 |
 |
I think this is an interesting one.... We went through a period when all people talked about was creating the 'paperless office' and it was going to be the future for info management. But I feel that we have almost gone full circle (well here in Cumbria we have) obviously we had the paper records, our stores were getting full, we needed solutions and digitisation was the obvious choice. Routes were explored and partial digistisation of some series records was attempted, however there were two problems - firstly, the quantity of records to be scanned/converted was huge and secondly, finding soft/hard ware that was going to remain compatible/readable in five years and also finding the funding to constantly 'update' technology. This I have to say is a major constraint within local authority working finding a source of constant funding as many initiatives are started but don't reach completion because the money dries up. So therefore we have had to go back to dealing with our paper records as 'paper' as boring as that sounds. Although I do believe that paper should be managed as paper and anything created electronically should be managed that way - but th! at is just my opinion. An important point I would make is that a paperless office will [probably] never be achieved within the archive profession. The reason for this being that you can for conservation or other reasons digitise a highly used collection to protect its condition but you have several problems - investment in/finding suitable equipment to capture/store high quality images for long periods that will remain readable, finding methods of low memory/low cost storage. What you find is that people asking for records do not want to see a digital copy of the record they want to see the original - so what do you do print off a copy because they want to read it! So not exactly doing anything to help the paperless office there.... Obviously ERM can be applied in other areas i.e. admin or back room functions, but I think where 'front line' services to the public are involved (you have to put them first, assume they are right and therefore honour their demands) paper will remain the media of choice for sometime to come. Because lets face it you would rather see the original Magna Carta than a digitised version that looks great on screen but you can't read it when it's printed out because your budget didn't stretch to higher spec scanning....quality control/technological compatibility are the hardest things to ensure whilst digitising collections. Obviously things are probably different in other sectors... Claire Records Manager Cumbria Records Centre Ashley Street CARLISLE Cumbria CA2 7BD (01228) 607280 [log in to unmask] **************************************************************************** This e-mail contains confidential information (which may also be legally privileged) and is intended solely for the use of the intended named recipient. If you are not the intended recipient you may not disclose, copy, distribute or retain any part of this message or its attachments. If youhave received this message in error, please notify the sender immediately by using the reply facility in your e-mail software. All copies of the message received in error should be destroyed. Any views or opinions expressed are solely those of the original author. This email message has been scanned for viruses, and declared to be virus free at the point of exit from Cumbria County Council's network. ********************************************************************************