Beyond Paper: Records Preservation in the Digital World

Nien-Ling Wacker, CEO
LaserFiche Document Imaging
www.laserfiche.com

1

Challenges in the Information Age

• Information Avalanche
• Increased Workload
• Limited Budgets
• Increased Demands for Instant Information
• Doing More with Less

2

Pros and Cons of Paper in Records Preservation

• Convenient Tool
• Always eye-readable
• Takes up Space
• Difficult to Control Access
• Subject to Loss & Damage
• Costly to Distribute

3

Pros and Cons of Microfilm in Records Preservation

• Takes Less Space
• Last a Long Time
• Erodes if not properly stored and maintained
• Difficult to Control Access

4

Hard to See Through the Paper Wall

5

A Perfect Time to go Digital

• Technology is Here Hardware is Affordable
  • Disk Space is Cheaper that Toilet Paper
  • Scanners, CDs, Jukeboxes are Commodities
• Packaged Software is Available and Proven

6

Moving beyond Paper

• Digital Imaging
  • Documents Preserved
  • Records Searchable
  • Available to Entire Organization
  • Reduce Handling of Originals

7

Records Manager’s Concerns

• How can I Ensure that Digital Records will be Available in the Future?
• Will the Storage Media Last its Time?

8

Fundamentals

• Digital Archival - Records Must Be Eye Readable
• Open/Non-Proprietary Format Stored with a Viewer
• Stored on a Standard Media

9

Standard Format

TIFF Group IV and ASCII Text

10

Available Storage

• RAIDs
• WORM
• Magneto-Optical
• CDs
• DVDs

11

Preferred Storage Media

• Hard Drive/RAIDs
• CDs

12

Expanded Role of Records Managers

• Architect of the Records Mgmt. System
• Keeper of the Records
• Implement Retention Schedules
• Records Migration

13

To Migrate or Not

• Life Expectancy of Media Compared with Retention Period for Document
• Consideration of Technology Change vs. Retention Period
• Make Sure Documents Are Eye Readable at Any Period

14

Digital Archiving

• Stored in TIFF IV and ASCII Text
• Achieve CDs with Viewer
• Electronic Documents
  • Store Native Format for Convenience
  • Archived to TIFF IV for Preservation

15

Doc. Retention Handling

• Documents with Same Retention Schedule Stored on Same Volume
• Portable Volume
• Archival to CDs with Viewer
• Ensure No Information on Backup Tape When Purging Electronic Records
• Scheduled Expunge or Migration

16

Document Security

• Integrity of Documents-Protected with Comprehensive Security
• Control:
  • Functions - Scanning, Printing
  • Folder and Document Access
  • Redact Words
  • Audit Trail

17

user-Friendliness

• Choose a System that your Staff will Love to Use
• Reduce Training Costs
• Increase Usage and Put More Records into the System

18

Intelligent Search

• Find Documents Based on What Information you Have
  • Folders
  • Index Cards
  • Intuitive Full-Text Search

19

Mandates from IT

• Work with existing infrastructure
• Adapt to future advances and ensure future availability
• Properly designed to minimize network traffic
• Proven system that’s stable and maintains data integrity
• Easy to maintain and use existing resources
• Be Able to Integrate with Other Software Applications and grow easily
• Internet strategy

20

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22

Open and Scalable Architecture

• Client-Server Architecture to Reduce Network Traffic
• Open and Scalable to allow Expansion and Records Preservation
• Integrate with Other Applications

23

Expand Via the Web

24

Break Down the Paper Wall

25

Benefits of Web Access

• Close the gap between filing cabinets and the Internet
• Documents can be dynamically posted as soon as scanned without an HTML coding
• Anyone with a web browser can access public documents through Internet
• Authorized staff can access internal documents without client software installed

26

Records on the Web A Growing Trend

• City of Bakersfield, Calif.
  www.ci.bakersfield.ca.us/weblink
• Collier COunty, Fla.
  www.clerk.collier.fl.us/weblink
• City of Martinsville, Va.
  www.ci.martinsville.va.us/weblink
• Caduceus, Inc.
  www.medreconline.com

27

Keys to Successful Records Preservation in the Digital World

• Digital Archiving
• Records Retention
• Comprehensive Security
• Intelligent Search
• User-friendly
• Open & Scalable
• Integrate with Existing Systems
• Web Access
• Proven track record

28

Questions

29