The Green Sheet 017

THE

Full coverage of the Document Management industry, in all its forms.

INCORPORATING THE MICROGRAPHICS MARKET PLACE AND THE MICROGRAPHICS NEWSLETTER

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FOR SUBSCRIPTION DETAILS PLEASE CONTACT:-

THE GREEN SHEET

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Editor

65 Winchester Drive, Burbage, Leicestershire LE10 2BA, United Kingdom Tel: + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 4 7 6 3 8 2 3 2 8 Fax: + 4 4 ( 0 ) 2 4 7 6 3 8 2 3 1 9 Mobile: 0 7 9 7 0 2 4 8 1 4 6 U.K. E-mail - gsinfo@green-sheet.net U.S. E-mail - MNgreensheet@aol.com Visit our Web Site at www.green-sheet.net

Tim Nixon

Administration Carole Nixon

Graphic Design PaulEnsor

ADVERTISERS INDEX

inalphabeticalorder

Advance G ro u p ............................................................... 20 Data Imaging 81 Archiving .............................................. 21

W e always have in sto c k a se l e c t io n o f seco n d u se r PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT, EVERY PIECE OF WHICH HAS BEEN “PROPERLY” RECONDITIONED. I n c lu d in g :GAF 1635 HSD N on Vent ....................................................... £ 7500.00 GAF 1635 S tandard, from ...................................................... £ 3450.00 Aarque 1635 rrd , A queous..................................................... £ 4250.00

DG Tech ........................................................................... 20 DSS UK .............................................................................19

GAF 1635 HSD/V ent as new SPECIAL OFFER £ 9,000.00

M B S .............................................................................11,17 MicroVue Products ............................................................. 9 Precision Microproducts .................................................. 18 Response Technical Services .......................................... 12 Solar Microfilm Equipment ........................................ 16,23 Sourcecorp ...................................................................... 22

Canon PC80, from ..............................................................................£450.00 K odak R otaline........................................................................................ £ 2250.00 B ell & H owell F ilemaster I, from ....................................................£ 650.00 B ell & H owell ABR400, from ..............................................................£ 650.00 B ell & H owell F ilemaster III, as new..............................................£ 1750.00 B ell & H owell ABR506....................................................................£1250.00 R eal RB20 D iazo D uplicator latest spec .......................................£4250.00 R eal RB70 latest spec ........................................................................... £2250.00 R eal RB121.......................................................................................... £2750.00 F u ji AP5 P rocessor (immaculate) ......................................................£3250.00 Various Quality C ontrol E quipment, D ensitometers, Microscopes , C heck B enches, etc .................................... P.O.A. N E W !!!

R e f u r b is h e d C o p y T a b l e s f o r B e l l & H o w e l l F il e m a s t e r 3 C a m e r a s As N ew £95.00 e a . (E x c h a n g e )

e-Im ageData ................................................................... 13 Eyecom ............................................................................ 22 GB Products ..................................................................... 22 GG B a k e r ......................................................................... 14 Global Marketplace ......................................................... 2 J Graphic D a ta ..................................................................... 8 K odak ...............................................................................24

The Copy Company ......................................................... 22 The Microfilm S h o p ......................................................5,19 Trans Media Technology ................................................... 7 Upton Services ...................................................................2

ADVERTISERS RATES 2003 Advertising Data (U K & Europe) Cost

Type Area (mm) Double page spread

2 7 5 x 400

£1200.00

Outside back cover

2 7 5 x 190

£ 800.00

Full page

27 5 x 190

£ 650.00

Half page

138 x 190 or 275 x 93

£ 400.00

138 x 93 or 6 9 x 190

£ 250.00

Quarter page Front page solus

120x93

£ 325.00

Eighth page

69x93

£

A d v e rtis in g Data ( U S

&C anada) Cost

Type Area (inches1

IF WHAT YOU REQUIRE IS NOT LISTED PLEASE CONTACT US FOR AVAILABILITY We are th e UK d istributor fo r the “V isit er ” R ange o f D uplicators and d ev elo pers , contact us now for all new machines & spare parts

PLUS

E xtensive stocks of new and second hand spare parts W e o ffer a full w orkshop repa ir service for C anon F ile + F ilem aster camera heads

UPTON SERVICES 14 MARINE DRIVE C o n tact

u s n ow f o r d e t a ils

OGMORE BY SEA, VALE OF GLAMORGAN CF32 0PJ, UNITED KINGDOM TEL: +44 (0)1656-881071 FAX: +44 (0)1656-881072 Web Address: wwiv.uptonservices.com Email: sales@uptonservices.com

150.00

Double page spread

10 ',4 x 13 3,4

U S $ 2 0 1 6 .0 0

Outside back cover

10 ,/‘ x 7 ' /’ 1 0 ,/‘ x 7 ,/’

U S $ 910.00

Full page Half page

5 v’ x 7

5 1,1x 3

Quarter page

or 10 3,4 x 3

U S $ 1 1 2 0 .0 0

v-

or 2 1/4x 7

U S $ 560.00 U S $ 350.00

Front page solus

4 1/4x 3

U S $ 455.00

Eighth page

2 1/4x 3

U S $ 210.00

Colour rates:

A l l a b o v e rates .are for full c o lo u r a dvertising.

A r t w o r k s h o u ld b e s u p p lie d as; 3 0 0 d p i im ages o n C D o r Z i p D is k as T IF F , E P S , J P E G , P D F , Q u a r k X p r , ess, P h o t o s h o p o r Illustrator files.

Discounts S e r ie s d is c o u n t - ( 4 o r m o re in s e rt io n s o n o n e o r d e r ) P r e - p a y m e n t d is c o u n t - ( p a y m e n t

must

1 0 % discount

b e m ade on or

b e f o r e c o p y d e a d lin e b u t d o e s n o t in c lu d e c la ss ifie d ) A g e n c y d is c o u n t

1 5 % discount 1 0 % discount

Above discounts cannot be combined All above rates are subject to V.A.T. in the UK at the current rate.

T H IS M A G A Z IN E AN D T H E C O N T E N T S

AR E C O P Y R IG H T O F T H E P U B LIS H E R S

Showhits, and is a hit, in New York

"New York, New York, It's a Wonderful Town" was Advanstar's theme song.

Most exhibitors sang along, though not everyone. But all in all, it seemed a jolly good, though somewhat smaller, show, even with the snow.

Intrepid US reporter Mitch Badler (left) *

pictured here at the A11M Show with lan M cM inn, M D of W icks and Wilson

With apologies to Charles Dickens, A11M 2003 was neither the best of times nor the worst of times. It was a time of lower rather than great expectations. As such, it was a success for many of the reduced group of micrographics - related exhibitors who generally got better, livelier, more involved -albeit smaller - crowds of visitors to their booths. They expected less and got more.

Advanstar Communications, the trade show firm that now owns and puts on the annual A11M conference and exposition, held this year’s event in New York City’s Jacob Javits Center April 7-9. It was co­ hosted (i.e. held under one roof with one admission ticket to both expositions) with the ON DEM AND Digital Printing ft Publishing Conference and Exposition. Together the two events drew a total registration of 27,200 (excluding exhibitor personnel and press attendees) and had a combined total approaching 400 exhibitors.

Based on the official programme, the A11M section had 237 listed exhibitors, whilst ON DEMAND offered 138. The latter, however, had more larger footage booths.

The two shows filled a combined 259,460 sq. ft. of exhibition space. Last year A11M had 176,400 square feet on its own.

While Advanstar did not break out A11M vs. ON DEM AND registrants, at most times the two halls seemed to hold similar-sized crowds. Thus, it seems likely that A11M exposition registrants were at least 10°/o less than reported for San Francisco in 2002. The 2002 show had been A llM ’s first event registering under 30,000 in a decade, so the downward spiral continues, though it appears at a slower pace.

Paid conference session attendance is also declining, but more rapidly. At roughly 1,000 it was close to 50°/o less than the 1,968 recorded in 2002. That, in tum, was the first under 2,000 conference in a decade. There were 163 speakers for the 89 A11M 2003 conference sessions.

Many factors contributed to the declines. One was the War in Iraq and reduced air travel. Another was the continuing overall economic and business slowdown, which has hurt all national trade shows and meetings; in fact, the number one topic at all meetings of conference and association executives is always ’’what can we do to boost attendance?” Also contributing was the very specific recession in the imaging and information technology segments of the “content management” world to which A11M has committed itself. Finally, there was a surprise April snowstorm on opening day followed by cold and rainy weather during the rest of the three day event.

And, of course, the Javits Center remains one of the least hospitable of major U.S. conference centres. There are no adjacent hotels, no

PAGf 3

AIIM

centre parking, no public transportation. The conference ran free chartered buses to and from some hotels on New York’s West Side, but none from the East Side. Getting a taxi at the end of the day from Javits - even when there is no snowstorm - is always a challenging experience.

Film-Based Imaging Systems Trends Trends seen at recent expositions accelerated this year. ★ Supplier consolidation and the exit of well-known names continues. This year’s major departure from the scene, at least as an exhibitor, was Minolta. Earlier, it announced it was merging with Konica. Its digital microfilm lines are still being sold directly through established dealers and by Kodak but resolution of the long-term picture will depend on how the merger plays out. In the film arena, the agreement whereby Houston Fearless (through now-closed Ascendant Solutions International) became the U.S. and European distributor of Fuji microfilms fell apart. Fuji took back its own distribution in the U.S. and HF was never the same. ★ A totally quiescent hardware sector. With the exception of film scanners, particularly high volume models, hardware seems to be bought almost only for replacement rather than new installations.

Used and refurbished equipment, selling for low prices, remains the bane of manufacturers’ existence. ★ A sluggish film market. The duplicate film market dropped to the point where there are just two major suppliers, lntelicoat Technologies (the amalgam of Rexam and SKC America) in the United States and on the international scene, and Star (CK) in Europe. This reflects the steep fall of duplicate COM output. The outlook for original film in the United States was clouded by the until-now slow but growing tendency among banks to go to digital check imaging and bypass filming.

