Beyond Paper Records Preservation in the Digital World

Beyond Paper: Records Preservation in the Digital World Nien-Ling Wacker, CEO Laser. Fiche Document Imaging www. laserfiche. com

Challenges in the Information Age • Information Avalanche • Increased Workload • Limited Budgets • Increased Demands for Instant Information • Doing More with Less

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

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

Hard to See Through the Paper Wall

A Perfect Time to go Digital • Technology is Here Hardware is Affordable –Disk Space is Cheaper than Toilet Paper –Scanners, CDs, Jukeboxes are Commodities • Packaged Software is Available and Proven

Moving Beyond Paper • Digital Imaging –Documents Preserved –Records Searchable –Available to Entire Organization –Reduce Handling of Originals

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

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

Standard Format TIFF Group IV and ASCII Text

Available Storage Options • RAIDs • WORM • Magneto-Optical • CDs • DVDs

Preferred Storage Media • Hard Drive/RAIDs • CDs

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Mandates from IT • Work with existing infrastructure • Open, non proprietary to adapt to future advances and ensure future availability • Scalable to grow easily • Properly designed to minimize network traffic • Proven system that’s stable and maintains data integrity • Easy to maintain and use existing resources • Internet strategy

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

Expand Via the Web

Break Down the Paper Wall

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

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

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

QUESTIONS