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AMS Adviser *
Volume 5 Issue 5 - September/October 2000
Welcome to a new issue of the AMS Adviser.
Article: Microfilm!..........In
the modern office? - Part 2
Planex Storage Cabinets.
New Product: Canon MS
800 A3 Digital Reader Printer
New Service: Digital
Archive Writer
Plus we have all the usual bits AMS
Services, Funny bit???
AMS
Planex
Storage Cabinets
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Planex Sales Pty Ltd is a family-owned Australian
company whose name is synonymous with high-quality drawing and commercial office
furniture. Head Office and the manufacturing plant is located in Cheltenham, Victoria. A
sales office/warehouse in Sydney and representation in Canberra complete the team. Planex
also operates through a number of distributors throughout Australia, PNG, Fiji and Hong
Kong.
Over the past 25 years Planex has built a reputation for excellence through design and
acquisition of the latest manufacturing technology. We remain at the forefront of modern
sheetmetal manufacturing and therefore can provide a flexible and responsive design and
manufacturing service to our clients.
Planex operates a stringent, accredited Quality Assurance program (ISO9002) that
provides us with confidence that we can supply you with reproducible quality each time. |
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FM micrographic storage cabinets in stackable one, three
and six drawer models to store microfiche, aperture card, microfilm cassette and CD. |
 |
We have a range of Microfiche storage panels and
binders. |
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FE Multimedia cabinet adaptable in twelve models to
accomodate all your electronic (eg. floppy, CD, DAT, jazz, video) aperture card and fiche
data alongside A4/foolscap filing, computer print-outs |
Cabinets are fitted with:
- Anti-tilt system fitted to all multiple drawer units
- Fully welded and reinforced body
- Exceptional quality drawer slides rated at 50kg and 100 000 actions
|
Should you require any more information, please feel
free to contact us.
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AMS and the Kodak Digital Archive Writer
AMS has just taken delivery of a New Kodak Digital Archive Writer model 4800.
The KODAK DIGITAL SCIENCE Document
Archive Writer, Model 4800 rapidly converts digital documents to an analog format and
media for low-cost, long-term storage, disaster recovery and access.
The Document Archive Writer and supporting software accepts document images from many
digital imaging systems in Tagged Image File Format (TIFF). You can organize them
according to your requirements, create an index, and write the images to film. Now you can
purge inactive information from expensive on-line and near-line storage with full
assurance that you’ll be able to retrieve and view it long into the future.
The Document Archive Writer accepts TIFF digital document images and converts them to
analog images on 16 mm silver halide-based film in excess of 100 A-4 images per minute at
40:1 reduction. Up to 18,000 A4-size images at 40:1 reduction will fit on a single roll of
film for storage that’s extremely compact
Key Features
- accepts bi-tonal TIFF image files; uncompressed or Group III or IV compressed to support
flexible input
- accepts image resolutions from 100 to 600 dpi
- adds image-mark coding to film to support rapid, automated retrieval
- writes in simplex or duplex (front/back) formats
- writes to one or two rolls of film for optional backup and security
.
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Microfilm!........In
the modern Office?
Surely you must be joking?
In the second part of the article we
cover how microfilm can work in a computer environment and finish with you having a
choice.
So, how can microfilm be made to fit into the
modern digital environment?
Many organisations are now investing in "hybrid" document
management systems that make the most of both digital and microfilm technologies. Above I
gave the advantages of microfilm, but microfilm also has disadvantages and this is where
the digital technologies come into their own, with their obvious distribution, speed and
indexing capabilities.
Microfilm is relatively slow at retrieving documents. Somebody has to
find a particular roll of film or jacket or fiche, put it into a microfilm reader and then
find the right frame, it is a very manual process (although many organisations are very
happy with taking only tens of seconds, as opposed to fractions of a second for digital
systems, to find microfilm information especially when the cost issue is brought up). That
is why a lot of organisations do not rely completely on microfilm, they use it to
complement their digital storage and vice versa. However, with the invention of very user
friendly microfilm scanners in the last few years the role of microfilm in the modern
document management system has been transformed – the retrieval speed of images from
microfilm is getting very close to the retrieval speed from digital devices, in some cases
even quicker. Whether you slot a cartridge of film into a microfilm scanner or you slot a
disk in the CD drive, the result is still the same, except that you know that the digital
file on the roll of film will definitely be there.