The one bright spot on the horizon appears to be use of microfilm as the storage medium for the long-term preservation of digital information, as well as in “reference archiving systems”, such as those being promoted by Eastman Kodak. Interestingly, Kodak refers to the storage medium as reference archive media, not microfilm. ★ COM’s decline. There were no COM recorder units on display or discussed; depending on your definition of Kodak’s Archive Writer there was one. But there is now, effectively, just one worldwide COM recorder manufacturer, G1D, with the exit of Anacomp from the market. COM services in the United States suffered as clients moved to digital storage and services. ★ The Service Scene. Consolidation of vendors, coupled with reduction of service sites, was the trend in the United States. Only one national multi-site service house, ImageMax, displayed at the A11M Exposition. Another, Lason, had a presence within the Wicks and Wilson booth; it is a distributor for W and W in the U.S. Many national firms, for whom micrographics services had been an important sector, continued to have financial troubles that resulted from over-expansion and "creative accounting” in the 1990s before the technology bubble burst. Conversely, national firms who moved into digital services early and downgraded their reliance on imaging services did much better. An example of the latter was ACS, which moved onto the “Fortune 500” list. Regional service companies, blending digital and micrographic offerings, seemed to do well.

Exposition Highlights There were, by The Green Sheet’s count, fewer companies offering micrographics-related products. This includes both “pure” micrographics products organisations and those for whom film-based products are a small segment of a larger universe of products. In total we counted less than 20 such organisations.

Fourteen had their own booths; four others exhibited within the booths of other companies. Overall, this was comparable to, but a slight decline from, the “just under two dozen” range of filmbased exhibitors that seemed to be holding steady in recent years.

In the microfilm/hybrid imaging systems industry’s halcyon days, the total exceeded 60. But, as noted before, even tbougb the A11M exposition isn’t what it once was, for people interested in film-based products, it’s still the largest “microfilm show” around.

There appeared to be more new products this year than at the last two A11M expositions, but that also reflects the fact fewer total products were on display, so the ratio of new to established products was better. Truly “new” items were the same exception they have been in recent years. Most products shown or discussed were upgrades to previously-shown or announced technology, software and systems.

The only area that offered truly new products was microfilm scanners.

Microfilm Scanners nextScan, a new firm making its public debut at the A11M expo, showed the Eclipse 300 ppm production level rollfilm scanner. It handles both 16mm and 35mm and is capable of scanning 300 ppm 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Eclipse can create grayscale and bitonal images at the same time, without a reduction of output speed. To minimise network and other performance bottlenecks, the scanner speed is optimised with nextScan’s exclusive Adaptive Speed Control. The Eclipse uses a fibre optic light source, pre scan film cleaning, auto focus with true optical resolution and high speed, 20 second rewind. Setup is done with nextScan’s Fusion software and nextAssist Wizard.

The latter analyses image data and provides a base setup for the operator. A 10-bit, anti-blooming camera array enhances image quality and protects against overexposure. nextScan, organised by executives who had once been at SunRise Imaging, also unveiled the Phoenix rollfilm scanner, an upgrade on existing, older SunRise 16 and 35mm scanners. To the guts of the older, slower scanners it adds a new camera and camera array, one board architecture and nextScan’s Fusion software. The result is a new unit that scans 220 ppm, up to 2-5x faster than the older units it modifies. No longer do operators have to slow down for grayscale; the unit automatically adjusts for potential network bottlenecks. llmage Retrieval, a Dallas, Texas, based reseller, was named the official U.S. reseller of nextScan’s Eclipse and Phoenix scanners.

Once the largest reseller of SunRise scanners in the U.S., llmage has discontinued selling the SunRise line and will now provide domestic sales, service and support for nextScan.

PAGE 4

Visit www.nextscan.com

Zeutschel offered the U.S. debut of the Omniscan 1000 16/35mm rollfilm scanner line, unveiled a month earlier at the CeBit exposition in Germany. The line will be sold in North America by Crowley Micrographics.

Nicknamed the “cappuccino maker” by some because of its intriguing design, the Omniscan 1000 comes in three versions.

The HS is a production model with 256 grayscale mode. The SP is an on-demand scan-to-print and scan-to-file model with 256

grayscale. The Colour unit is a production-level colour microfilm model with 36-bit colour scan mode. Scan speeds are up to 160 fpm for 16mm at 200 dpi and 60 fpm for 35mm at 300 dpi.

Maximum scan resolution is 400 dpi.

Features include automatic image detection and image splitting, auto scanning, automatic film stop at film end. Image output is to all standard image formats.

Operating systems accommodated are both Linux and Windows.

Accessories include document management software, image enhancement software, a laser printer and PC.

Visit www.CrowleyMicrographics.com or www.zeutschel.de

Wicks and Wilson, celebrating its 30th year in business, also took the occasion of A11M to launch, in the U.S., their new and improved scanner lines of aperture card, rollfilm and microfiche Scanstations.

The new models feature faster scanning speeds for both bitonal and grayscale, advanced grayscale imaging, OCR file naming and advanced SMARTSCAN software, as well as a new look with all models available in a new sleek design with silver bodies.

The CS aperture card Scanstations consist of the CS300, CS500 and CS750 models. The numbers indicate tbeir rated speeds at 200 dpi bitonal. The CS750 is the only one with optional grayscale.

The RS rollfilm line of Scanstations consists of the R S I00, RSI 50, and RS200 with bitonal speeds of 65, 120 and 180, respectively, for 16mm film scanned at 200 dpi. All three models can also scan 35mm with the RS150 and RS250 having optional 256 advanced grayscale imaging.

A new ES200 Microfiche Scanstation has improved SCANFICHE software and can scan up to 100 images per minute for 24x A4 documents at 200 dpi on standard 148mm x 105mm fiche. It can accommodate all usual row/column formats below 50X ratio.

Wicks and Wilson also showed its redesigned and improved COM plotter, the ACO-2. It is a complete aperture card plotting solution that provides all the hardware and PLOTCARD software to produce full archival quality imaged, punched and printed 35mm aperture cards from electronic images or CAD plot files.

The new OCR naming feature is available as on option on some of the units.

Lason is the U.S. distributor for the Wicks and Wilson lines.

Visit www.wwl.co.uk or www.lason.com

Mekel, the third of the traditional big three among production volume scanner manufacturers (Mekel, SunRise and Wicks and Wilson) and a division of Houston Fearless, did not have its new 600 series of scanners ready for the A11M Expo. However, it expects to have the Model 625 ready for release in Summer 2003. Claimed to be a “fifth generation rollfilm scanner” it will offer improved bitonal imaging and increased speed producing up to 100 images per minute or up to 6,000 per hour. A partnership with Picture Elements will provide totally new, improved image processing boards for the units.

Mekel also hopes to have the model 665 ready for introduction at the ARMA show in Fall 2003. It will scan a wide range of film types, doing COM fiche at 1700 images per hour (iph), straight fiche at 1500 iph, and jackets at 1300 iph. It will also feature Picture Elements boards and its scanned output will be compatible with OCR.

Visit www.mekel.com

Three software products are included in the i7300 Scanner Application Software Portfolio. These are the Kodak i7300 Scanner Interface Software, Powerfilm Application Software and Kodak 1 Image Server Software.

Visit www.kodak.com/go/docimaging

Staude of Germany did not formally exhibit its Multi Fly accessory, but had literature available through a U.S. agent, VersalMAGE Software Corp.

It offers the Multi Fly automatic fiche/jacket carrier that can work with most Canon, Kodak and Minolta microfilm scanners in use today. Multi Fly prescans the entire microfiche, jacket or aperture card in three seconds, stores the individual image locations in its on-board memory, and then proceeds to scan all the images on the individual microfiche or microfilm jacket automatically. Scanning speed is established by the host microfilm scanner. Minimal operator intervention is said to allow operation of multiple scanners by one operator. A major selling point is that, because the Multi Fly fits onto economical existing scanners, two or three units can be purchased more cheaply than one production scanner and one

operator could operate multiple units. Initial sales have been made in Europe.

Visit www.versasoftware.com or www.scannen24.de

Staude is also developing a new film scanner, the Allfilm, which would mark its entiy into the production microfilm scanner market. It would have three different carriers, one for fiche/jackets, one for 16/35mm rollfilm and one for aperture cards. The carriers would be interchangeable, allowing one machine to scan different microforms. Staude hopes to be able to launch the Allfilm by Fall 2003 and has high hopes for it as an affordable fiche raster COM with an on board processor. Another Staude product under development, the Digital Film Reader, also scans film, but the company calls it a reader rather than a scanner.

Analogue Imaging is scheduled to be the U.S. distributor

Visit rburkel@juno.com

S-T Imaging showed its Flip-Top Library Film Scanner Upgrade Kit. It is compatible with and easily installed on the MicroVue Gideon 900/1000 library readers, the Indus Super Carrel, the Northwest 2020 and the Solar A2 Ultravision readers. The upgrade allows projected images from these library readers to be scanned directly to a PC with output in TIFF, JPEG and PNG file formats.

With the viewing screen/scanner lid down, the user scrolls through film as usual and sees large, easy-to-read images. When an image to be scanned is found, the user flips the top up to reveal an 11 ” x 17” scanner. A click of a mouse key scans and places the image directly into the PC. Scan modes are 48-bit colour and 16-bit grayscale. The system uses ST’s Scan-Write Kiosk Scanner Suite software.

A patent-pending Scan-Write system from ST will also allow users to scan images directly from a projected film image and write them to a CD. The CD burning process is an automated function that requires no additional software.

