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AMS Adviser *
Volume 4 Issue 6 - November / December 1999
Welcome to a new issue of the AMS Adviser.
AMS 2 Day Imaging Event
AMS Christmas Closedown
Article: Why Microfilm in the 1990's - Part 2.
Article: Microfilm is here to stay -
Part 2.
Plus we have all the usual bits AMS
Services, Funny bit???
AMS
AMS Christmas
Closedown
We would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
AMS will close for Christmas between the 24th of December, 1999 and reopen on the 10th
of January 2000.
A skeleton staff will be available from the 3rd of January, 2000.
Should you need our services over this period, contact us to make the necessary
arrangements.
Otherwise, have a safe break and we look forward to working with you in the New Year.
Ben and the Staff of AMS.
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AMS 2 Day
Imaging Event
AS PART OF OUR ONGOING
COMMITMENT TO PROVIDE
STATE OF THE ART IMAGING SERVICES,
AMS IN CONJUNCTION WITH CANON AUSTRALIA
WILL HOST A
TWO DAY IMAGING INFORMATION EVENT
23 - 24 November 1999
Document Management
Rapid Retrieval, Disaster Recovery & Legality
| Micrographics 
|
We
will demonstrate how microfilm can be used with your existing computer systems and why
microfilm is still the best media for longevity, disaster recovery and legality. Lance
de Blaquiere from the City of Darebin will give a brief summary on how they solved their
drawing problems using a combination of Microfilm and Digital solutions. |
| Scanning 
|
AMS can supply you with the information you need to help you decide
whether to go in-house or use a bureau. |
| Software 
|
Mitchell Thompson from Canon Australia will give an overview on the Canon
range of Software products.
Ken Mould of Deakin University will demonstrate how the University
and Library utilized Canocentral for their Knowledge Management requirements. |
| Equipment 
|
Canon MS400 Digital Reader Printer with A3 and A2 Printers
Canon A4/A3 High Speed Colour Scanner
HP 1000 A1 Printer |
The aim of the exhibition is to bring our
customers up to date on current technology and to show what extra services we can offer.
We expect your time at the exhibition will be 30 – 60 minutes.
We will be running sessions on the
hour. Sessions need to be booked.
Session
Overview
| MICROGRAPHICS |
AMS will give a short
presentation on the integration of Microfilm and Scanning. AMS will show how microfilm can
be used with your existing computer systems and why microfilm is still the best media for
longevity, disaster recovery and legality. Lance de Blaquiere from the City of Darebin
will give a brief summary on how they solved their drawing problems using Microfilm and
Digital Imaging. |
| SOFTWARE |
Mitchell Thompson will
give an overview on
Canon Software Products.Ken Moulds will demonstrate Canocentral and how Deakin
University has integrated it into their Knowledge Management Solution. |
| SCANNING |
Paper
Scanners from Canon will be on display including the new high-speed A4/A3 colour model. |
| EQUIPMENT |
On hand for Display we
will have a Digital Reader Printer hooked up to various printers |
WHERE: |
AUSTRALIAN
INDUSTRY GROUP
CNR. ST.KILDA RD & PARK STREET, MELBOURNE |
DATE: |
23 - 24
November 1999 |
TIME: |
9.00 am
– 4.00 pm |
We will be running sessions
on the hour.
Sessions need to be booked.
Please ring (03)
9690 6800 to book a time and see what
the future holds.
RSVP 15/11/1999
Contact: Jean, Ben or Angela
Light refreshments will be available.
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Why
Microfilm in the 1990's?
The Future of Microfilm
Microfilm has been available for nearly a century and is widely used in many
industries, including insurance, government, hospitals, utilities, manufacturing, banks,
preservation, private and public companies.
Microfilm continues to advance, proving itself as a reliable, sophisticated storage
medium. It is also integrating itself with emerging computer technologies. New hybrid
systems have grown out of the current generation of microfilm, combining image scanning
and microfilm functions. New microfilm recorders with digital scanners digitise microfilm
for electronic processing. Further, microfilm images can be transferred to optical disk
storage allowing for retrieval of images through PCs and printed on laser printers.
Microfilm is an old and established technology for storing information. Its success is
associated with the spread of electronic imaging at both the individual workstation and
enterprise level. It is most likely to remain a viable product because many organizations
need to distribute reports and reference material in a non-electronic format.
Efforts are underway to ensure that data processing, image processing, facsimile,
e-mail and other technologies are integrated so that users can have all these capabilities
on a single workstation. However, it is expected that only 20% of organizations will have
only one workstation. Approximately 90% will incorporate the entire data and image
processing into their work environments with the aid of a small number of
discrete/separate products that can be easily linked together.
"Digital" dominates document management today, although large-scale migration
to all electronic systems has not yet materialised. Why? Because the next generation of
document management systems will not rely exclusively on one technology. Rather, hybrid
systems adopting the greatest benefits from both electronic and film systems are likely to
become increasingly popular in information management. The benefits of microfilm and the
economies of cost make it a natural choice for long-term storage.
