Scanners alone do not good capture make.

Alas, I have been listening to Shakespearian recitation on community radio. Methinks it has changed the way I speak, but not the way I think. In fact I think very clearly about the activity we call capture and more specifically, conversion or scanning. Many folks I ask refer to this activity as scanning and often equate it to simply placing a piece of paper in a scanner, pressing a key and voila! We have a scanned image of the paper document that can now be indexed and stored for good keeping and later retrieval. Sounds simple right? When have you ever known me to be simple? (Be nice, don’t answer that…)

 

The plain fact is that while the operation of capture using a scanner appears to be a simple activity, there is or should be a well defined process supporting this activity. This should be a documented process that shows step by step what is required to properly capture and convert paper based information into a digital format that is now stored and available on-line. What many do not realize is that the technology itself is not really the issue but the preparation of the paper documents prior to scanning. Think about this for a moment, can you just take a bunch of paper and toss it into the scanner expecting it to work flawlessly? Does the scanner remove paper clips, staples and other extraneous materials that accumulate or become embedded in the paper documents? This is mainly a manual process and as such, personnel need to know the proper procedures. It also does not hurt to have this fully documented and updated on a regular basis for consistency and defensibility if ever questioned. Here is a graphical example of what this might look like.

  

In my view, preparation is one of the least considered yet most critical steps of the capture/conversion process. When implemented properly, it can make a huge difference in effectiveness and efficiency. You can purchase scanners of all sizes, speeds and with more functions than you can imagine. The end result and quality you get still depends on how well you feed them.

 

Over the next two weeks Doug Miles and the AIIM Research team will be conducting an on-line survey for a new Industry Watch Report on Capture. Your scanning and capture experiences needed to provide greater insight into this segment. We want to dig deep into motivations, issues and ROI for scanning and capture investments. This research will include but is not limited to topical areas like:

· What do you scan?

· Which processes work best?

· Outsourced vs. centralized vs. distributed?

 

We need your input. The resulting Industry Watch report will be free for participants to download. You could also win a cool Samsung N130 netbook. Simply visit www.aiimhost.com/survey and complete our on-line questionnaire to qualify.

 

What say you? How do you manage capture? Do you have a story to tell? I want to hear from you and learn what you and your organization are doing.

 

Looking to increase your level of knowledge? Join us for the ECM Certificate course in:

• San Francisco 11/10/09 - 11/13/09
• Houston 11/17/09 - 11/20/09
• San Diego 12/01/09 - 12/04/09
• Philadelphia 12/08/09 – 12/11/09

 

Join us for the ERM Certificate course in:

• San Diego 11/10/09 - 11/13/09
• Silver Spring 12/01/09 - 12/04/09
• Tampa  12/15/09 – 12/18/09

We look forward to seeing you there.

 

Bob Larrivee – AIIM

blarrivee@aiim.org

Follow me on twitter – BobLarrivee and remember to visit www.aiim.org/training and www.informationzen.org, AIIM’s free social network created just for you.

Comments

[Phil Sylvester]

As you have indicated, most of the information on scanning makes it sound like paper magically appears in neat stacks ready to scan. In reality, the majority of the cost and labor is in the document preparation.

While most processes include a separate prep step (as shown in your diagram above), my company, OPEX, developed a device where documents are imaged right out of the envelope or folder. Of course, this will only be relevant to those that don't have large, pristine stacks of paper ready to scan.

[Thomas Carroll]

Bob, A great take on this topic. Imaging can be a challenge, but properly trained users make their agencies much more efficient and protect essential data typically stored on paper media making it more secure and more manageable.