Visit www.stimaging.com

Microfilm/Fiche/Aperture Conventional Metal Filing Cabinets BMH range

- 2 row s of fiche / 3 row s of boxes / cartridge s

TM S range

- 3 row s of fiche / 4 row s of boxes / cartridges 2, 4, 5, 7 or 10 Draw er versio n s

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PAGE 5

Eastman Kodak demonstrated the new i7300, a replacement for the Intelligent Microimage Scanner (IMS). As an on-demand 16mm film scanner, the i7300 doubles the scanning speed of the IMS, approximately 25 images per minute. It now also has the option of being able to use Powerfilm software as well as tbe older software designed for IMS. A desktop accessory for the PC, it retrieves and scans images from Kodak’s new Reference Archive Media and legacy microfilm applications from 16mm film. The images produced are deskewed, cropped, merged (duplex) and displayed in seconds.

Using an adjacent PC, the digital images can be printed, faxed, or e-mailed. In addition to greater speed, the i7300 runs more quietly than its predecessor. List prices have been reduced for the i7300 compared to the IMS.

Canon concentrated most of its exhibit to document scanners and copiers, noting that in 2002, for the fifth consecutive year, it achieved the overall number one market share for copiers sold in the U.S. However, Canon did show its newest digital reader scanner, the MS300. The unit, introduced late last year, looks like its mates, the MS400 and MS500, and uses the same carriers and lenses. However, the 1VIS300 has 8-bit grayscale scanning and a scan-to-e-mail facility that works with existing e-mail software.

The scanning resolution has been revved up to 600 x 600 dpi compared with 400 x 400 dpi on the MS400 and MS500. The 1VIS300 can also be used as a printer by connecting it to a PC and using an existing printer.

Canon also extolled its ImageWARE suite of software products that work with the company’s full line of document and microfilm scanners. ,

Visit www.usa.canon.com www.canon.co.uk or www.canoneurope.com

Capture Products Crowley Micrographics demonstrated Zeutschel’s Omniscan 10000, which Crowley distributes in North America. It is an A1 colour scanner for libraries and archives. The 10000 is a highperformance overhead colour scanning system for books, newspapers and large format documents such as books, maps and drawings. It takes originals up to D size. The scan head is 10424 x 7300 pixels with a precision scan lens that is said to give a 2” depth of field with 36-bit colour without distortion. Maximum resolution is 300 dpi but 600 dpi is an option. Scanning speed is 10 seconds at 300 dpi. Image output is to all standard image formats. A variety of optional image enhancement software is available.

Visit www.crowleymicrographics.com or www.zeutschei.de

ATOS announced the addition of its first digital film scanner, the ALOS Z-Scan 45. The ALOS ZScan 45 is an easy to use microform scanner that will fit most low to mid volume film applications. A perfect choice for public access applications or where ease of use is important.

The Z-Scan 45 is a complete desktop scanning system that is capable of scanning from both positive and negative film.

Document management software is included with the ALOS ZScan 45 that allows users to view, scan, e-mail, fax, print, and network all images stored on microfilm. Optional software allows users to scan and print to a laser printer with one key stroke.

Scans can be saved in common formats including multi-page TIFF and PDF. With easy connectivity, the ALOS Z-Scan 45 is compatible with the following computer operating systems: Win 98, NT 4.0, Win 2000 and XP.

Visit www.alosusa.com

Eastman Kodak held the first general public showing of its new i9600 series of Archive Writers, which supersede the 4800 series.

There are two models currently available, the 9610 and 9620.

Both are said to offer better image quality, rising from 4800 to 9600 pixels (explaining the series name change). The 9610 operates at the same speed as the older 4800 but costs slightly less. The 9620 offers double the speed of the 9610 but at only a 25°/o higher price. At a 24X reduction, the 9620 produces 170 images per minute, a total of 7225 images per roll of film. At 40X reduction, it produces 400 images per minute or 17000 images per roll of film. To go with the new units, Kodak has formulated

a new 16mm high quality microfilm that is 1S0/ANS1 certified for a 500 year life expectancy when properly processed and stored under controlled conditions. Called Kodak Reference Archive Media, the film is said to produce images that will yield the highest image quality when images are scanned from the film for delivery back into a digital imaging system.

Kodak has developed new application software for the i9600 units.

It accepts incoming files and is used to organise and manage the output of the files to an i9600 Archive Writer. This software, which acts as a seamless bridge between a paper scanner and the Archive Writer, also provides ease of integration with other document management software products, such as those recently released by Captiva and Kofax for use with Archive Writers.

Visit www.kodak.com/go/docimaging

KAB Scanning Resources, a scanning system integrator, is the D.S. distributor for Agfa’s ADM1S line. It is combining the ADM1S S61 Series bitonal scanner with JEtK Im aging’s DpuScan 4.0 document capture software and already has made a number of sales in the U.S. market. The ADM1S S61, manufactured by Microform GmbH, is capable of scanning up to 480 bitonal images per minute and is known for its sturdiness and ability to do 24/7 production with minimal downtime. KAB says it plans to begin importing and distributing the ADM1S 41 document scanner in June and is considering adding the ADM1S CD 51 rotary microfilm camera, and the ADM1S SR 24 and SR 30 microfilm scanners as well as the lmagedesk 11 fiche scanner, all at a later date. They would be marketed as key elements in hybrid capture and storage systems. The company also provides a service operation in Marietta, Georgia for organisations that don’t want to invest in their own paper and/or microfilm scanning and processing facilities.

Visit www.kabscan.com

Minolta, while not exhibiting, was represented on other stands by the ACF-7 automatic aperture card carrier. Currently this can be fitted onto both the Minolta 6000 and 7000 digital readerscanners, which are distributed by Kodak as well as by Minolta dealers. Linder the Kodak name the reader-scanners are designated the 2400DSV and 3000DSV, respectively. The carrier can hold up to 150 aperture cards in the hopper and will automatically scan all of them. This makes the reader-scanners into medium- to high-volume aperture card scanners. At the same time, the units can be used for other microforms by simply changing carriers.

Visit www.minolta.com or www.kodak.com/go/docimaging

National Microsales, exhibiting through other vendors’ booths, extolled its M D S 2120 series of Miru Data Systems scanners.

This is a compact, sheet fed desktop high volume and high speed document scanner. It has SCSI-11 and TWAIN interface and can accept documents from 2.75” to letter size. Scanning speed is 180 images/minute for cheque size documents in simplex mode, 60 images/minute in letter size, and 45 images/minute in legal mode. Scanning volume doubles in duplex mode. Scanning resolution ranges from 100-300 dpi'and options include an imprinter and endorser.

Visit www.nationaimicrosales.com

S-T Imaging showed its Scan-Write Library Book Scanner System. It consists of the TWAIN-compatible Scan-Write Library Image Scanner, which scans images into a PC directly from books, photographs and

Visit www.stimaging.com

Other Micrographics-Related Products ALOS Micrographics demonstrated the lines of micrographic equipment it offers. These include reader-printers such as the ALOS Z43, readers, microfilm scanners, a planetary camera and a variety of rollfilm and universal carriers that can be used with most manufacturers’ micrographic or hybrid reader-printers.

ALOS, which has been producing micrographic equipment for nearly 60 years, has evolved into an OEM manufacturing and i distribution company for other organisations as well as its own products.

Visit www.alosusa.com

Featured among these was the Super Carrel Microfilm Reader, a 16/35mm library reader. Special features include a 24” x 24” screen, 18X - 42X zoom lens, image rotation and a choice of manual or motorised rewinding.

Visit www.indususa.com

VersalMAGE Software, demonstrating out of the Kodak area, reviewed its entire software line, but spotlighted several new releases. One is VersalMAGE 32 software for Kodak’s new i7300 film scanner. It is a 32-bit Windows-based microfilm retrieval and digital scanning system. It can also provide ISIS and TWAIN paper scanning capability together with TIFF and analogue microfilm image management. Other new products are the VersaMANAGER Information Request Processor, designed to replace Kodak ImageLink PC M O D CAR software, and the VersalMAGE GOLD 6.2 programme that allows scanning of documents without the need to manually index database fields. A search index is created automatically by the VersalMAGE system using full text OCR for each TIFF image.

Visit www.versasoftware.com

Connecticut Micrographics, the primary provider of fiche duplicators, showed its GEMINI line of non-ammonia fiche duplicators as well as the Micobra line of duplicators and the CM1 M -2 Rotary Expsoure Onit (printer). CM1 is also a manufacturer and distributor of specialised micrographic products and a provider of cut diazo and vesicular duplicating films.

Visit www.micrographics.com

Houston Tearless (HF Group), in addition to the Mekel production microfilm scanners, also offered information on the Extek duplicator lines it manufactures and distributes as well as its own extensive Houston Tearless microfilm processor lines.

Visit www.myhfx.com

Indus International reviewed the complete line of micrographic equipment it manufactures and/or distributes, especially readers.

Exhibitor reactions How did exhibitors react to the show? TGS queried 15 of the micrographics-related exhibitors at the exposition for their reactions to the event. Their overwhelming reaction was a favourable one with 80°/o calling it a “good” show. One even considered it “excellent” while no one thought it was ’’poor”.

Regarding attendance, most calculated it to be about the same as other A11M expos in recent years, but a minority thought attendance was not as good. However, almost all agreed users and potential users made up the majority of their visitors, something exhibitors long for. Other major visitor categories were consultants and bureaux. Almost everyone felt they had sufficient time to spend with visitors, most of whom stopped by to talk about products and services.

TRANSM E

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CONVERSION SPECIALISTS

020 8686 4222

enquiries@tmt.co.uk

017 9258 1441

www.tmt.co.uk

PAGf 7

references materials, plus the Scan-Write Scanner Suite of software. The images can be reviewed and edited from the PC screen and then printed, e-mailed or burnt to a CD. Any user of the software is said to be able to view and edit without extensive pre-training. Scanning speed is approximately six seconds with optical resolution of 1200 dpi (H) x 2400 dpi (V).

