Document Imaging: Go Basic or Go Big

Not sure if you've noticed, but document imaging, as a topic, is being talked about more and more, both in business publications and niche sites covering specific industries. The increasing hype is due in part, no doubt, to the Obama Administration's focus on electronic medical records.

The hype is further due, no doubt, to the fact that a document imaging solution can make a real impact on the ability of an organization to cope with--indeed, thrive on--the harsh reality called "Information Overload."

Before attempting to implement a document scanning or imaging solution, however, it's necessary to consider how much time and money you're willing to put into the effort.

There are, for document imaging first-timers, two options: go basic or go big.

The basic document imaging solution focuses on scanning loads of documents and bringing them online in an organized fashion, i.e. putting things in appropriate digital folders.

Going big entails a total rethinking of the way documents are managed. Far from "just scanning," big projects involve new technology and processes, such as SharePoint installation, records management, distributed capture, and security procedures. A larger project like this may need outside document imaging consultants to effectively implement.

Hooking up with a good document imaging service in the basic stage may help your company see the big possibilities down the road.

Scanned Documents Findable By Lawyers -- For Better and For Worse

The impact of document scanning and imaging on the practice of litigation cannot be underestimated. The entire process of "discovery"--when lawyers are searching for evidence--has grown to include more and more sources of information, rather than just physical files. Scanned files, for instance, are much a part of the modern courtroom.

That has happened--and will continue to happen--because scanning documents makes good business sense in so many ways: cost savings, efficiency improvements, records backup.

Some law firms specifically focus on ferreting out evidence found in non-paper formats.

Unfortunately, some companies don't discover how much the process of discovery has changed until they're being sued and a pack of lawyers is combing not only through their filing cabinets, but through their hard drives, and their online storage capabilities, and their emails.

More information means more evidence. Obviously, whether that helps or hurts your company depends on what's contained in those scanned documents. If you're a doctor being sued for malpractice, for example, keeping good records can save your career.

What is sure to potentially hurt your company is not thinking about how retaining scanned documents could play into any lawsuits that may come in the future.

Thinking ahead in this area is a part of doing business in this Information Age. Some third-party document imaging services are quite savvy at coming up with solutions to this concern.

Microsoft SharePoint: Easier to Set Up Than to Redo

Document imaging guru John Mancini has been running an interesting recurring feature over at the AIIM blog called "8 Things About..." The idea is that contributors would fill in the blank about a certain topic related to Enterprise Content Management.

The "8 Things" entry on June 17 came from Doug Schultz of Access Sciences, and was especially informative. Mr. Schultz chose Microsoft SharePoint as his topic.

Read the whole post here, but what we found particularly compelling was Mr. Shultz's vehement recommendation that organizations establish clear guidelines for SharePoint installation and government before actually installing and governing SharePoint.

The temptation is to simply stuff all imaged documents into folders and let the sharing begin. But over time, this attitude is likely to turn SharePoint into a shared mess.

Mr. Schultz summarizes the argument like this:

"Resist the urge of the IT department to just install it like any other Microsoft application – insert the CD and install with the default settings."

For a small business looking to do SharePoint right the first time around, a third-party records management firm may offer important insights into how to organize scanned documents.

The Everlasting Un-Death of the Paperless Office

Paper will never die. The paperless office is a myth.

There is no substitute for holding that piece of tree in your hand. Tactile, satisfying, even beautiful, paper is a part of our world that we like.

Such an admission may seem strange coming from a blog dedicated to document imaging, but truth is truth. Besides, document imaging and paper go together great, once trendy preconceptions are dismissed.

In fact, integrating paper with document imaging systems is a major part of creating a workplace that hums with productivity, at minimal waste and with maximum convenience.

What does that mean, "integrating paper with document imaging systems"?

It means realizing that some documents don't need to be scanned and brought into the digital world. Or, if that does happen, they must be secured like Fort Knox.

It means realizing, by the same token, that some documents don't need to be retained in paper form, and especially don't need to be printed and re-printed and then copied and re-copied. (Tax deduction receipts from five years ago qualify for pure digitization.)

Integrating means, too, going beyond the Paper vs. E-Doc debate to create a true records management system. One with room enough for both paper and scanned documents.

Document Imaging File Naming Conventions: Consistency Is Key

The new versions of Adobe PDF are consciously search-friendly, allowing a real possibility of large-scale document imaging projects that do not entail permanently losing track of all that paper that just went into that little black box.

However, searchable PDF is only, or at least mainly, useful when the object being searched for has been "tagged" in an appropriate way. If a document is called "Jones Letter" and there are 27 letters from 18 different Joneses, searching scanned documents can become a headache.