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Microfilm
is here to stay.
In Part Two, we cover the Document Lifecycle and Microfilm
v Electronic Document Management
The Document Lifecycle
Document management means storing, distributing and managing both
structured and unstructured information. Information that is contained in a letter, a
report, a picture – either on paper, in electronic form or in some other format, are
examples of unstructured information. Information comprising of text or numeric data that
is put into a database, that is information that can be grouped and analysed, is
structured information.
In practice documents management usually involves capturing the images
of a document (usually on paper), storing it on another medium, and entering basic details
about the document into an index. Using that index you can then retrieve that document
image when you need to consult it.
The ‘document’ in document management usually means
information held and transmitted on paper. That is because documents that need to be
preserved and referred to – invoices, contracts, agreements, letters to customers
etc. usually reach the organisation in paper form. However, ‘document’ could
just as easily refer to word processing files, photographic images, audio or video
recordings, and so on. All can be filed and indexed in just the same way as scanned paper
documents, and retrieved when needed to PC or printer.
Every document that enters an organisation may be seen to go through a
lifecycle. Issues such as regulatory requirements, legal/contractual concerns, and the
needs of users, will dictate how long a document should be kept for and in what format.
When a document has just been created, or has just entered the
organisation, it will typically experience frequent usage. The need for relatively quick
access to the document may be high. As the document ages, it may be viewed less
frequently. Eventually the document may never need to be viewed again, unless in the event
of a contractual or legal dispute, in which case access to the document will be required,
but retrieval times may not need to be so prompt.
In the past, micrographics techniques have been applied to all these
stages of the document lifecycle. However, in recent times electronic document management
and imaging has seen to be a replacement for microfilm in the case of unstructured
information, and Computer Output to Laser Disk (COLD) has seen to be a replacement for
microfilm in the case of structured information.
Microfilm v Electronic Document Management
(Unstructured output)
It may be true that in cases where users may need simultaneous access
to a document, or need the ability to quickly alter or amend a document, an electronic
document management system may offer quicker access times than microfilm. Viewing more
than one page of a microfilmed document in a different order to that in which it was
captured, may also be more time consuming. But it may be erroneous to assume that an EDM
system offers a total replacement to a microfilming system. When assessing which documents
need to be stored in an electronic format, the question should be asked "how often
will these documents be accessed – and how quickly do they need to be
retrieved?" In most cases, continued storage in microfilm format may be the most
cost-effective solution.
Of course, this solution to this situation is well documented within
the document management industry. Documents that are frequently accessed and require
instantaneous retrieval times may be stored on magnetic disk. As the document ages, it may
move to magnetic tape, online optical storage, and then on to near-line storage on optical
disks in a jukebox. The disks may then be stored ‘off-line’ in shelf storage
until needed (for example in the event of a legal dispute). However, as set out at the
beginning of this article, the claims by optical disk manufacturers, as to the longevity
of their media, are at the moment just claims. What’s more, technological change may
lead to the storage media becoming outmoded. Industry opinion suggests that computer
software has a useful life of around three to four years. Electronic hardware is becoming
obsolete on a yearly basis, but may be seen to have at most a four to five year life
period. If a document has to be kept for over 40 years (for example, in the case of a life
insurance policy), the storage requirements in terms of hardware and software must be able
to guarantee the ability to span this entire period. Migrating and updating literally
millions of documents every time hardware and/or software is upgraded or replaced, may
turn out to be a costly option. Even a document that has to be kept for just six years may
endure up to three generations of software! And this does not take into account the speed
at which storage technologies are evolving, in terms of both tape and optical.
In the next few issues:
Microfilm v COLD
Avoiding the pitfalls
If you require any article in full please feel free to contact us.
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AMS Services.
For the complete run down on what AMS can do for you, click on
the following link.
AMS Services
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Funny bit???
When the municipal council decided to build a fountain outside the town hall
they put the project to tender and got three quotes from contactors in Brisbane, Sydney
and Melbourne.
The town clerk interviewed the Brisbane builder and queried his price.of $3,000.00.
"And how do you break that down?" asked the clerk.
"That’s $1,000 for the material, $1,000 for the workers and $1,000 for
me."
The town clerk called in the Sydney contractor who quoted a price of $6,000. "And
how do you break that down?" asked the clerk.
"That’s $2,000 for the material, $2,000 for the workers and $2,000 for
me."
The clerk called in the Melbourne bloke, whose price was $9,000.
And how do you break that down?" asked the clerk.
The bloke from Melbourne said, "$3,000 for you, $3,000 for me and we give the job
to the bloke from Brisbane."
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Next Month
In the next few issues we will have some new articles which will include
the following:
Alchemy Version 6.
Articles and other topics of interest.
Plus all the usual bits & pieces.
Should you want a topic covered or need an article in full, please
feel free to contact AMS.
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Go to AMS HomePage.
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