Comparing the A11M Show to ARMA, half of those responding said the shows were equal in value while 25°/o each thought A11M was either better than or poorer than ARMA. When asked about what industry shows were most productive, A11M got more votes than any other domestic event, followed by the CeBIT show in Germany. However, several exhibitors commented that “any vertical show is more productive than a broad show like A11M.”

Graphic Data Document and Data Management

Did holding the show in conjunction with the ON DEM AN D digital printing and publishing show help, not affect or hurt attendance? Did having the show in New York help, hurt or have no effect? Exhibitors were split down the middle on the effect of joining forces with ON DEMAND. Half thought it helped attendance and half felt it had no effect. But no one thought it hurt. As for being in New York, results were similar. About one third thought it helped, one third thought it hurt and the rest said it had no impact.

One survey result that Advanstar will like, was all exhibitors who responded said they plan to exhibit at the 2004 show in New York. Many of them, however, would be happier if the show were elsewhere. In fact, that was the number one suggestion they offered to AllM/Advanstar. Peter Hovell, Connecticut Micrographics, comment was typical. “Go to cities other than just New York. It should boost attendance and interest. Being in the same place year after year is not the best thing for the show.” Ian McMinn, Wicks and Wilson, emphasised international considerations, saying, “Move the location and dates so as not to conflict with CeBIT (held in March in Germany).”

John Glover, SoureCorp/MDS/Agfa also suggested, “Schedule meetings at times that don’t always conflict with the expo.” Nancy Dhurjaty, Eastman Kodak, added that having more spending statistics available would be helpful to exhibitors. Bob Zagami, ImageMax, commented, “It’s not an A11M show anymore. Now it's up to Advanstar to aggressively promote and they seem to be doing just that.

The local advertising they did seemed to help.”

Graphic Data j

y Graphic Data

B u s in e s s P r o c e s s S u p p o r t P r o fe s s io n a l S e r v ic e s O n lin e C o n te n t M a n a g e m e n t O n s ite M a n a g e d S e r v ic e s F a c ilitie s O u ts o u r c in g

R e co rd s M a n a g e m e n t Live File M a n a g e m e n t O n lin e T ra c k in g & R etrie val S c a n on D e m a n d S e c u re P h y sic a l A rch ive

Graphic Data

D o c u m e n t P r o c e s s in g S c a n n in g & M icrofilm ing Data Capture M ailroo m H an d lin g H ard w are S a le s & Service

It wasn’t all hard work however, here Paul Negus (The Microfilm Shop) and Jim Westoby (e-lmageData) share a drink after a long day at the show.

For more information £3^

call us or visit our w ebsite

PAGE 8

All in all, it was a qualified vote of confidence.

Visit THE GREEN SHEET Web Site at: www. green-sheet.net

01908 269600 www.graphicdataonline.com

A progress report on the directory of UK document management products and services at www.ggbaker.com In our October 2002 edition we reported on the launch of this comprehensive website which lists virtually all UK sources of document management products and services. We recently followed this up with a second interview between Editor, Tim Nixon and Gerald Baker.

TN: If a company is not included on your site, what do they have to do to obtain a free listing?

GB: We want to make the site fully comprehensive so we would be delighted to hear from them. The best way is to e-mail me direct at my office in Spain on ggbaker@ctv.es including the full address of the company, phone, fax, e-mail and web details and the name of someone with whom we can liaise and whose name and job title we will publish in the address section if desired so that users have someone to contact.

Tim Nixon: When we last spoke your website had just been redesigned to include details of electronic document management products and services in addition to micrographics. Your company is best known for its work in the micrographic field, how difficult was the transition to coverage of the entire document management marketplace?

We need brief details of the activity of the company which must, of course, relate to some aspect of document management. The only restrictions are that we normally only list companies with UK addresses and for suppliers of hardware and software we need to know whether the company is the prime UK source of a product or an agent or reseller as it affects where we list them. In most cases we will visit their website and attempt to include all relevant products or services that are mentioned.

Gerald Baker: Many companies with whom we have maintained close contact over the last 30 years are active in both micrographics and electronic document management and it was relatively simple to obtain the additional information we needed from them.

We knew that it would take time for us to establish similar relationships with suppliers outside the fields of micrographics or hybrid systems, so we prepared initial free entries for them from data we obtained from their websites and from information already in our files. This enabled us to make the site almost comprehensive when it was launched. We are now individually approaching these new contacts, inviting them to examine their free entries and to update them as necessary. Most are enthusiastic and co-operative but some treat the project with suspicion, probably on the hypothesis that there is no such thing as a free lunch!

TN: What response have you had from users and potential users?

GB: Our main measure of the performance of our site is the data supplied to us by BT Webworld who host it for us. This is expressed as the number of "hits" the site has received in a period which, in our case, runs from the 5th of one month to the 4th of the following month. The response is encouraging as it has grown steadily from 3,706 "hits" in the launch month of July 2002 to 59,787 in March of this year. In total we have had well over 300,000 "hits" and we also receive many requests for help by fax, e-mail and on the phone; but we do not encourage this as it can be very time-consuming.

TN: Are entries really free or are there hidden charges?

GB: We are happy to include any UK supplier of document management products or services and there is no charge of any kind for listings under all relevant categories plus address details including e-mail and web addresses and the name of a contact, nor do we charge for subsequent updates.

TN: If you are still receiving direct requests for information, are there areas where your site needs modification?

GB: It is certainly far from perfect and we are constantly making minor improvements, but most of the requests are slightly outside the intended purpose of the site or because the enquirer is not aware of the information we have included. For example, recent enquiries included the Environmental Health Department of a District Council wanting assistance with the selection of a microfiche reader-printer. The answer is actually on the site because our Micrographic Tutorial gives guidance on the choice of reading and printout equipment and we have categories for suppliers of new microfiche reader-printers and for companies offering reconditioned units. Another District Council required

The prime purpose of our site is to lead potential customers to appropriate supplier websites. Our site is really just a very elaborate index and we do not attempt to include all of the data a searcher requires to make a decision. To attract visitors to their site rather than that of a competitor, suppliers can enhance their presentation if they wish and one of the best and least expensive options is to hyperlink all of their entries to their address and insert an external link from their web address to their own website.

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PAGf 9

atG G Baker & A

Update on activity

MICROFILM READERS .....______ _ L

certified destruction of computer media - an activity we include in our section on companies offering bulk storage and disposal of paper, film and computer media.

Recent overseas requests included a Spanish company looking for a replacement lamp for an elderly German diazo duplicator who could have found Suppliers of Lamps and Bulbs as a sub­ category of our section on Consumables; a student in the Philippines needing help with a thesis on online voting; a request for information about the Spanish bureau market and a US company with about 50 as-new readers for uncut 105mm roll microfiche seeking a possible purchaser.

TN: Some of the examples you quoted are from outside the UK - what proportion of your response comes from overseas.

GB: We do not promote the site outside the UK, other than our minoir presence in The Green Sheet, and we only submit it to UK search engines. I cannot give you an exact figure for overseas input but it would be relatively small. It may rise slightly due to increased usage of our three tutorials which can be used without charge for educational and training purposes as their content applies internationally. The sections relating to products and services are limited to UK suppliers so they are of little interest to most overseas users.

TN: How many Sections are there on your site and what do they include?

GB: The educational Section contains three extensive Tutorials covering Electronic Document Management, Micrographics and Hybrid Systems.

TN: Why do searchers use your site if they are only going to end up on another - why don't they just go direct to the final location?

GB: If searchers know what they want and the name and web address of the company that provides it, they will certainly go direct to that supplier's website, but in many cases some or all of this information is missing and the searcher needs a well indexed directory to lead him or her to all appropriate sources. It is most important that the information should be impartial, up to date and comprehensive for users to be confident that all avenues have been explored. Our tutorials guide searchers on points to consider when making selections and we can call on over 30 years experience of allocating product categories and designing search paths to make retrieval as simple as possible.

TN: Why do searchers not use the many search engines that index the web, they too are free and many searchers will be more familiar with Yahoo than G G Baker Ft Associates.

GB: We are not in competition with the search engines, in fact many of the "hits" we receive probably resulted from searchers passing from a search engine to our site. We employ a specialist company to keep our site constantly before hundreds of search engines; if you look at the source code at the head of each of our web pages you will find normally invisible data which assists their indexers and web crawlers.

It is important to appear on the first page of the results from a search engine and it is quite difficult to achieve that status. Much depends on the choice of the search terms and phrases used as indexing parameters, but an impartial directory with many external links to other sites is often given preference over commercial entries. We regularly monitor our standing and the last report I received shows that in sample searches on Yahoo, Excite, MSN, Inktomi, Overture, AOL, Teoma, About, WebCrawler, Ask Jeeves and Google we were listed on the first page in 204 test searches using phrases such as "Document Scanning Services."

A Section is dedicated to prime UK suppliers of Consumables whom we list against 24 product categories. We do not include local stockists such as bureaux, but we mention whether they stock supplies in their listings under Service Providers.

TN: How else do you promote the site?

One Section covers Hardware Suppliers. In its sub-sections we list the manufacturers or prime importers of EDM equipment such as Autoloaders, Jukeboxes, Paper Scanners and Network Printers and Micrographic Hardware ranging from Cameras to Reader-Printers and items for Hybrid Systems such as COM Recorders and Film Scanners. We have just added a new category for local stockists of new and used equipment.

GB: We have many user contacts through our publishing activity and we have notified them of the end of the Micrographics Year Book and the launch of the website. We have had a good response to our advertisements in your magazine and our site has been the subject of several editorial reviews. We were a finalist in the recent IM2002 Awards and that too gave the site valuable publicity.

A Section is devoted to Service Providers. We list about 150 bureaux alphabetically and geographically and include very brief details of their services. There are additional categories for companies offering high volume storage for paper, film and computer media and electronic warehousing; independent consultants and integrators of software.

