Another possibility is to use a scanning solution such as Kofax, (No I'm not
a vendor for Kofax), which utilizes zone recognition to do OCR on certain
fields on the cards.

The data would be stored in a database, (no offense please, but use a REAL
database for official records, not Access), and if needed, the images could
be kept online for retrieval based upon information in the database.

This eliminates a lot of typing - and thereby reduces the number of errors
and saves a lot of $$$.

This is a mile high explanation, so if you would like more details feel free
to contact me offline.

A second option to save $$$ is to offshore the data input into a database.
I've heard from several people that used Indian firms for data entry, and
the results were nearly flawless. They were allowed by contract terms .01 %
errors, but consistently came through with 0 typos.

Brent Reid
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>snip

e.  Enter the information into a simple database, like Access, or something
you already have. Then the information can be retrieved quickly for patrons,
and you can possibly then revise your retention for the cards.

>Snip

This problem is for my "other hat" as supervisor of the county's land
records office where deed and mortgage records are filed.  From 1970 to 1986
a two-part 5x8" index card was made for every document filed.  The back copy
was used for our legal description indexers and discarded after use; the
front card was kept as a permanent record to show when and where the
original document was mailed back.  Averaging 20,000 filings a year, we now
have 10 cabinets, 56 drawers total, of probably 300,000 or more cards.
(Newer records are in our AS/400 computer system.)  The cabinets are in the
way and we are trying to figure out what to do with their contents.  

Twenty or more years later these cards are rarely accessed, but needed
quickly when required.  The title research business has an "I need it now"
mentality, because waiting for information can keep the researcher from
doing other work.  We also periodically get walk-in customers who want this
information.  Having them wait for an hour or so is poor policy, too.  Here
are the solutions I've come up with so far:
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