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Full coverage of the Document Man agement in d u s try^ in all its forms^

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INCORPORATING THi MICROGRAPHICS MARKET PLACE AND THE MICROGRAPHICS NEWSLETTER Issue No. 18

ISSN 1476 3842

V isit The Green Sheet Web Site at: www.green-sheet.net

JUNE 2003

AGFA ^

TH E G R EEN S H EE T

MICROGRAPHICS MARKETING LTD.

Editor Tim Nixon

Administration

For all AGFA Microfilm Products in the United States contact John Glover Microfilm Distribution Services, a division of SOURCECORP 8 0 0 -9 6 9 -2 5 5 6 , ext 3 6 7

FO R S U B S C R IP T IO N D E T A IL S P LE A S E CO N TA C T:-

C a r o le N i x o n

Graphic Design P a u lE n so r

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ADVERTISERS INDEX inalphabeticalorder Advance G roup ........................................................................... 3 Alos ............................................................................................... 19 DSS UK ........................................................................................ 17 e-Im ageData ............................................................................. 15 Eyecom........................................................................................... 7 Film Scan Technologies.............................................................9 GG B aker .................................................................................... 15 Global Marketplace .................................................................. 23 Kodak ........................................................................................... 24 MicroVue Products ................................................................... 11 Response Technical Services ................................................ 14 Russ Bassett.............................................................................. 19 Solar Microfilm Equipment................................................. 7,16 Sourcecorp .................................................................................... 2 The Microfilm S hop .............................................................. 5,18 Trans Media Technology ........................................................ 13 Versalmage Software ............................................................. 21 Virtual Image Technology........................................................2

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Document Imaging, Data Conversion, Data Preservation, Web Image Archive

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Artw ork should be supplied as 3 0 0 dpi images on C D or Z ip Disk as TIFF, EPS, JPEG, PDF, Quark Xpress, Photoshop or Illustrator files.

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

A R E C O P Y R IG H T O F T H E P U B L IS H E R S

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by Laurie Varendorff ARMA As this is the first view o f the micrographic scene in A ustralia a little history could be helpful.

1

My first exposure to micrographics was in 1974 when I managed a CopiCentre for Rank Xerox (now Fuji Xerox) in Perth. Microfilm had been established well before this time with Kodak, 3M and Bell ft Flowed being the major players across Australia. The bureau business (source document) in Western Australia was created by Kodak. When Kodak decided to exit the market (as the market had matured and no longer needed their support) the two leading employees, Brian Davis and John Brown set up a source document bureau, Microfilm Service using the Kodak equipment and following the Kodak ways as, being long time employees of Kodak, they had the yellow blood running in their veins.

3M, as well as Kodak, played a major role in the 1960’s with the installation of several 3M COM units within the Western Australian (WA) Government (due to limited output capability from the 3M units they were mothballed and commercial bureaux took over the government applications). The commercial market at this time installed two Kodak COM units in a computer data processing bureau, Data Processing Australia owned by John Lasberger. The two COM units were operated by several ex-Kodak employees from Melbourne.

The microfilm environment across Australia has historically been split into two sectors, one providing COM services and the second providing source document filming services. In later years these two sectors have become one; either by accusation or with one sector crossing the border and installing either COM units or source document capability.

Many, if not all, State and Federal Governments during the period of the 1960’s through the early to mid 1990’s operated their own microfilm source document bureaux with the federal government having both source document and COM capabilities. These government bureaux have either been disbanded or migrated to existing or newly created archival filming operations within State Libraries with WA, South Australia, the National Library and Queensland in particular providing archival filming with both 16 and 35mm capabilities plus large format scanning, at least in Queensland, and with the intention of doing so in Western Australia with equipment being installed that can be updated to AO scanning at a later stage.

Where are we now in 2003?

Major changes have occurred across Australia and the process is continuing in the rationalisation and continuing reduction in micrographic activities. In Western Australia major changes in micrographics commenced in the mid 1990’s with the closure of the State Government Microfilm Bureau and the transfer of its downsized archival filming capability to the State Library’s Preservation Services operations. There was also a rationalisation of the COM market with the amalgamation of the two COM bureaux, which was connected to a national change along similar lines and the creation of Hermes Precisa Australia [HPA], then a non aligned conglomerate. In 1998 my own bureau closed due to economic

PAGE 3

MICROGRAPHICS DOWN UNDER

pressures and a reduction in microfilm unitilisation by major government agencies, along with my lack of success in generating other revenue streams plus being targeted by opposition forces. This process is continuing with the major player in the WA market, Hermes Precisa Australia (HPA) ceasing to provide a microfilm service even though 51°/o of it is now owned by Kodak (to the best of my knowledge). There are some mixed signals here, with Kodak’s international promotion of the use of microfilm as a desirable and long term preservation media and its own organisation ceasing to provide microfilm services in any format in WA. Ben Tosetto, of Australian Microfilm Services [AMS] in Melbourne, advises that his source document filming activities have reduced from three, high speed Kodak Imagelink 70 units down to one and the same increase in numbers on the high speed scanning units with now three Kodak 9000 series and i800 units installed.

Where does microfilm come into this newer scanning process?

Right at the end, after the imaging process with the digital data has been archived to 16mm film via Kodak Archive writers.

Is this to be the future for microfilm? Maybe, and maybe not.

Let’s pursue this subject in more depth in a future article.

MANAGING BRITAIN'S MICROFILM LEGACY

AMI The Advance Group Tel: 01902 459907 E-mail: docman@ami.co.uk www.ami.co.uk

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What is the Future of Micrographics?

It will survive - and possibly thrive but with fewer, bigger providers serving a more concentrated user base.

by Peter F. Hovell, j President, Connecticut Micrographics In my opinion micrographics will be with us “forever". Having, perhaps boldly, stated the case, I must add that key to this statement is for whom and in what form.

Clearly, micrographics’ principal use today is as an inexpensive archival medium. Fewer and fewer people use microfilm actively; digital computer systems just make so much more sense for everyday business activity. Yet, despite the great amounts of money that have been spent in developing “digital”, no more cost effective and practical method than “eye-ball readable” film or paper has yet been developed to preserve long term (over 10 years) archival documents. And for that reason, there is a future for microfilm as the archival medium. (For background reference see the excellent pamphlet on the Corporate Data Archive {CDA}developed by The Microfilm Shop in the UK and adopted by the Film-based Imaging Association in the U.S.) To talk about the future of micrographics in more specifics we need to examine it from three perspectives: those of the User, the Service Provider and the Manufacturer. In all the perspectives we’re defining archival as a document that needs to be preserved for more than 10 years.