TN: As searches are free and you do not charge for basic entries, you must rely on advertising to finance the site. Do you find that companies are willing to purchase advertisements on a web site?

A Section on Software Suppliers lists the prime UK suppliers against the name of the software they offer with a brief description of the product. As the Section is very large we have divided it into seven broad categories such as Software relating to Input Activity in which we list software controlling Scanning and/or Data Capture by OCR, ICR, Mark Recognition, Forms Processing, etc.

TN: You stated that you provide very brief details. Surely that is insufficient for searchers to select one appropriate supplier from such extensive lists.

GB: You are quite right, but we can narrow most searches down to a limited number of suppliers and we provide their web addresses to make it simple for the search to progress to their websites where full details should be available. That is why we encourage suppliers to pay for us to hyperlink all of their entries and link our site to theirs with just one click.

GB: My answer must be a qualified yes. We knew that this would be a problem area, particularly because we are giving an enormous amount of publicity away without charge. Free basic entries are essential because the site would never be comprehensive if we attempted to charge for them, but suppliers can gain considerable added value with a very small outlay on publicity. We mainly rely on the magnificent bush wireless system that operates within the industry to attract advertising and it seems to be working because I now anticipate that the site will break even in respect of its basic operating costs in the second half of this year.

TN: How can advertising add value and improve response?

GB: The most important enhancement we offer involves bookmarking a supplier's address and hyperlinking all relevant entries throughout the site to it; plus an external hyperlink.

Without this hyperlinking the progression of a search involves a click to reach the introductory page of the Address Section, a click to the start of a listing by the initial letter of the company name and a scroll down that listing to the desired address; to get to the supplier's site the web address must then be typed into a browser.

Users naturally prefer fully hyperlinked entries that enable them to do all of that with just two clicks and as we only charge £40 per annum for the facility it is affordable for even the smallest supplier.

Another enhancement which assists users and benefits advertisers is the publication of a statement of up to 100 words in bold type following a supplier's address. This is valuable because virtually all searches lead to address data where a well-written statement can stress the features that make a supplier worth contacting in preference to others. Typical statements mention the size of the enterprise, special areas of expertise with details of major recent contracts, unusual facilities, and an elaboration of the inevitably limited details we provide about the products or services on offer.

This is a popular option for which we charge £60 per annum.

Display advertisements are also available We charge £50 per annum for a space which displays at about 70mm X 45mm and £90 for one measuring around 70mm X 90mm.

TN: Those are rather small sizes for display advertising - how do you cater for companies promoting an extensive product line?

GB: Special considerations apply to advertising on the web.

Readers of your magazine probably study it from cover to cover and see its entire advertisement content but that is not the case with a website. On the web any advertisement should only promote the products or services covered by the section in which it is published. If a supplier offers two distinct products then two small advertisements should be considered. Large bitmaps can seriously affect the loading time for a page because many searchers are still using modems, we allow just one small picture and a logo - the rest of the ad is set as text which does not delay loading. Colour can be used for background, borders and in illustrations at no extra cost, but we can not cater for elaborate layouts. Within these limitations, display advertising is worthwhile because a picture gives an immediate indication of the size and probable cost of any product.

TN: On a personal note, how do you find life in Majorca?

GB: My wife, Pamela, and I have lived there since 1986 but our links go back to the 1950’s and we still love the island. The coastal towns get rather crowded in summer, but our house is inland, high up on a mountain where we can see almost nine miles of coastline to the south and more mountains to the north. It is the perfect spot for writing in peace and quiet and Pamela has now written two books, one of which is appropriately titled "Enjoying Majorca".

It was published in 1995 but it has become something of a classic and is still in demand.

With modern communications I find it quite easy to keep in touch but phone calls from Spain to the UK are relatively expensive so I send e-mails in preference. Unfortunately, when I approach companies with whom we have yet to establish close contacts our e-mails are often victims of spam killers. I would ask any suppliers who have not received details of their free entries on our site to provide a personal e-mail address to which we can send data for verification.

TN: Thank you for the update. I wish you every success with the future development of this interesting project.

GB: I am most grateful for the opportunity to explain what we are doing and I will try to keep you fully informed because I greatly value your magazine. We are still on a learning curve but we know a lot more about web publishing than when we launched a trial site three years ago. I am now certain that we have created one of the most powerful marketing tools currently available to UK suppliers and an important free information resource for users and potential users of document management products and services.

Contact: Gerald Baker, G G Baker ft Associates, PO Box 1, Calvia, Mallorca, Spain.

Tel/Fax: +34 9 71 670536 e-mail: ggbaker@ctv.es or visit Web: www.ggbaker.com TM

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Ilmage Retrieval appointed official US reseller for nextScan Rollfilm Scanners Ilmage Retrieval has discontinued reselling SunRise Imaging products and will now provide domestic sales, service and support for nextScan llmage Retrieval, one of the most experienced resellers in the film scanning industry, has announced that they have been named the official US reseller of nextScan’s Eclipse and Phoenix microfilm scanners. Once the largest reseller of SunRise scanners in the US, Ilmage Retrieval has opted to discontinue their sales of SunRise products in favour of the more advanced technology used within the nextScan offering.

“The nextScan systems are an exciting step forward for the microfilm scanning industry and we are proud to be associated with them. The Phoenix and Eclipse rollfilm scanners are raising the level of quality, performance and productivity badly needed in an industry where the existing scanners are based on designs over 5 years old. nextScan has produced an excellent solution that will very quickly become the benchmark for the scanning industry that other manufacturers compare against,” said Derek Jenkins, President and CEO of llmage Retrieval.

life to all models of the slower, outdated SunRise 16 and 35mm microfilm scanners. It will scan at over 220 pages per minute and even scan grayscale and bitonal images at the same time without a reduction in speed. The faster Eclipse rollfilm system was designed for the most challenging of conversion projects, scanning over 300 pages per minute, even in grayscale. With Adaptive Speed Control, auto thresholding and the latest in high performance camera technology, nextScan is giving demanding users the power to deliver complex work on time and under budget. Both the Phoenix and Eclipse were built around a robust single board architecture designed for reliability and supportability vs. the multiple boards used in the SunRise design.

About llmage Retrieval

“nextScan is proud to have llmage Retrieval as our official US support and sales partner,” said Steven Butterfield, President and CEO of nextScan. “llmage Retrieval’s proven commitment to supporting their customer before and after the sale is the same as nextScan’s - our customers always come first.”

bounded in 1990, llmage Retrieval has been servicing the film scanning market for the last thirteen years. From the company offices in Dallas, Texas, llmage Retrieval has grown from a small service bureau and software development company to a premier reseller of micrographics products - providing sales, installation, training, service and parts distribution as well as being a custom software developer for the imaging industry.

llmage Retrieval will be selling, installing and supporting the full line of nextScan products including the Phoenix, an upgrade to existing SunRise systems, and the higher performance Eclipse rollfilm scanner. The Phoenix upgrade was designed to give new

Contact: Derek Jenkins, Ilmage Retrieval Tel: 972 492-0930 x 20 Email: derekj@iiri.com or: Erin Dempsey, nextScan Tel: 910 864-2044 Email: erin@nextscan.com

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Is Records Management to be the next new

BUZZWORD?

Hallelujah! Records management is finally out of the closet. By Laurie Varendorff If you have searched Gartner Inc’s Research www site using the term ‘records management’ in the last month or so you would have received some 200 hits. Only eight of these have records management in the title and of these, six were published in the period March 2003. The other two are about takeovers of records management software vendors by the minnows of the IT Industry, IB M and Documentum. With the balance of the 182 hits the term ‘records management’ does not appear in the article title, but one may assume that it is mentioned somewhere as the articles ranging from a high of 100% in relevance down to minimum of 14%.

Here are some off the top of the list.

Records Management Essential for Risk Management 1 0 0 % 21 March 2003 Inventories and retention schedules are vital for effective records management and can prevent problems when facing regulators and court cases. Delete unnecessary documents before they get you into trouble.

Records Management Tools: Choices Abound 1 0 0 % 18 March 2003 A range of vendors offer records management functionality.

Enterprises must decide whether they are seeking stand-alone records management or functionality incorporated as a feature in other applications.

The CIO’s Guide to Effective Records Management 9 0 % 18 March 2003 Records management is both a business process and a technology. Cooperation between IT managers, librarians and lawyers can lead to strategies and systems that will end the scandals caused by poor records management.

Records Management Needs Metadata and X M L 7 2 % 14 March 2003 Metadata for records management has been proliferating for a number of years. X M L representations may make it more usable for records management, but does not replace the fundamental modelling challenges.

IB M ’s Tarian Acquisition Boosts Records Management 5 0 % 5 November 2002 IB M ’s planned acquisition of Tarian Software indicates the importance of electronic records management (ERM) in helping enterprises comply with mandates for records retention.

Inventories and Schedules Key For Records Management 4 7 % 21 March 2003 Inventories -and retention schedules are vital for effective records management and can prevent problems when facing regulators and court cases. Delete unnecessary documents before they get you in trouble.

Records Management Heats Up After Sarbanes-Oxley 320/o 21 March 2003 Business continuity requires that enterprises have robust records management strategies. This is especially true in an era of increased government scrutiny, due in part to the ’’Enron Syndrome.”

Documentum Will Benefit From Records Managem ent Acquisition 2 0 % 5 November 2002

Through its purchase of TrueArc, Documentum will get valuable electronic records management technology at a good price.

Customers that use TrueArc with a Documentum competitor may want to consider migrating.

W hy am 1 so upbeat about this recent resurgence in discussion of records management (RM) by a major player in the information management research area?

Because the likes of the Harvard Business School and most, if not all business management programme providers world wide have been negligent in their DUTY OF CARE in not having records management where it should be, at the forefront of any management mindset or a major component in their M B A and other management related programmes. These providers of leaders to government and business have failed their students and the international corporate body at large by this neglect.