One of the main things to think about, then, before beginning a paper-intensive document scanning project, is how you are going to name the files. Or, if you are using a third-party docuent imaging service, how they are going to name the files.

Although different projects require different document imaging file naming styles, there are general principles. Well-named files conducive to easy search and retrieval:

-- Contain the "keyword" that would be used by a searcher.
-- Don't ONLY contain the keyword.
-- Contain information about time (month, day, year).

Above all, though, document imaging file naming conventions must be planned and standardized if a truly searchable database of scanned documents is to be created. Everyone should be on the same page as those pages enter that black box, hopefully to return again as needed.

Well-named files can be found again.

Google vs. Authors Lawsuit Part of Larger Document Imaging Quandary

In theory, the Google Books project is a benefit to all mankind. Like the Library at Alexandria in the olden days, except way better, is how Google portrays its effort to scan all paper books into digital format so that, eventually, all information is available (via Google).

Some people don't like the project much, though. Among the dislikers is a certain contingent of authors, who have brought a lawsuit against Google to stop the imaging of their precious pages.

Google and the angry authors have reached a tentative settlement, with emphasis on the word tentative. The conflict asks a larger question, directly relevant to document imaging:

Does the digitizing of a document make it yours?

Textbook piracy, by way of document imaging, is another example of this question.

That larger question is part of the even larger issue of content ownership. In a world where documents and pictures and video can enter the Internet from so many millions of unconventional "input points" (the guy videotaping a movie for pirated distribution, for instance), how can ownership of content be maintained? Should it be maintained?

Or would all mankind benefit from a more liberal policy towards the very notion of owning words or pictures?

Mobile Document Imaging Dependent on Cell Phone Camera Improvement

Mobile document imaging is not far away from being a real tool used by professionals who do a lot of work on the road or in the field. Some professions that may especially benefit from an increased number of mobile document imaging applications might be:

-- Lawyers who travel to client locations
-- Doctors who work at multiple locations
-- Real estate pros who get all around town

All three of these professions, and many more, could make great use of the ability to capture document images on their mobile devices. However, in order for mobile document imaging to really catch on, camera quality in mobile devices will have to be improved.

In order to create readable, usable images of important documents, cameras must be high quality. Up to now, camera quality has been an afterthought for many cell phone-makers.

Blogger Ralph Gammon noted that the 3G iPhone has addressed this camera concern. Look for business-focused phone makers like RIM to make the next BlackBerry iterations more friendly to document imaging possiblities as well.

Microsoft Office Document Imaging: There, Waiting for Mass Adoption

Obviously, Microsoft is a gigantic company that has tentacles into nearly every area of the tech world, from Internet search to database software to small business consulting. One area where Microsoft is clearly excelling is in the burgeoning document imaging industry.

On the corporate scale, Microsoft's SharePoint server software is, as of now, the leading widely-used document imaging collaboration environment in the corporate market.

But Microsoft is not ignoring the consumer market. In fact, Microsoft is slowly but surely implementing more document imaging capabilities into Microsoft Office.

By including the Microsoft Office Document Imaging module in new version of office, Microsoft appears to be poised to capitalize on the growing familiarity of the common office worker with document imaging technology.

The opportunity is huge if only for compatibility issues. The ability to bring scanned documents directly into other Microsoft applications, such as Word and Excel, and then bring the document out again, presents an excellent convenience factor for the frequent user.

As of now, the Microsoft Office Document Imaging module is not included on all versions of Microsoft Office. To see if it's on your machine, go to "All Programs," then "Microsoft Office," then "Microsoft Office Tools."

It should be in that folder, if you have it.

If not, do you want it?

Brick-by-Brick Document Scanning Projects Building Solid Foundation for Future of Electronic Medical Records

Stories about the push towards electronic medical records usually note two primary facts: one, the Obama Administration's stimulus plan includes money to induce doctors and hospitals to implement electronic medical records; and two, the vast majority of doctors and hospitals do not currently use electronic medical records systems in any meaningful way.

But reports such as this one that focus on the paucity of fully developed electronic medical records systems may be missing the larger point, which is that such systems could never exist or thrive long-term without a solid foundation.

Therefore, it is perhaps better not to rush the process, but to let it build piece by piece. Fortunately, that's exactly what appears to be happening, thanks to document scanning technology that allows doctors and hospitals to cheaply scan huge reams of paper.

Document imaging services can scan pages at an extremely low cost.

Once all that paper has been digitized, more elaborate electronic medical records systems should spring up naturally, as databases are connected and rendered searchable.