From the User viewpoint The user - the person that actually works with and owns the microfilm - more and more is a records manager, archivist or librarian. Microfilm is generated for archival purposes.

Original documents may be filmed or scanned. If scanned, the scanned document is printed to film. In either case, the end user of information contained on the film may be oblivious to the nature of the base document.

Most users are aware that digital storage is not archival and, conversely, that film/paper is archival. However, the users are often under great pressure from information technology (IT) vendors and internal executives to abandon “horse and buggy” microfilm for a “star wars” digital record. What this leads to, in my opinion, is rational and confident user decision-makers staying with a hybrid microfilm/digital system while those not so sure of themselves, emotional and fad-driven, will opt for strictly digital and leave the consequences to their replacements years hence.

PAGE 4

So the future of micrographics at the user level will vary until such time as hybrid standards are adopted and the standards are universally observed. This could easily mean a resurgence of micrographics at some later time once the standard is set and/or the lesson is learned.

The Service Provider viewpoint I refer to both the in-house and service bureau operations under this heading. This is the organisation that actually processes the original documents onto film and/or digital formats. This often includes storage, look up, retrieval, data capture and transmission services done for the user.

I believe that outside service bureau providers will continue to grow and thrive - unless they get into the classic price war scenario so familiar to the old microfilm service bureaux.

Individual locations will expand and smaller bureaux will either become subcontractors to larger bureaux or fade away.

The mixture of digital and microfilm, using different types of equipment and software will force this divergence between the large, sophisticated service bureau and the very limited momand-pop shop. The larger operations should become very profitable as they will be able to price their products adequately. That is, if they avoid the self-destructive price wars which have plagued the microfilm industry in the past.

The user wants a total package and a service bureau should be anxious to expand into the newer areas of document management - to the benefit of both the user and the service provider. There are great opportunities for well organised, sophisticated and financially sound producers who can mix and match digital, film and hybrid solutions.

Where the Manufacturer fits Of the three groups that are an integral part of and concerned with microfilm’s future, I believe that the manufacturers, at present, have the poorest opportunity to do well in this new hybrid world. There are two types of manufacturers, primary providers and secondary providers. The primary providers depend on micrographic/digital products for the preponderance of their business, whereas secondary providers manufacture a micrographics/digital product which is just a small, and maybe inconsequential, part of their total business.

The key here is that a secondary provider could drop a product from its line with no thought to the consequences to users, and with little or no impact on the provider’s bottom line. Examples might be Minolta (who currently have people wondering where they are going) or Sylvania, which has dropped three important duplicator lamps in the past year. There are many more. In such instances, even though there’s little impact on the provider, the inconvenience to users can be significant.

It’s a totally different case for primary providers. They only have the option of continuing on, selling out, or going out of business. Selling or dropping out seems to be a snowballing choice. For example, in the micrographics arena the number of providers has steadily declined, and the number of primary providers of hardware products in the digital world, other than scanners (which more and more are commodity products purchased through an 800 number or catalogue), is following the same trend, and at a faster pace.

Is there a Market for Products anymore?

Micrographic/digital products fall into three broad categories.

First are microfilm/microfiche readers. These were once the mainstay of the micrographics industry. Not anymore. Sales volumes have dropped to subsistence levels. The users of document management technology no longer need readers as they look at most documents on their desktop monitors.

Cameras, processors, duplicators are next. As more and more

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imaging is outsourced, fewer cameras and film processors are needed. Service bureaux have a glut of equipment that is often acquired when they take over customers’ filming/digital work. In addition, documents which are scanned or computer-generated never go through a microfilm camera. Further, we only duplicate one or two copies today, not hundreds as in the past.

Used Equipment. This is a category unto itself and a very important, growing one. Service bureaux very rarely purchase new equipment. I think it is in the DNA of service bureau executives to avoid new equipment. It’s very easy for them to do so because the used equipment dealers are literally awash in good, used equipment.

And above all of these issues is the fact of durability. Despite complaints, most micrographics equipment is extremely durable and reliable. Twenty to 30 year equipment life is not unusual.

Kodak MRD/MRG cameras, for example, are often 40+ years old and still going strong.

For these reasons, there is little incentive for micrographics manufacturers to improve their products, add new products and/or spend time in major marketing efforts. Due to decreased volumes, I would suggest that no manufacturer today is making a reasonable return on its investment.

It’s my feeling that within the next few years we will see the manufacturers (in the U.S. anyway) shrink to four or five at the most. There will be very little product overlap, i.e. competition.

And if the new paradigm is arrived at intelligently, all the

survivors will be very prosperous. I am referring to hardware manufacturers such as of cameras, readers, processors, duplicators and accessory devices.

The supplies manufacturers also will shrink. We saw it last year in the duplicating film field with SKC and Rexam combining to form Intellcoat Technologies. I also think that in the near future there won’t be more than two suppliers of other supplies and peripherals such as silver film, chemicals, cartridges and reels, etc.

Summing Up Looking ahead, despite some of the gloomy possibilities I’ve outlined, I see a very good future for both the user of micrographics and the service providers. Manufacturers who remain after a shakeout will also do well. But the road to that point for many present-day manufacturers is not easy or predictable.

Peter F. Hovell is president of Connecticut Micrographics, Inc.(CMI), which he founded in 1976 to market peripheral and add-on products for micrographic equipment. In 1994 he also started a micrographics service bureau. Presently 75% of CMI’s business, which is principally in the United States but also includes overseas customers, is in film/fiche duplicators and supplies. Hovell is a director of the Film-based Imaging Association, and was a founder of the AIIM (then NMA) Manufacturers Council and was a committee member of the AIIM Service Company Executive Forum. Before founding CMI he worked for American Express and IBM.

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The move from microfilm A different view of the digital/analogue discussion.

by David Aspinall, Datum Solutions Limited A straw pole of some of the major players in the UK conventional microfilm market confirmed what we have secretly known all along. Currently, the volume of conventional microfilm produced in the UK is declining by approximately 10% per annum. Most bureaux are offering scanning services and some no longer offer microfilming services at all.

A similar review of Computer Output to Microfilm (COM) bureaux also indicated decline of the same order. The main reasons given were: - Bureaux offering on-line services or CD-R output to protect their client base.

- Applications disappearing as organisations introduce new integrated systems from companies such as SAP and J. D. Edwards.