Facts highlighted in recent events e.g. Enron Syndrome, the obliteration of one of the worlds leading accountancy and consultancy organisations, Arthur Andersen and the odd one or two recent major Australian corporate disasters show that the chickens are coming home to roost.

Continued overleaf

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continued from previous page H ow ?

Because of poor records management training or a lack of understanding by leaders of government and business for tbe need for quality records management strategies, policies and procedures plus other unlearned ethical issues.

A history lesson: Has records management come full circle?

In tbe middle ages, 1 am advised, in Italy at the University of Bologna for a student to study for a major in records management they first needed to study a minor in Law. Maybe tbe Harvard Business School and its colleague’s world wide should consider elevating records management back to a higher level in their business related programmes that mirrors its past position in the hierarchy of learning.

In a Gartner Research article of the 14th March 2003, “Records Management needs Metadata and X M L ” the writer, Rita Knox, advises “The records repository represents a knowledge repository for enterprises. With metadata machine - processable information describing record attributes relevant to its retention - that repository can become a corporate asset, not just something that protects enterprises from legal entanglements. With care, the data collected for regulatory reasons can do double duty as a resource.”

1 have a number of issues with this article, but the important statements are - “that repository can become a corporate asset, not just something that protects enterprises from legal entanglements”... and ...“With care, the data collected for regulatory reasons can do double duty as a resource.”

What a wonderful statement from this respected research organisation. The records management profession has been trying to get management to recognise this fact for many, many years. Is this fact now recognised by the observers of business processes at large or is this an isolated observation by one writer?

Back in early 2001 1 wrote an article based on presentations to the Records Management Association of Australia (RMAA) National Convention in Sydney, the previous December. The article was published in the LISA and Canada by a number of Chapters of the Association of Records Managers and Administrators International (ARMA). The title: What is Records Management? In this article 1 made the following statement which 1 still support, 1 quote:

“So, what is records management? To me, it is a core business activity (and I mean business in the broadest sense) without which no organisation, however large or small, can meet its operational activities and requirements, its moral responsibilities, or document proof of meeting its statutory, legal, financial or shareholder responsibilities, or provide details regarding its history.

Records management is the foundation stone on which all organisations are built and which, without, they cannot operate effectively or efficiently. It is a core business activity and not an add-on, which we are forced to implement by threat of penalties or embarrassment.

Records management is good management practice and should be at the forefront of any executive mindset as a strategy for best practice, so as to provide efficient, effective and cost minimisation initiatives. Without effective records management processes being in place, inefficient and ineffective decision-making will be made and remade, with mistakes repeated without a reliable decision-making information base from which to start to appropriately manage any situation. Effective records management will provide returns in proportion to the effectiveness of the records management system in place.

Records management is not a cost centre; it is a strategic investment from which all organisations will benefit greatly.”

Where are we heading with the so called data avalanche and the many other dramatic warnings that appear increasingly on the web and the information industry publications e.g. “lost or drowning in a sea of data”, “information overload”, “information anxiety” and “overwhelmed by the data deluge” which is getting bigger and faster by the day?

Are our friends in the Information Technology (IT) area able to assist us with their technical expertise? Their technical speak with such terminology as “we manage stuff’, “buckets of stuff’ and “we suck data from here and put it there”, does not bode well for being solution providers for our many records management related requirements.

1 recall a discussion 1 had with an IT manager where he tried to convince me to report to management that the way to manage the corporate information environment was utilising Uncle Bill G’s Microsoft suite of Office products rather than expand the current records management system, which then managed only paper records. The installed records management system had been identified as the potential solution to handle the scanning of incom ing correspondences, capturing emails, word documents, excel spreadsheets and access databases etc. and 1 was evaluating the situation. On interrogating the organisations IT environment 1 located in excess of one million emails, over one hundred thousand word documents, thousands of excel spreadsheets and a lesser number of access databases and powerpoint presentations.

Storage space is inexpensive but there is never enough of it. The organisation had not purged its electronic environment for over ten years due to the availability of inexpensive electronic storage space. On browsing the system with the security level of the average user 1 was able to access most drives on the system with the exception of the Human Resources and the Executive areas network drives. With this level of security 1 could open, alter and delete most word documents and excel spreadsheets, but 1 did not play with the access databases or the powerpoint presentations. The IT manager was proposing more of the same with this uncontrolled and potentially dangerous environment.

The saddest part of this situation was that this IT manager honestly believed that his position was the most appropriate solution. 1 thought that at any moment he would break out into the Microsoft song or slogan, (if there is such a thing). This guy was hooked; someone in the IT training environment had done a wonderful job in brainwashing him into believing that Microsoft’s suite of Office products is the solution for every information management problem. Uncle Bill G would have been proud of him.

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There is more to this IT situation.

The IT industry loves new terms and acronyms. Some of the more recent ones are ontology, taxonomy, information architecture and CV’s “controlled vocabulary”, from our web (footed) friends. On further investigation one finds that ontology is a little older than the IT industry with Aristotle being the first recorded ontologist around 400BC. Ontology is, in its simplest meaning, the science of classification and we should applaud the IT industry for trumpeting this process. 1 personally do not have a problem with the term or that of taxonomy as 1 feel that they both reflect the actual situation better than the term Thesaurus. “Thesaurus” in a records context is often misunderstood by those outside of the records management profession, but is an integral part of the records management equation.

The call from some people in the trenches and from others who should know better, is for FREE TEXT! And more FREE TEXT! 1 would like to advise those who advocate this flawed concept that FREE TEXT ain’t TREE. It is worth exactly what you paid for it; NOTHING, ZERO, A VALUE OF NIL and the cost for its use will be ongoing and multiplying over time with a continuation of the destructive examples of more data avalanches, losses and drownings in seas of data, information overloads, information anxieties, and being overwhelmed by data deluges.

Should we in the records management profession or industry be concerned or threatened by the inroads being made by our web (footed) friends with the application of information architecture and CV’s or controlled vocabulary?

1 believe so.

If you have not followed the advance in Information Architecture in the www site creation area then 1 suggest that you take a look, and soon, before it is too late. The use of connected and controlled relationship e.g. parent/ child/ cousin/ uncle-aunt/ grandmother-grandfather plus the possibility of extending to 2nd and/or 3rd cousins and great-grandfather even and the reverse, provides a basic five-level hierarchy with the potential to extend the matrix as in a genealogical manner for a family tree.

This outline lends itself to two dimensional formats with linkages up/down and across/back as compared to the records management functional three level hierarchical model with Function, Activity Descriptor and Transaction/Subject Descriptor being a single dimensional model linking up/down but not across/back. The advantage 1 see with the records management model is that the hierarchical format can be locked in its 3 level relationship.

1 do not see this control in the www site creation environment but it may be possible and may even already exist. The management and control of a limited number of quality www sites using this two dimensional model is becoming sophisticated. This evolution appears to be working for those who have implemented these practices and procedures. Many others will see the light and follow on this success.

These limited number of quality sites have been created by some of the smart cookies out there in web land who understand how to implement information architecture and CV environments. 1 am not talking about the Microsoft type of cookies here (cookies were originally a UNIX programme known as Fortune Cookies) but those precious few who are leading the charge and improving www site management via the implementation of quality information architecture practices.

The www has a long way to go getting it right. Go to search engine Google enter CD-RO M and receive 5.66 million hits in only 0.04 seconds. Fast as heck, but the results are useless or near useless. But they are supplied in a timely manner. Big deal!

Enter the word Fleight (this is a misspelling of either Freight or

Flight) and see the results, 240 hits in just 0.20 seconds. 1 can forgive the sites translated into English and the several genuine surnames, but the rest is garbage.

Go to eBay and type in the misspelled Plam Pilot instead of Palm Pilot and check the results received. 1 received 5 hits on 1 April 2003, and not because it was April fools day. 1 am told you can get great bargains at eBay with misspells because nobody can find the item and almost nobody bids, you get a bargain. This example is a sad indictment on the lack of quality implemented by site designers and the processes utilised in inefficient management of www sites generally and especially one with high levels of exposure, www sites should be set up to handle misspelling and provide assistance to make the correct choice even if the search term is entered incorrectly.

Try Google with a misspelling e.g. auguts and the site will ask “Did you mean: august”. Yes 1 did.

This is not dumming down, it is a feature to assist those who have limited literary skills, poor hand coordination, lousy typists whose fingers are larger than the keys, or who are not native English speakers. It is quality www site management.

This feature would be excellent in a records environment where spell checkers are absent from some products and have only limited coverage in others.

There are real advances being made by some individuals in the www site creation process and those involved in the quality information architecture end of the market. These are early days, but the concepts are sound and in some instances the processes are, 1 believe, more sophisticated and effective than the functional File Classification approach being utilised and expanded in tbe records management arena. In a recent discussion paper circulated for comment by tbe National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) of the USA, it is proposed that Functional File Classification be made a standard across all US Government Agencies.

Are the records managers (RMer’s) to be the lifesavers and Saint Bernard’s of the information age who can save business from a fate worse than death by drowning, page by page, (physical or electronically) in its own uncontrolled data?

Is it SAFE out there in R M land?

Possibly, but probably not!

The blue sky merchants, snake oil promoters, unscrupulous salesmen and charlatans will be drawn to the honey pot of potential rewards in minutes of it appearing to be tbe new hot and valuable product.

Some may already be here.

The next full page advertisement published in the worlds leading newspapers could be:

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Information Management eXpo shows

that realising the value of information is key to getting ahead

Organisations need to focus on their documents, records and content, the processes that govern them and emerging technologies that can manage them if they want to improve customer relations, public service delivery, productivity and competitive advantage. That was the message given to delegates attending the Information Management eXpo as it toured major cities around the UK. The travelling show spent a single day at Edinburgh, Manchester, Bristol and Birmingham, finishing off with two days in London.

