and copying is significant.
* The records are vital and this is a way of preserving them.
* The records are historical, and this is a way of sharing them without impact from handling
There are more.
There are lots of products that can hold your scans. Without more details about amounts and how you plan to use the scans, the product discussion is worthless. There is a separate discussion about the formats to store the images. But the cost that will kill you is scanning all of that paper and indexing it. So, I suggest that if you really have a need, you be selective as to what you scan. And, while you may be able to automatically index the printed content (OCR), your handwritten stuff won’t work.
Bernard Chester, CDIA+, TAWPI ICP, Xplor EDP, HL7 CDA
Principal Consultant
IMERGE Consulting, Pacific Northwest Office
7683 SE 27 Street, #316
Mercer Island, WA, 98040
Office: 206-230-9253; Mobile: 206-979-7389
-----Original Message-----
From: Records Management Program [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Gregory Kalagian
Sent: Wednesday, September 29, 2010 1:38 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Seeking advice on going paperless for a local goverment
I have been a lurker on the Listserv for a number of years and have found it
to be very informative. Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Greg Kalagian
and I am the Records Manager for a town in Connecticut. I was just contacted
by my boss who had met with the head of our local government and it was
suggested that we scan all the paper records for the town and maintain them
in a searchable database. My question to members of this listserv is has
anyone scanned all of their paper records into a digital database and are there
any vendors you would recommend to use for this project? Also is there a
particular software program you would recommend for this project?
Having just been informed of this plan I am still in the process of
determining the volume of records to be scanned. My guess is we are talking
about 1,000-1,500 standard record boxes plus another 1,500 maps & drawings.
I know my question is a little short on hard numbers but any input from the
group regarding this type of project would be appreciated. One of the
products that my IT department has suggested we look into is a product from
Square 9 Softworks called Smartsearch 2.3. If anyone is using or has used this
product I would appreciate your feedback Feel free to contact me individually
if you don’t wish to post your reply to the Listserv.
Thanks for any assistance you can provide.
Greg Kalagian
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