- Information being retained in a digital form rather than being archived (implementing COLD systems).

Interestingly enough, one service provider reported that a client who had “gone away” three years ago after moving to a SAP based system had returned. They had filled their new servers and had, once again, a need to archive data!

One area that is still heavily dependent on COM is the major banks in the UK. Overall their volume of original information has slightly increased but the requirement for copies has significantly fallen.

At the same time we have seen the launch of many scanning products by all the major players in an effort to bridge the digital/analogue divide. The scanners cover all microforms from aperture cards, for complex engineering drawings, through to conventional 16 and 35mm film, plus both jacket and COM formatted microfiche. But another way of looking at the differences is to examine the underlying usage of, say, a Sunrise scanner with an Eye Com ImageMouse.

The Sunrise is respected in the industry - particularly by bureaux - as a good production unit for the conversion of large volumes of microfilm images to digital images.

By comparison, products such as the Eye Com Image Mouse and DRS3000 are intended for the random scanning of microfilm from an archive.

Obviously, both approaches are equally valid but they indicate a major difference in policy. Bulk conversions tend to take place where organisations are migrating away from microfilm archives, whereas ad-hoc scanning systems tend to be used where microfilm archives are to be maintained for reference.

Furthermore, the majority of bulk scanners are used by service providers whereas low volume ad-hoc scanners are more likely to be used in-house in a microfilm archive library.

The migration of applications from analogue to digital raise two main questions in my mind: 1) What should organisations ask themselves before starting an analogue to digital conversion? and

2) What can the microform industry learn about the reasons organisations migrate?

1) The questions that organisations should ask themselves are: * “What is my exit strategy?” * “How will I perform my next migration?” * “Will we be able to migrate as easily in, say 5-7 years time when it is necessary to change the equipment?”

There will be a number of areas of concern at that point in time: - Media - have we off-loaded to some storage device that isn’t supported?

- Software - is there a bulk method of off-loading information from the system so that we can get industry standard flat files of, say, CSV records for our index data and a series of image files in a standard recognised format (e.g. TIF or JPG) for our images?

- What functionality exists within our new system for the bulk off-load of other computer generated formats such as word, excel or e-mails and can we get associated index data for that? * “How can I easily remove old/redundant documents or records from my new system” - Is there a way of indicating retention periods on the new system?

- Does it give both automatic and manual methods for purging such data?

- Can I be sure that such exercises are protected? * “How can I protect my records from unauthorised access?”

- I currently have physical safeguards for my analogue archives. Are there equivalent safeguards on my new system? Can I make sure that only authorised staff can access the data and that there are further system management safeguards in place for the updating and deletion of records, users and standard system information?

- Can I set up my filing system as I want?

If you would like a more detailed understanding of the sort of requirements inherent in a good electronic records management system then have a look at www.comwell.co.uk

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* They want a solution which supports the immediate business requirement (usually to make information available wherever needed in the shortest possible time and at a low cost).

The hole in the hybrid system is in that word automatic until it is possible to supply a microfilm jukebox similar to those supplied by magnetic tape suppliers for “near-line” storage, hybrid systems cannot hope to compete. Typical complaints from users of existing semi-automated roll systems are that leaders snap and film comes off the supply rolls.

PAGE 7

2) What can the microform industry learn?

We have all read articles which expound the benefits of both digital systems for ease of reference, and analogue systems for future-proof archiving. There has been considerable talk about the benefits of hybrid systems and there are a number of examples of such systems installed today.

But let’s look at the pressures on today’s management to understand their buying decisions:

1 am old enough to remember the demise of the British car and motorcycle industry when faced with genuine competition in the 1950’s and 60’s. So my personal conclusion is that, if analogue systems are to be taken seriously in the future, the major players have to improve the hybrid system costs paradigm by doing three things:

* The information has to be up-to-date and accurate. * The information has to be held securely. * The process has to be cost effective (which usually means occupying the minimal real estate and utilising the as few staff as possible). * Somewhere down the bottom of the list is a requirement to keep the information for fifty years (but who’s going to be around to worry about that!).

In short any solution has got to be seen to be easily implemented, easy to use, smart, automatic, easily adapted and last but by no means least - within budget.

Any hybrid system will have to come in at a budget close to that of a digital system, which will give scant regard to future conversion costs.

* They have to improve the quality of the cartridge and film handling mechanisms. * They have to come out with genuine automated film cassette systems similar to the tape library systems so that desk top users in remote locations can access analogue data without manual intervention, * They have to accept that the main reason for the decline in analogue systems today is their inability to compete from a quality and performance perspective and not in any inherent weakness in the underlying product!

Contact: David Aspinall, Datum Solutions Ltd, Datum House, 4 Priory Close, Fleet, Hampshire, GU51 4ED Tel: 01252 612805, E-mail: daspinall@datum-solutions.co.uk

DRS 3000 W o r k s t a t io n ™ The high-resolution digital retrieval system that captures microform images and allows you to print, enhance and distribute them by fax or e-mail.

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CASE STUDY

Increasing interest in Genealogy spurs Digital Film Scanner sales Recently, the Mobile, Alabama Public Library added 11 Minolta MS 6000 and MS 7000 digital film scanners to the microfilm equipment it uses. Mike Avery, a sales representative with Document Technology, the Minolta dealer that made the sale, closed the deal and commented, “While this sale was notable because it was a large, multiple unit sale, what really got my attention was where the majority of the units were placed - in the genealogy department.”

It turns out that a growing interest in tracing family roots is keeping the library’s genealogy department very busy. That, in fact, was the reason eight of the 11 units were placed in the genealogy department; the other three are used primarily for interlibrary loans. “Computers and the internet have really changed the way people want to work with information even when they are working on something personal like tracing their family history,” said Cyrus Avery, president of Document Technology.

He noted digital reader scanners, such as the Minolta units, facilitate searches. “The scanners accept a wide range of microforms which is important because most genealogy documents are quite large, and units like the MS 6000 and MS 7000 are especially suited for such information searches. And when they are connected to a PC, library patrons can quickly find the part of a document they need and save the information to a disk so they can study it later, when they really have time.

“So, while the library market is a mature one (for microfilm), libraries are still interested in making it easy for their patrons to locate and use the documents they have. The result is that when libraries have the funds available to upgrade their equipment, they are looking for equipment that gives patrons new ways to use microfilm. Digital scanners easily fit the bill.”