The specialist event, sponsored by Pricewaterhouse Coopers LLP, was designed to help managers from both public and private sectors develop strategies for managing their information effectively in order to enhance business performance as well as deliver on targets for eGovernment and Freedom of Information.

A comprehensive programme of speakers, seminars and case studies, alongside an exhibition with more than 50 industry organisations, engaged delegates in issues related to document and content management, records management, business process Et workflow, electronic data capture and processing. It also looked at the emerging technologies such as X M L and Web services that are revolutionising information exchange. Pound Table discussions hosted by the British Standards Institution Business Information Group were packed with delegates keen to

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debate issues such as data protection and information security.

Michael Clarke, Director from Pricewaterhouse Coopers, the event sponsors, told a full house of delegates in his opening keynote speech that ’’effective information management is now critical to delivering the e-enabled business models required today.”

This applies to public administrations as well as the corporate world. According to attendees at the event, organisations are waking up to the importance of using their information assets and intellectual capital in order to differentiate themselves in a difficult climate, both economically and politically. Clarke commented, ’’getting ahead requires faster response times, efficient and dynamic customer relations and greater productivity. Having information in place whenever and wherever it’s needed is integral to achieving this.”

Government targets for electronic service delivery by 2005 as well as enactment of the Freedom of Information Act have propelled Records Management within the Public sector. The need for greater efficiency as well as risk management and improved business continuity are now driving interest in document and records management within the private sector too. Delegates also had the opportunity to find out more about the latest developments in areas such as X M L based Web services, and technologies which will enable information sharing, knowledge management and collaborative working on an enterprise scale. The increasing need for online services in both public and private sectors meant that content management was also an important priority for attendees.

But managing information in practice requires not only an understanding of the technologies available to help but also methods for dealing with the process analysis, requirements specification, implementation planning and change management needed in order to get the right solution in place.

And the investment involved also demands the construction of a sound business case that will generate the desired return.

Roger Crumpton, M anaging Director of A11M Europe, organisers of the event, commented ’’Tackling the information management requirements of any organisation, whether on a enterprise level or a departmental scale is an increasingly mammoth task. It necessitates detailed analysis and in depth understanding of both people and process, often major cultural shifts and almost always a significant investment of time and funds.”

Information Management eXpo guided delegates from a range of sectors through all these issues with help from specialists and experts, end users and partners including the British Standards Institute. The unique event offered delegates around the UK the education, support and networks that will ease the challenges of tackling information management successfully.

Contact: Sarah Drew, AIIM Europe Sarah.drew@aiim.org.uk Tel: +44 (0)1905 727600

Railex Systems andthe Museum o Domestic Design and Culture Industry expert in filing and storage solutions, Railex Systems Ltd, has completed a major project at the Museum o f Domestic Design and Architecture at Middlesex University.

The purpose built museum, situated within the University’s Cat Hill Campus, incorporates environmentally-controlled exhibition galleries, a lecture theatre, seminar room, consen/ation studio and study facilities.

The museum delivers a unique resource for scholars and design professionals as well as an inspiring and enjoyable experience for visitors o f all ages.

Railex M obile Storage systems in operation at the M useum o f Dom estic Design and Architecture at Middlesex University.

With a collection ranging from wallpapers and textiles, through to documentation such as contemporary books, magazines and important photographs, the museum was in need o f a unique storage system that optimised space and ensured easy access Railex provided the answer.

for ensuring the conservation o f an important area of Britain’s heritage.

Whereas previously the museum’s vast collection was stored in a number o f locations, the Railex solution was purposedesigned to optimise space and allow the whole collection, including offsite archive material, to be stored in one room.

Amy Collier, head o f conservation, commented: “Railex storage systems are fantastic Access to the collection has now been massively improved and our staff are delighted with the new working environment.

It featured the company’s renowned Mobile Storage systems, picture storage facilities and special depth cabinets with laminated work tops.

“Operation o f the Moblie Storage system is incredibly smooth and this contributes significantly to the safety o f the precious material stored.”

The end result - a cost effective storage system combining quick and simple accessibility with the security and durability essential

For further information please contact: Bill Gilmour, Railex Systems Tel: 01704 226866 Fax: 01704 225814

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AIIM Activities

Standards

At the conference A11M International launched its new Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Certificate Programme. This is an educational programme designed to bring ECM training to the PC. It will consist of 10 web-based courses designed for professionals in the early years of an EC M career. Two of the courses are on document management and imaging, respectively. Cost will be $600 for 14 hours of training or $70 per individual course. Successful completion of the programme earns an ”A11M EC M Practitioner” certificate. Next year A11M expects to introduce Level Two of the Fundamentals Programme with more advanced courses.

On the standards front, A11M and NPES, the association for suppliers of printing, publishing and converting technologies, announced the formation of an international joint working group to develop a standard around the Portable Document Format (PDF) for document archive and presentation. A11M also issued a recommended practice for the Enterprise Information Tag, a concept for automatically tagging electronic information in a standard way to help identify, use and dispose of stored information, and issued a new draft X M L standard that would enable X M L users to leverage existing software systems and expertise to exchange images of documents, related indices, and other data.

Award Winners, New Fellows, Board Members A11M also announced its 2003 Award winners. Key winners were Johannes Hensel, retired from 3M, who won the Carl E. Nelson Engineering Award; Robert Breslawski, Eastman Kodak, who earned the Thomas C. Bagg Lifetime Standards Achievement Award; Ken Kopald who was named the winner of the Filmbased Imaging (EblA) award for contributions to the film-based

imaging industry; and Brian Tuemmler, Atdoc, who was presented the Education Award for advancing the discipline of information using imaging and document technologies.

Four individuals were initiated into A llM ’s Company of Fellows: Michael Alsup, Gimmal Group; Reynolds Bish, Captiva Software; Nancy Muckle, The Muckle Company; and Donald Scott, Lead 2 Succeed. At a meeting of The Company of Fellows, John Mancini, A11M president told the group there will be more associationsponsored content management seminars and road shows this year and possibly even a major fall event. It would not be in New York and would be handled by A11M, not Advanstar. He also indicated the Service Company Executives Forum, held in November, this year in San Francisco, will be enlarged to become more like the association’s former mid-year executive conferences. It will not be restricted to service bureaux but open to major users and consultants. The small tabletop exhibition area will also be opened up, as will the sessions. The hope is that the expanded meeting will boost attendance from 100 to 200.

Five individuals were elected to A llM ’s board of directors. Their two-year terms of service began at the conference’s close. The new members are Brian A. DeWyer, SVP, Silas Technologies; A.J. Hyland, president and CEO, Hyland Software; Ed LoTurco, director, industry marketing, PTC; Don McMahan, sr. director, sales, Fujitsu Computer Products of America; and Christopher Ryan, VPmarketing, Optika. With their election there are now 17 members on the 2003-2004 A11M International board of directors. One seat on the board now automatically goes to the Company of Fellows, which last year argued for that as a minimum while some members sought separate non-profit organisation status so that the group might be able to continue on its own if something happened to A11M down the road.

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While not yet in the position of having a profitable balance sheet, AI1M seems to be in a far better position than it was a year ago. With the declining outlook for trade shows, it appears it sold its annual show at just the right time; the money from the sale will enable the association to carry on as it seeks to chart a new course. In its new streamlined operation, with emphasis on educational events and programmes that could be profitable, AllM may finally be on the right road.

I

The 2004 conference and exposition will again be in New York, for the second consecutive year and the fourth time in five years.

The 2004 event, however, will be held earlier, 8-10 March, making snow and winter weather even more of a possibility.

There is word Advanstar wants to make New York the permanent home for the event and is trying to negotiate a favourable long­ term contract. If they do, we hope they can get some later spring dates.

FblA Continues as Voice for Film— based Industry During the AllM conference and exposition, the Film-based Imaging Association held a meeting attended by some 40 individuals. Major topics discussed were two new publications the group is using to ’’spread the word”, the FblA Buyer’s Guide and Corporate Data Archives (CDA). Both are being used to boost knowledge of the role of film-based imaging and hopefully increase membership for FblA. The booklets are being mailed to all existing FblA members so they can use them with their customers. They are also being sent to trade publications and related associations to advance the CDA concept and establish FblA as the authority on CDA. In addition to existing in hard copy, the publications exist on FblA’s revised web site (www.FblA.org). There are hot links to member web sites in the listings in the Buyer’s Guide.

Other ways in which FblA is continuing its missionary work include exhibiting at related conferences and trade shows. The next scheduled show will be the A RM A conference and exposition in Boston in October. Other venues are under consideration. In addition, FblA is continuing its liaison with U.S. government agencies concerned with electronic records management to make the point that even within programmes for electronic records management and digital archiving, filmbased systems can play a vital role. Use of a paid lobbyist is under consideration to represent FblA’s and the industry’s interests in Congress.

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Canon and eCopy merge paper and digital worlds "Scanning has the potential to offer real business transformation - but has penetrated less than 10% of traditional offices.”

Canon announces a unique partnership with America’s largest provider of document distribution technology, eCopy, Inc., to provide organisations with a simple, easy to use solution which turns any paper document into a digital file - an ’’eCopy” - that can be e-mailed, stored or manipulated just like any other PC-based document.

Leveraging an existing Canon networked digital multifunctional device (MFD), the eCopy Suite of software products is the first convenient, low-cost, departmental, and enterprise solution which creates and distributes e-versions of paper documents. This is achieved at virtually no cost via e-mail, fax, and secure internet, providing employees with instant access to scanned documents.

Organisations will immediately start to see an improvement in business productivity as employees are able to weave paper-based documents instantly into business processes, manage larger numbers of documents more efficiently, and are granted multiple and instant access to information. The Canon/eCopy solution also offers enhanced security of confidential paper-based information that is distributed witbin seconds as an encrypted file.

