There's no need to check your calendars. Yes I'm writing about microfilm CAR systems and no it's not 1995.

Microfilm CAR (Computer Assisted Retrieval) systems were developed in the 80’s as a way to quickly locate any image across a vast microfilm collection. It was really an ingenious system at the time; a computer database would contain a detailed inventory of all your microfilm rolls. So if you were looking for Kevin D'Arcy’s student record, you could search on ‘Kevin D'Arcy’, filter down the results using additional fields such as data of birth, and the system would tell you his file was located on roll 2,784 at frame 346. You would simply pull roll 2,784 from the cabinet, load it into your microfilm reader printer and it would automatically advance the roll to frame 346, bringing you right to Kevin’s file. You could even configure it to automatically print the record. For the visual people in the group:

Mitigate risk and plan to succeed in the face of disaster with digital document management

Malevolent weather seems to have been the theme of past year. During the Alberta floods and the Ontario ice storm, many Canadian businesses experienced property damage that resulted in service disruptions lasting several days. The length of time it takes to re-open after a catastrophic event will determine the overall longevity of your company. Business Continuity Planning ensures that there are advance procedures in place to maintain or resume key operations quickly when disruptive events arise.

In its initial stages, BCP identifies internal and external threats that will affect the delivery of critical services and products to clients. However, businesses often overlook a key area of vulnerability: paper files. Losing important documents can hinder recovery efforts and increase costs. Not only does digital record storage provide additional security for your files, but gives management some flexibility in tailoring successful continuity plans. So why hasn’t everyone adopted digital records as part BCP? Let’s take a look at some of the misconceptions of digital record storage.

So your organization has made the decision to scan your paper files, turning those stale documents into useful digital content. You've decided to outsource the bulk scanning of your documents, but you have a lot questions before you're ready to send your files out. Questions such as:

Are you looking to bring more digital content to your patrons in 2014? Are you looking for solutions that are easy to use and will cut down on time spent by staff re-training users? If that's the case, here are three digital/scanning solutions your library may want to consider.

Every month our document scanning team converts over 5 million paper files into useful digital images. For us, document scanning doesn't mean feeding a handful of sheets through a multi-function scanner, it means high volume, high security and high accuracy conversion so you can focus on your core business activities.

If you’re a book enthusiast, news that libraries are going digital may leave you feeling weary. If you’re a library administrator, the concerns of staunch traditionalists may have you shying away from new technology. Fear not, going digital won’t turn your library into a cold, sterile environment from sci-fi future. Instead, it could help to highlight and improve many of the services patrons use on a regular basis.

Workflow and Office Automation can be Exciting... We promise.

Workflow, or office automation, is one of the most exciting and useful features available with document management software. I realize using the word “exciting” with the phrase “document management software” has probably got a few of you laughing, but hear us out.

Access information when, where and how you need it with document scanning

Why should we consider scanning our files?
There are several reasons businesses consider scanning their files; including:

• Space; paper filing systems take up a considerable amount of office space, space that could be better used by productive employees.

• Disaster Recovery Planning; no one likes to think about the worst case scenarios, but those who do are the ones who end up on top. Imagine a fire or flood happened in your office and you lost all your paper files tomorrow. What would that mean for your business? Scanned documents can easily be backed up and recovered from multiple locations with speed and ease.

• Productivity; employees spend about 40% of their time looking for information they need to make decisions. Searching through paper files is, to say the least, time consuming and unproductive. With document scanning your staff can find the information they need in a matter of seconds.

Electronic medical records allow physicians to access patient information. Just as with any other type of office, space is a precious commodity in medical practices. Yet many offices are arranged inefficiently, devoting more space to celling-to-floor shelves stuffed with manila folders than to patient seating. With an increasing number of general practitioners and family doctors reaching patient capacity, space and time saving measures have never been more important.