Contact: Mike Avery, mike@documenttechnology.com

CASE STUDY

Hybrid system helps County Register save the Past for the Future The Mecklenburg County (North Carolina) Register of Deeds is charged with maintaining records in perpetuity from 1763 on.

It has done that for years, at the same time making those documents available to attorneys and other members of the community. As information piled up, the scope of the task grew and so did potential problems.

A few years ago, a fire at the Mecklenburg County Records Building made it dramatically clear to the Register of Deeds, Judy Gibson, that she and her office were sitting on a real potential hot seat. Her department housed an enormous number of valuable documents on paper and microfilm, some without backup. The county was also consuming a huge amount of space to warehouse these records. To get a solution, the Register turned to Imaging Solutions and Services, Inc.(lSSI), an imaging components solutions and services provider serving the Southeastern United States via six regional offices. Together the Deeds office and ISSI created a complete, easy-to-use hybrid system that provides highquality output of records to meet demand.

PAGE 8

The system is built on microfilm as the basic storage medium, but reduces the handling of microfilm and fragile paper documents by staff and the public. It also offers fast and easy access and provides high quality copies from film archives.

Key to the solution is a Kodak Intelligent Microimage Scanner (IMS). The unit’s standard PC interface was ideal for reducing public loading and possible damage to microfilm records. Its film transport that handles a variety of cartridges was also helpful in simplifying access to a variety of films.

inventoried rolls of existing film were used to understand the scope of the document and quality issues that had to be considered.

ISSI created eight different applications and search modes to address varying needs and scenarios. These were beta tested with para-legals, whose feedback was taken into account before writing the first customised applications. That was important. For example, scrolling was left out initially for simplicity purposes. But it was then added, because some of the older films had blips on every other page so it wasn’t possible to get from “here to there.” The testing also helped ISSI come up with a cashiering programme that calculates the number of prints made and deducts charges via a keycard system.

The system has been up and running for a while and the feedback from the public, para-legals who use the system every day, and Deeds Office personnel has been extremely positive. “The IMS units are very dependable and we don’t have to tend to them all the time. We’re able to put one book (of records) on a roll and average about 15 rolls per day when necessary,” said Judy Gibson. “Our people can do more and multi-task instead of baby-sitting a machine. Thanks to the outstanding quality of outputs, the county is now able to charge for copies, creating a new revenue stream.” Kodak also is happy. The IMS success opened another door at Mecklenburg county as ISSI has now connected 16 Kodak ImageLink Digital Workstations to laser printers, utilising Kodak Imagelink IMS+ Node Modules.

Contact: Kelly Green, KGreen@ISSI-Online.com

In setting up the system, ISSI brought an IMS unit to the Mecklenburg Deed Office for testing. Samples from 12,000

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Micrographics Odds and Ends A lot of Microfilm at LOC! Statistics released by the Library of Congress for Fiscal Year 2002 reveal that the institution retains an enormous number of microforms within its holdings. At year end, some 13,532,501 microforms were held by the by the Library. The grand total of listed items in the Library’s collections is 126,060,980.

Manuscripts remain the largest single classification of holdings at 56,107,162, followed by catalogued books, of which there are 18,993,274. Microforms are the third largest grouping.

New analysis of the Top 40 UK Microfilm Services ft Equipment industry Plimsoll’s latest 2003 analysis on the Top 40 UK companies in the Microfilm Services ft Equipment industry has revealed a mixed performance on the year so far. Yet these companies, representing nearly 98% of the industry’s turnover, are perhaps as good a barometer of the market as you are likely to get.

As part of Plimsoll’s analysis of the major players, each of the top 40 companies is ranked on sales turnover. With an average sales decline amongst the group of 2% only 7 companies have kept their same sales position from last year.

6 companies have moved up in their sales performance and 17 have fallen. Showing the biggest improvement in their position is FILMSCAN TECHNOLOGIES LTD, moving up 7 places in the league and is now the 18th biggest company in the UK industry.

But it is the profitability rankings that have seen the biggest changes with average margins in the group a steady 4.3%.

Only 2 companies have kept their same profit ranking with 6 moving up and 23 falling. The number of loss makers has increased to 7 companies with 5 of these companies now losing money for the second year running. The biggest profit mover in this edition is TRANS MEDIA TECHNOLOGY LTD, moving up 1 place to 10th place this year. MARTEK SYSTEMS LTD remains the most profitable company in the analysis.

The full analysis, available from Plimsoll Publishing, contains a full 4-year history of each of the top 40 companies, looking at key strengths and weaknesses. The analysis also names companies winning and losing in the UK industry as well as 5 companies as ’’sleepers,” that is, companies with good cash reserves yet losing pace in the market.

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Call Plimsoll on 01642 626400 or visit their web site www.majoreompanies.co.uk fo r a copy o f the complete 112page analysis o f the Top 40 UK companies in the Microfilm Services ft Equipment industry priced at £500.00. Readers can request a 5% discount when mentioning this publication upon ordering.

Even in the Digital Age, Movie Studios archive on film An article, “Archiving in the Digital Age” by John Courtmanche, that appeared in the internet journal United Entertainment Media (www.uemedia.com) interestingly reveals that, two decades into the digital era, Hollywood movie studios are not turning their motion picture film assets into digital archives. According to executives at Paramount, Universal, Sony Pictures, MGM and 20th

Century Fox, they’re sticking to 35mm film as their most trusted medium for archiving their visual assets.

Studio vault executives say they haven’t found a digital asset management solution they can feel confident with. As an example, Phil Murphy, head of Paramount Studios’ archives in Los Angeles, said, “We have no way of knowing as a world or industry that x number of years from now we’ll be successfully able to retrieve that data.” Murphy pointed to word processing documents created 5-10 years ago that can’t be opened today on PCs. He also cited recording media formats for which it is now close to impossible to find hardware, such as 2-inch quad videotape and magneto­ optical disk drives.

Typically, movie studios maintain environmentally controlled vaults on their lots in which they store masters and also disperse high quality copies of masters in other vaults across the United States or overseas.

But studio vault executives admit they are constantly being second-guessed by technology advocates for not trusting computer archives. “They roll their eyes and say ‘This man is crazy’ (for not putting faith in digital)" commented Murphy who added, “For our asset protection we are prone to archive in a format that is as agnostic and neutral to technology change over the decades as possible.”

Now if only some of that caution can be injected into the executives at the U.S. National Archives and Records Administration who are spending millions on development of proposed digital archive systems and looking askance at “old fashioned, old technology microfilming”!