The Canon/eCopy suite reduces expenditure on fax and courier costs as well as the purchase of a single Canon multifunctional device, eliminating the need for standalone fax machines, copiers, scanners, and printers.

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provides customers with an array of distribution options including scan to mail, scan to desktop, scan to printer, scan to fax, and scan to file. This allows companies to instantly integrate critical paperbased information such as customer files, invoices and archival information into their digital workflow.

Chas Moloney, Canon U K ’s Strategic Marketing Manager comments: ’’Canon is committed to forging new partnerships to deliver new products and services that drive efficiency while making the most of existing investments. The Canon/eCopy solution will allow companies to implement a complete digital workflow within their existing infrastructure, reduce costs and enable them to keep up with today’s faster pace of business.”

Mark Kirby, Network Manager at BM P DDB, said: ”We are always looking for ways to improve our working practices and eCopy is a unique solution that enables us to turn our copiers into time and money saving machines. There is a lot of paper wastage in our industry but now we can work with virtual documents that can be easily and efficiently shared within the team and with our clients” eCopy’s distribution software extends the use of Canon’s imageRUNNER range by enabling the distribution of paper-based documents into existing mail systems such as Microsoft Exchange and Lotus Notes, and into network-based document management applications such as ADOS, iManage, 1W Doc Manager, and Domino.Doc.

Contact Justin Bailey, eCopy Sales Ma nager for UK and Ireland, on +44 7966 019066 or Canon on 01737 220 297 or visit www.eCopy.com.

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M B S continue expansion programme On Friday 9th M ay 2003, Micro-Image Business Solutions Limited (MBS) acquired the assets and goodwill of Automated Document Retrieval Systems Limited (ADR). This new division of the M B S Group will continue to trade from their existing sites at Old W oking and Hastings and will be known as ADR Systems, a division of Micro-Image Business Solutions Limited.

Terry Thompson, who was the M D of ADR Systems Ltd, will now work with Gary Mardlin, within the M B S Group, as will all the retained staff.

With the addition of ADR Systems into the already expanded M B S Group (following the acquisition of BAS Micro-Im aging ( (BAS) in November 2001, Advanced Imaging Systems (A1S) in January 2002 and Caledonian Microforms (CM1) in June 2002) the M B S Group now has an annual turnover of L4.75M per annum, with a staff of 200, across 5 UK sites, with its bureaux now covering 35,000 square feet.

PAGE 21

ROUND <V A B O U T

Abbey National had deployed a number of Konica Multi Function Devices (M FD ’sj across its administrative functions, through which they imported documents converting them from paper to electronic files. They sought a system that would integrate into these M F D ’s and convert the documents to a Portable Document Format (PDF) suitable for immediate viewing and handling by an Abbey National operator. This would enable Abbey National to increase the efficiency of its document handling and retrieval processes without increased investment in hardware or lengthy delays in staff training. A detailed market analysis followed, and one solution stood superior from the field, EASY W ARE from EASY SOFTWARE.

“EASY SOFTWARE was unique in its ability to provide a solution that encompassed all the necessary software, tools and services to suit our needs,” said Vanessa Leach, Supplier Relationship Manager at Abbey National. “We are looking forward to realising improved efficiencies as we make further use of the system.”

Contact: Micro-Image Business Solutions Ltd, MBS House, Church Street, Gamlingay, Sandy, Bedfordshire. SGI9 3JH Tel: 01767 651652 Fax: 01767 650656 Email: paul@mbs-ltd.co.uk Web: www.mbs-ltd.co.uk

“At EASY SOFTWARE we have achieved the leading position in the market by working hand-in-hand with partners and customers and listening closely to their business needs,” said Andrew Graham, CEO of EASY SOFTWARE. “In doing this we remain one step ahead of our competition and develop solutions that enable our clients to automate their business processes with ease and speed.” He continues, “We are delighted that Abbey National has selected us to satisfy this document management requirement and we look forward to developing this new partnership.”

New general manager for the Capture and lm agelink business in Europe, Africa and Middle East

Contact: Howard Frear, EASY SOFTWARE UK Tel: +44 (0)1284 727870 or Howard.Frear@easysoftware.net

ADR now plugs the hole in the south of England, creating an even balance of location with its spread of 5 sites across the UK. The continued growth of the sales and technical team will strengthen the position of M B S within the industry, creating support second to none for their expanding client base.

Eastman Kodak Company has announced Lois Lebegue as new general manager for Capture and lmagelink products of Kodak's Commercial Components business in Europe, Africa and Middle East.

Lebegue began his career at Kodak Pathe in Erance in 1989. He held managerial assignments in Corporate Communication, Sales and Marketing within several Kodak divisions in Erance. In 1998, he was appointed Strategic Product Group Manager for Kodak's Document Im aging division, heading France, Spain and Portugal and Business Development Manager for Europe, Africa and Middle East. He joined the worldwide management team in 2001 and relocated to Rochester, NY, USA, where he was responsible for the low-volume, departmental and workgroup production scanners as the worldwide portfolio business manager.

Lebegue received his BS in international marketing from 1PAG Paris Business School. He has completed executive training at the 1MD School of Lausanne, Switzerland.

Visit www.kodak.com/go/docimaging for additional information Abbey National selects EASY SOFTW ARE to manage and retrieve key corporate documents EASY SOFTW ARE UK, a leading supplier of end-to-end document management and archive solutions has announced that Abbey National has selected its EASY W ARE product suite to provide integrated document management and retrieval for its corporate documentation.

Abbey National is the second largest provider of mortgages and savings in the UK. Its products and services embrace personal financial products and services including mortgages, savings, investments, banking, general insurance and life assurance.

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D o cu m e n t Sca n n in g Services D ocum e nt M a n a g e m e n t Archive M a n a g e m e n t The Copy Company are part of a major pic and are looking to further develop our business across the UK. This is an ideal opportunity for an experienced sales person looking to develop their career further and grow with the business.

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MARKETPLACE

The Global Marketplace feature is designed for companies that wish to take out small classified advertisements without breaking the bank. Rates are £35 ($50) per insertion with a limit of 25 words. Each additional 25 words or fraction are £35 ($50). There is an additional £10 ($15) charge for the use of Box number. For display (boxed) ads add £20 ($30). To place a classified ad, send copy to Micrographics Marketing Ltd, 65 Winchester Drive, Burbage, Leic LE10 2BA UK, or fax it to +44 (0) 24 7638 2319 or Email it to sales@green-sheet.net. Always specify which issue(s) you wish your ad to appear in.

CARDAMATION INC,

Quality Aperture Cards, Tab Cards Microfiche (105mm, 4"x6”) Price savings 3% to 30% USA, International deliveries Cardamation Aperture Card Readers Record Punched Data - PC ASCII files Multi Media Storage Cabinets Card Sorters, Punches, Titlers Rents, Sells, Maintains

MERCURY VISUALS

Manchester, England Buyers & Sellers of “Second-User” Micrographic & Scanning Equipment Contact us for this months Special Offers!

Phone + 4 4 (0) 161 7 4 9 -8 7 4 9 E-mail: m ercvis@ lineone.com

cardam alion.com Call 6 1 0 -9 3 5 -9 7 0 0 , 8 0 0 -8 4 8 -1 7 1 8 .

Fax 6 1 0 -9 3 5 -7 3 4 0 .

Box 3 4 9 , Phoenixville, PA 1 9 46 0

METHYLENE BLUE TESTS:

Essential for all systems guaranteeing archival microfilm.

Carried out by the people who set the British Standard.

Quotations on request.

We have it in stock!

DASS LABORATORIES LTD

New, Used, Refurbished Micrographic & Electronic Equipment Parts for all major brands!

Imaging Systems, Inc. (608) 276-5559

0121 5 5 0 3 5 1 8

MICROFILM & SCANNING EQUIPMENT

ili-speed Document and Microfilm Scanners,

Email: ken@ iniagingsystem s.net Online: w w w .im agingsystem s.net

A ll types

Analog & Digital Reader/Printers, Cameras & Processors, Duplicators.

Wholesale Prices WE BUY USED EQUIPMENT.

FOR TOP QUALITY REFURBISHED

Cameras, Duplicators, Reader-Printers and Scanners, please contact ALTER SYSTEMS,

Fa\: 8 5 8 2 6 8 0 5 9 2 , Tel: 8 5 8 2 7 8 5501 (L.S.) WESTERN MICROGRAPHICS SYSTEMS, INC.

7 1 3 -9 9 5 -1 1 2 3 or Fax 7 1 3 -9 9 5 -4 9 4 0 E-Mail jim h@ altesys.com

We are SERIOUS about serving your needs FICHE FACTORY at CONNECTICUT MICROGRAPHICS, Inc

METHYLENE BLUE TESTS:

Cut Fiche now available - any size Diazo or Vesicular : Striped or Plain

Required for all “archival” microfilm.

Meets all ANSI standards. Special contract rates available.

Managed by Photographic Scientist.

MSTC, Inc, 703-754-3213,

Tel: 1 -2 0 3 -8 3 8 -1 0 1 3 Fax: 1 -2 0 3 -8 5 3 -3 7 4 9 Email: peter@ m icrographics.com

E-mail: M STCl@ aol.com

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S You can find a Kodak imaging solution to fit your needs for capture, storage and retrieval of film images.

Image searches don't have to be cumbersome. Kodak's exclusive POW ERFILM Software revolutionizes the way you search for images. Print, fax, e-mail or even store film images on CD with a searchable index. And the new i7300 Scanner brings film retrieval to your own PC desktop.

Building your reliable Reference Archive: use any Kodak document scanner and automatically transfer digital images to archive media with the new i9600 Series writer.

For details, visit www.kodak.com/go/docimaging, e-mail us at gb-scanners@kodak.com, or call us on 01442-844791.

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