Organisations who have no microfilm but desire the benefits that it has
to offer are doing one of three things:-
- They are buying a hybrid scanner that scans paper and simultaneously produces microfilm
and digital images.
- They are capturing paper documents with a microfilm camera and then running the finished
microfilm images through a microfilm scanner to produce digital images. This can be done
in a "low-volume, on-demand" manner digitising frequently requested frames as
they are requested or in a "high-volume, batch-scan" manner digitising your
entire microfilm collection for complete access to all documents. This is also the method
being used by organisations with existing microfilm collections but now with digital
access.
- They are gathering scanned images and electronically created files and printing them
onto microfilm using Computer Output to Microfilm (COM) devices. Although having been
around for over 20 yeares these are the latest growth product in the microfilm industry.
With many thousands of different imaging systems out there many organisations are
downloading old digital files to microfilm for archiving thus freeing up valuable hard
drive and juke box space, whilst still securing the long term preservation of digital
files. By using any of the many microfilm scanners available in the market place, these
newly created microfilms can be turned back into digital files at any time.
Obtaining the microfilm and digital images is achieved either by doing
the job yourself, if the information is of a sensitive nature and you have the resources
and staff necessary to convert the images internally, or by giving the job to a local
bureau who will charge you a per image rate to convert the images for you.
Once obtained, the microfilm and digital images can again be accessed
in one of two ways. Firstly you buy the microfilm scanners yourself and use your existing
PC’s to view the information or you leave all the information with the bureau and
they provide a "warehouse management" service for you by e-mailing images and
files to you on demand at a click charge.
The great advantage of a "hybrid" microfilm system is that it
can be tailor-made to fit your organisation, do it internally or externally, invest in
capital equipment or don’t, have the system mainly microfilm or mainly digital. It
all depends on how much you have to spend, what percentage of your information has an
archival need (over 5 years) and how much you value your information. For example if your
information only needs to be kept for 6 months then microfilm is not even an option, but
if you need to keep your information for 20 years then microfilm is essential.
The choice is yours and you do have a choice.
Microfilm is not redundant, it is now an essential part of modern
digital system. It has only been in the last few years that both end users and vendors
have started to realise where microfilm fits into the overall picture – microfilm is
no joke, the only joke in town is on those who thought that microfilm was passed its sell
by date – you know, just like paper has!
For those of you who think that I have lost the plot I will just add
this – I know that digital information and computers are the future and that this is
the way forward, but which digital information? I am convinced that it is microfilm-held
digital information – just take 5 minutes to look at www.archiveimaging.co.uk
Should you require an article in full, please feel free to contact us.
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Canon MS 800 A3 Digital Reader Printer
Click here to go to the information page on the MS
800
Click here to go to the information page on the
MS 400/500
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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???
A new monk arrives at the monastery. He is assigned to help the other monks in copying
the old texts by hand.
He notices, however, that they are copying copies, and not the original books.
So, the new monk goes to the head monk to ask him about this. He points out that if
there was an error in the first copy, that error would be continued in all of the other
copies. The head monk says, "We have been copying from the copies for centuries, but
you make a good point, my son"
So, he goes down into the cellar with one of the copies to check it against the
original. Hours later, nobody has seen him. So, one of the monks goes downstairs to
look for him. He hears sobbing coming from the back of the cellar and finds the old monk
leaning over one of the original books crying.
He asks what's wrong.
"The word is celebrate," says the old monk.
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Next Month
In the next few issues we will have some new articles which will include the following:
- AMSIndex Data Retrieval Software that is affordable.
- 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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