In the Digital Age, the Operating Word is Change, Change, Change Ever since U.S. government agencies began scanning paper records and converting them into digital files, magneto­ optic disks, commonly known as platters, have been a storage media of choice. Their write-once, read-many (WORM) capabilities helped ensure authenticity and the durable platters had an estimated 25-year storage life span.

The latter, which was never tested in the real world, is now becoming academic due to the never-ending cycle of change and obsolescence that defines the digital age.

Expectation in the electronic storage industry is that Sony Electronics is planning to phase out its 5.25” disk technology, the most common magneto-optic disk format now in use. Sony has made no official announcement but two prospective successors are expected to debut this summer. One is Sony’s blue laser high-capacity optical format and the other is Ultra Density Optical (UDO) from Plasmon. The advantage of both is that they will have greater capacity than the 9.1 GB per disk of 5.25” technology. Sony’s blue laser initially would offer 23.3 GB per disk and UDO would have 30 GB per disk, with future development plans to ultimately increase capacity to_ 100 GB per disk. Both systems, however, will require investing in new drives and they are not, of course, compatible with each other. And - surprise! surprise! - they will not be backward compatible with the previous magneto-optic drives and media.

No projected life spans have been announced for the new storage media. But does that really matter? Doubtless

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they’ll also be obsolescent long before any such date is reached.

scanner system from Zeutschel set new standards for productivity and quality.

Digital in Libraries: Compliment, not Replacement The Digital Library Federation and Outsell, Inc., a private research firm, recently released a report entitled Dimensions and Use of the Scholarly Information Environment. Debuted at a symposium on “What Our Users Are Telling Us”, sponsored by the Council on Library and Information Resources, the report revealed that print survives and “the library is still loved”. At the same time it indicated that there is now a hybrid and complex environment in which new digital information sources should be seen “not as substitutions but as additive and synergistic.”

It is able to process any microfilm format such as microfiche and 16 or 35 mm roll film at an outstanding speed of 160 scans per minute, in either 256-Grey scale or even 36-bit colour.

A major change among users is the application of the internet as a search tool. An interesting observation was that students prefer “Googling” to using search tools in libraries own on-line catalogues.

Midwest Micrographics Conference The 16th annual Midwest Micrographics Conference will be held in September 15-17 in Frankfort, Kentucky. The threeday meeting will be sponsored by the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives. As usual, it is expected to draw state micrographics and imaging executives and practitioners from dozens of state micrographics operations.

At this top-speed OMNISCAN 1000 HS scans a complete 30.5m long film roll (thin film 60m). With this excellent performance the high-speed scanner shows an enormous increase in productivity. The whole film is digitised and stored for further processing on the PC. OMNISCAN 1000 SP, on the other hand, has been described as an “on-demand-scanner”. It scans and displays single pages of the film roll in a second. You do not need an additional reading device anymore: simply insert the film into the scanner and look it over on the computer screen.

When the required image is displayed you can select it by just pushing a button (Green Button-function) and initiate either directly a paper print-out (Scan-to-Print) or store it in a file (Scan-to-File).

Contact: Jorg Vogler, Zeutschel GmbH, Heerweg 2, 72070 Tubingen, Germany. Tel. +49-(0)7071 /9706-0 e-mail: info@zeutschel.de URL: www.zeutschel.de

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Kodak launches Referencing Archiving In March of this year Eastman Kodak Company’s Document Imaging Group launched Reference Archiving. This drive to secure business records long-term is supported by a portfolio of new Kodak products designed to help companies meet the ever-increasing regulatory requirements for safekeeping and managing business information. The new products, including digital-to-film writers and a film-to-digital scanner, enable companies to create Reference Archives that can be used to demonstrate responsible records management and reduce the costs of storing documents online.

Scandals with major international corporations across a variety of industry sectors have demonstrated the need for secure and unalterable record keeping. Business processes in the 21st century have not been matched by new records management strategies. Dependency on digital records alone creates unnecessary risks, as digital files require specific hardware and software technology systems to access them, as well as being susceptible to corruption and alteration. In the long-term these records can become unreliable, or worse, totally inaccessible!

The new products - the Kodak i9600 Series Writers, the Kodak i7300 Scanner, Kodak Reference Archive Media and associated software - allow companies to convert digital documents and data into archival microfilm and then reconvert the images from film to digital files for sharing and distribution. This process helps businesses to comply with the regulatory requirements of their particular industry sector, as well as meet stringent requirements for document production in lawsuits.

“Kodak has a rich history in helping companies manage risk by providing equipment, software and services to improve the efficiency and reliability of archiving documents,” said Robert Young, UK Manager for Capture and Imagelink at Kodak Document Imaging. “We estimate that 1.2 million images per hour are written to Kodak Reference Archive Media via the hundreds of digital-to-film writers from Kodak that are in service today. Kodak is combining image science and information technology to help companies create Reference Archives that, as the name implies, marry the benefits of referencing and archiving.”

Government and certain industries, such as banking, pharmaceuticals and finance, have long relied on digital-toanalogue-to-digital technologies to create Reference Archives of their documents and data. Kodak is now expanding its services to help other industries take advantage of the benefits of film to comply with new requirements for managing enterprise content.

New regulatory requirements This process helps businesses to comply not only with new regulatory requirements - such as those outlined in the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 which applies to the U.S. - but also to meet stringent requirements for document production in lawsuits. It is likely to be only a matter of time before such requirements are also commonly adopted in Europe.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act outlines new requirements for the long-term retention of certain key corporate documents and the courts have already handed out penalties to corporations for the mistaken destruction of records. Some companies have

inadvertently recorded over data storage tapes or have been unable to reproduce e-records because the software or hardware for accessing the records is no longer available. A digital-to-analogue-to-digital solution has great merit by combining short-term reference capabilities with long-term archiving.

To this end, Kodak is launching a series of new products, including: Kodak i9600 Series Writers These digital film writers, the i9610 and i9620, are powered by the Kodak i9600 Application Software.

The devices accept digital files and

write them to Kodak Reference Archive Media (microfilm) specifically designed to record digital images.

Kodak i7300 Scanner The i7300 Scanner, along with its associated software, is a desktop accessory for the PC, requiring little space compared with existing microfilm-retrieval devices. The i7300 Scanner retrieves images from Kodak Reference Archive Media and legacy microfilm and re-converts them into digital files, which can then be printed, faxed or e-mailed.

Kodak Reference Archive Media This standards-compliant 16mm high-quality microfilm is ISO/ANSI-certified for a life expectancy of 500 years when properly processed and stored under controlled conditions.

The i9600 Series Writers, the i7300 Scanner, Reference Archive Media and associated software are available now.

New Software Kit adds functionality to i9600 Series Kodak has announced that its new i9600 Application Software Kit is now shipping to customers worldwide. The software kit, which includes Archive Writer Interface Software (AWIS) V3.1 and Kodak Electronic Microimager Software, provides additional functionality to the Kodak i9600 Series Writers, including an advanced three-level indexing feature and a seamless integration of Kodak Capture Software with the i9600 Series Writers.

The i9600 Application Software kit includes the following: Archive Writer Interface Software V3.1 (AWIS V3.1) This enables the transfer of image files from source document management systems to the i9600 Series Writers. It also manages the image formatting and indexing during the digital-to-analogue film writing process. AWIS V^.l offers enhanced functionality and productivity. Three-level indexing is fully supported, allowing for efficient indexing and retrieval of images from Reference Archive Media.

Kodak Electronic Microimager Software This client-server software provides an interface between Kodak Capture Software and the i9600 Series Writers. The Kodak Electronic Microimager Software leverages Kodak

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Kodak also announces launch of enhancements to Capture Software application Kodak Capture Software Version 6.0 can be used across Kodak’s entire scanner portfolio - from the high-volume Kodak i800 Series Scanners, to the mid-volume Kodak Digital Science 3500 and 4500 Series Scanners and to low-volume and departmental scanners such as the Kodak i200 Series and Kodak i50 and i60 Scanners. The enhancements include: ★ New features such as automated zonal Optical Character Recognition (OCR)-based indexing, which improves productivity by greatly reducing the need to key from image. ★

Easy setup and support of Kodak’s Thresholding, a feature that automatically adjusts brightness and contrast for scanned documents. Recently deployed in the Kodak Digital Science Scanner 3520, Thresholding reduces pre-sorting, rescans and post-image processing by automatically adjusting for highlighting, low contrast and lightweight paper - situations that previously required manual adjustments.

★

An enhanced barcode engine to offer better performance for 13 currently supported types of barcodes and the addition of four new barcodes - Code 39 Extended; Code 39 HIBC; MSI; and MS1PH.

★

A number of performance improvements, such as increased speed of the “Remove Blank Images” functionality on large sets of images (i.e., documents containing more than 100 images).

The bundling of I.R.I.S. Group’s IRISPdf software to enable users to generate fully searchable PDFs with

★

images and text with Kodak’s low-volume and departmental scanners. ★

The seamless integration of Kodak i9600 Series Writers through Electronic Microimager Software to enable customers to simultaneously release images with synchronised index data to a Reference Archive and document imaging or content management systems.

PAGE 13

Capture Software’s multiple batch-output formats for compatibility with popular imaging and content management systems. The roll-frame address is automatically updated in Kodak Capture Software’s index information transfer file, eliminating the need for manual rectification of multiple system indexes. This enables one-step integration with a content management system.

“Kodak continues to invest significantly in enhancing features and improving the effectiveness of our production scanning application, which we firmly believe is the best solution for fully maximising the functionality of Kodak’s high-speed document scanners,” said Robert Young, UK Manager, Capture ft Imagelink, Commercial Imaging Components Group. “Our customers and partners will benefit from the enhancements of Version 6.0 across Kodak’s entire scanner line. Additionally, we continue to focus on making it as easy as possible to install and integrate our software into business applications including scanning, batching, indexing and creating Reference Archives within an overall enterprise imaging or content management system.”

Kodak Capture Software Version 6.0 is a powerful plug-andplay production scanning application that supports Kodak scanners at rated speeds, helping to increase overall productivity and throughput from document scanning operations. The software comes bundled with compatible output for many popular document imaging and content management applications. An Application Programming Interface (API) is also available for Kodak’s partners and end users to be able to customise batches of images and release them into their particular solutions ranging from document management, forms processing, workflow applications and content management applications.

Contact: Robert Young, Kodak Document Imaging Tel: 01442 844 986 Email: robert.m.young@kodak.com or visit www.kodak.com/go/docimaging

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Using Film scanning to create CDs for fast public dissemination Image Source, a leading U.S. service bureau headquartered in Olympia, Washington, is helping the State of Washington’s Department of Licensing offer information to the public quickly and efficiently, using a new film conversion system to produce a CD end product. The result has been faster turnaround, improved quality images, and substantial savings.

model P I50. “It was slow and there was no variable speed for wind and rewind,” said White. “In addition the focus options were limited. With the Phoenix we have variable speed and rewind and we have real time focus and adjustable filters. The scanner is easy to use with its Fusion software setup interface and it’s fast. We are running it 24 hours per day, scanning 85,000 to 110,000 images.

The Department of Licensing administers Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) files. This makes the Department a single repository for filings of liens by lenders, creditors and other parties and, subsequently, the disseminator of this information. When a CD end product was selected for public availability, the Department faced the challenge of converting 3,000 reels of 35mm microfilm to CD. These films were in many different forms including cartridges, rolls and pancake reels. The number of images per reel varied from 500 to 4,000 and the department had very specific conversion deadlines that ImageSource had to meet.

“Most important, the Phoenix is totally reliable and gives us the ability to produce high quality images with better edge enhancement through the use of a fiber optic light source. With the speed and reliability we’re getting, we expect to get our ROI on the scanner in less than three months.” The bureau is producing 15-20 CDs weekly for the Department of Licensing that can be duplicated for public distribution. The system is just getting off the ground and most likely will be operated as a fee system.

“We faced multiple challenges with the images being provided on film by the Department,” said Shad White, ImageSource’s Chief Technical Officer. “Not only did they want a quick turnaround on the conversion to CD, but many of the film images were deteriorated from not being originals when scanned to film. There was film degradation from the environment creating varying levels of gray or faded images, and there were images that actually had pieces of silver tape on them, making readability a real issue. To solve these problems we needed a solution that was better than anything the film scanning market seemed to be offering.”

ImageSource surveyed what was available and turned to the new Phoenix Scanner being introduced by nextScan. The Phoenix is a product designed to fit within the housing of older SunRise Imaging scanners. ImageSource had been using an older SunRise

ImageSource gets support on its new Phoenix unit through Ilmage Retrieval (IIRI), the Dallas-based U.S. reseller for nextScan products. IIRI offers a special service on the Phoenix called “Virtual Tech.” Its support team can attach to and work with the scanner operator from virtually anywhere via the internet. This removes the travel aspect of on-site support. IIRI’s support team is able to view the remote user’s desktop, including the nextScan Fusion scanner software. This enables them to walk the user through setup, scan and software upgrades as well as troubleshooting problems.

“Our conversion services team is totally committed to providing the best service and support to our customers. The Phoenix and the new system for converting the Department of Licensing’s film images to CDs is helping us to meet that commitment,” said Teny Sutherland, ImageSource chief operating officer.

Contact: Angelina Grogan, angelinag@ImageSourceinc.com

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On Monday 9th June The Microfilm Shop purchased the OIT UK division of Graphic Data Ltd. OIT UK are the exclusive UK dealer for the Optical Image Technology (OIT) Inc. suite of Docfinity Records and Document Management software products. The Docfinity suite of products covers all aspects of Electronic Document, Content Management and Workflow. Applications range from a single user up to a 500 user site with customers in a number of vertical markets including Health, Local government, Finance, Banking, Insurance and Retail. Clients include The Football Association, The Co-op Group (TCG), Essex County Council, Royal Bank of Scotland, Centaur Communications and the very recently signed Addenbrookes Hospital.

Paul Negus, MD of The Microfilm Shop Group, said, “..the purchase of OIT UK represents a key startegic step in our aggresive plans to be able to offer a complete suite of records, document and workflow products to the whole end user market.

Tied in with our unique and extensive service bureau partnership network we are now very close to reaching our goals. We have two smaller acquisitions to complete and then our product range will be the most extensive in the market. Any organisation will then be able to have ALL of their unique document management issues addressed - current, medium, long term or more likely a mix of all 3 - by one company.

“We have worked with OIT on a number of occassions and are about to sign a large six figure Retail account. At all times we have been impressed by the customer service ethic of the OIT team. That is why I am so pleased that the entire team are moving over to the new company under the superb direction of Vijay Magon - Technical Director. As a result existing clients will see no change in service levels or contacts. In fact I hope that existing clients will benefit from the extensive range of products that we can offer.

“In the ‘Imaging’ world OIT UK have what appears to be a very unusual approach to clients. Their product is not an off the shelf

product, it is tailored to meet the individual clients needs and, most importantly, the Docfinity suite of products is tailored to work with a client’s existing infrastructure. You don't have to switch off an existing system, you don’t have to waste any recent spend, the Docfinity products will be made to work alongside and within your current systems. With modules such as Document Imaging, Workflow, COLD and Web Access every possible requirement can be catered for. With our own software developers and engineers all requests can be met here in the UK. “Our history has been the microfilm market place and the securing of historic, legal and long-term information. We have and will continue to dominate the microfilm industry with a lot of new microfilm products to be announced shortly. The acquisition of OIT will now allow us to become a leading player in the “Document Imaging” market as well. With 25 years

experience of looking after people’s information properly, we intend bringing that same level of care and attention to detail to people’s current information. There are very few organisations that can look after information that needs to be kept for up to 100 years and deliver that information to the desktop immediately. There are even fewer organisations that can do that and be seen at the cutting edge of image management.

“Until our new marketing strategy hits the street in September I would recommend that people look at www.oituk.com, www.archiveimaging.co.uk and www.microfilm.com for our full Group story.”

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Xerox CEO Anne Mulcahy tells High-Tech leaders The New World Order requires a New Work Order Xerox Corporation Chairman and CEO Anne Mulcahy is calling for a radical transformation in today’s work world, urging industry leaders to band together to develop “a New Work Order” that extends beyond technology and drives new growth and productivity in the workplace.

In a keynote address at the ICT World Forum - a gathering of information, communications and technology companies Mulcahy said technology alone is not enough to kick-start the global economy.

“From 1998 through 2000, businesses spent $65 billion on technology in the U.S. alone. Where’s the return?” Mulcahy asked. “Technology needs to be coupled with new work ways, yet we continue to buy and sell it without making the necessary changes. It’s easier to write a cheque than it is to re­ think the way you work.”

Mulcahy predicted that work transformation would be fueled by innovation and people-based services, areas where Xerox is already focusing.

Speaking before leaders from business, government and academia, Mulcahy showcased innovative developments from Xerox research labs, announced a partnership that will take advanced document services on the road, and discussed ways to cope with information overload and promote productivity.

A recent study conducted for Xerox by MORI, one of the U.K.’s largest independent research companies, backs up the need for better ways to work. Less than half of European directors surveyed thought information technology made their job easier. In fact, one-third believes information technology makes work more complicated and increases stress.

“Beneath the I.T. is I.W. - information work, the people-based interactions of everyday office life,” Mulcahy said, expanding on the importance of the human dimension of work, a theme Xerox is reinforcing as part of its own business strategy.

“Technology has overwhelmed us with documents,” she said.

“They are a hidden and often misunderstood aspect of business cost, productivity and infrastructure.” A typical organisation spends between 5°/o and 15% of its annual revenue on documents, and Office Document Assessments conducted by Xerox have found that as much as 40% of that money can be saved.

After Xerox analysed and optimised the flow of documents for the 350 people at its corporate headquarters, for instance, it was able to save $1 million. Results have been even more dramatic at companies such as Lloyds TSB, Dillards, Royal Bank, British Telecom and others.

“Streamlining document-intensive processes not only reduces costs, but makes people more productive,” she said.

Workers are increasingly mobile, and Xerox is developing technologies and services that will support collaboration and promote productivity in their new work space. Mulcahy announced that Xerox’s mobile office business software, mDoc, will be offered in Germany by 02 - a key wireless carrier - bundled with BlackBeny devices, so people on the go can easily send and modify documents from their mobile handhelds.

Additional emerging technologies from the Xerox Research Centre Europe that will help change the way work gets done were demonstrated during Mulcahy’s keynote. One innovation, called “DiscoveryPrint,” expands on the mDoc solution, enabling a mobile phone or PDA to securely access and print full-quality documents that reside on the Internet and on corporate servers. A second demonstration showed how new “Portable Document Camera” software can turn a digital camera into a document capture device, complete with advanced image processing and text recognition software.

Mulcahy pledged that Xerox’s technologies, innovations and services would be used to create new value for customers so work can happen wherever and whenever people are able to access and share the information and knowledge they need.

For further information about Xerox (UK) Ltd, please visit our website at www.xerox.co.uk

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Document, Content and Records Management Guide 14th Edition, February, 2 0 0 3 Cimtech Limited is pleased to announce the publication of the 2003 edition of the Document, Content and Records Management Guide in both print and CD-ROM versions. The Guide is published in association with AIIM Europe and represents the UK’s most comprehensive reference work for document, content and records management professionals.

The Document, Content and Records Management Guide comprises two main sections. The first section is a complete guide to the theory and practice of document and records management and is designed to help newcomers and experienced professionals understand the issues and the technology in this fast-moving field. The guide section is written by leading experts and has been fully updated for 2003, particularly in the area of electronic records management. It is extensively illustrated with diagrams, charts and photographs and includes user case studies from prominent UK companies and organisations.

The second section contains a classified listing of all the key categories of document, content and records management products and services on the UK market. The directory has been thoroughly researched and updated with every entry vetted and placed in the relevant categories. The directory is unequalled in the depth and extent of its coverage of the UK market and is unique in that all supplier entries are provided free of charge.

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Fuji resumes own U.S. distribution - Fuji Photo Film U.S.A. has resumed distribution of Fuji microfilms on its own in the United States. Previously Ascendant Solutions International (ASI), a subsidiary of HF International, was the U.S. distributor. HF and Fuji parted company earlier this year and so the Document Products Group of Fuji Photo Film, headquartered in Valhalla NY, will handle distribution as it did before Fuji and HF signed a distribution agreement in 2002.

Three veterans of Fujifilm, who had been part of ASI, are rejoining the Fuji team. Randy Petree is the national sales manager, Mike Vandamme is the national technical support manager and Steve Jones is the customer service manager.

Petree and Vandamme will be based out of Fujifilm’s Carrollton Texas facility, while Steve Jones is based out of Fujifilm’s Valhalla corporate headquarters.

HF breaking up? Disbanded ASI execs leave - Ken Kopald, former president of the now-disbanded Ascendant Solutions International subsidiary of HF Inc. (Houston Fearless), has joined Virtual Image Technology (VIT), as Senior Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing. VIT, headquartered and with a major operations centre in South Carolina, is a leading regional service firm operating primarily in the eastern United States. It also has offices in Charlotte, North Carolina and Richmond, Virginia and representation in New England. It offers document imaging, data conversion and preservation, and web image archiving services. Kopald is responsible for selling all of VIT’s products, expanding the business beyond the present markets served, and setting up partners for some of VIT’s products. Separately, Mike Oris, who had been VPsales and marketing for ASI, left HF after the recent AIIM show.

At press time rumours abounded that HF, which has been contracting and is no longer distributing Fuji’s microfilm products in North America, was exploring possible sale of its Mekel and Extek microfilm product lines.

PAGE 18

AIIM to publish Buyer’s Guide - AIIM International announced that it will publish a year-end Buyer’s Guide that will be inserted in the association’s E-DOC magazine and be distributed as a reference throughout the AIIM programme year. The Guide will be a source reference work rather than a product directory. It will include a comprehensive index of ECM (Electronic Content Management) vendors as well as a review of top trends of 2003 and a look ahead to 2004. AIIM trade members will receive one free formatted listing (company name and contact information). AIIM is soliciting advertising now for the new venture.

AIIM Fellows elect new Officers - AIIM International’s Company of Fellows, a distinguished group of individuals honoured over the years for their work on behalf of the association and the industries it serves, has selected two new officers in a special election. Bob Zagami, a vice president of ImageMax is the group’s new chairperson while Jim Loveridge, assistant vice president of Mellon New England, a major financial institution, is the vice chair. They will serve a two-year term, effective immediately. Zagami will be the Fellows’ representative on the AIIM board of directors, replacing Don Avedon, Avedon Associates, who stepped down earlier this year.

Anacomp is benefiting from a Web Presentment Services assessment by Doculabs, an independent research and consulting firm. Doculabs lauded Anacomp’s outsourcing services, particularly the firm’s web-based archive that achieves a single, unified view (or ’presentment’) of all stored documents for user clients. The latter can access their information through the internet or a private network.

Doculabs claims that the Anacomp system not only enables clients to avoid capital investment and maintenance costs, but also meets compliance requirements - including corporate due diligence and reporting - for the electronic capture, filing, storage and retrieval of documents.

Eastman Kodak named Antonio Perez as its president and chief operating officer. He reports to chairman and CEO Dan Carp. Among the Kodak businesses whose day-to-day operations Perez will oversee is the Commercial Imaging Group.

Perez joins Kodak after more than 25 years of global experience in the information technology and electronics industries, largely with Hewlett-Packard Company. His last HP post was as president of HP’s Consumer Business and Digital Media Solutions group. Under his leadership it achieved $16 billion in revenues. After he retired from HP in 2002 he served as president and CEO of Gemplus International.

Perez, a native of Spain, is expected to help Kodak develop its digital imaging business and, in particular, digital publishing.

Iron M ountain - the international records storage organisation, announced it is floating a $250 million debt offering in the United States.

Microfilm Equipment and Supplies - a well-known Illinoisbased U.S. equipment, supplies and services firm, announced that Daniel Giovacchini will assume responsibility for the firm’s daily operations as Jerry Malpede moves to a part-time basis. He will provide consulting and sales support. Malpede had been with MES for 22 years. Giovacchini has 14 years experience in the micrographic and digital scanning industries. Also joining MES is George Falcon, a 25-year veteran in the document imaging industry

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U.S. Financial Footnotes Anacomp continues in the Black - Anacomp announced net income of $300,000 for the quarter ended March 31, posting the second consecutive positive quarter since its 2002 financial reorganisation. The company attributed the gain to reduced operating expenses and growth in its MVS (multi-vendor services) and web presentment product lines. These more than compensated for declines in Anacomp’s COM microfilm business.

During the quarter the company was able to reduce its borrowings with proceeds from the previously-announced sale of its Swiss subsidiaries and cash generated from operations.

Revenues for the three months were $52.8 million, compared with $60.8 million in the same period last year. Net income compared with net income of $900,000 in the prior year’s period.

Anacomp also announced a strategic partnership with TDK Electronics to sell the latter’s new CDRS-1100 CD Recording Station into the global medical imaging market. TDK specialises in recordable CD media-based systems for storing medical images. To facilitate the agreement, Anacomp established two factory locations, one in California and the other in the Netherlands, to perform integration of TDK’s software and workstations, which make up the CDRS-1100 system. Anacomp’s worldwide field service personnel will install all the CDRS-1100s and provide extended onsite warranty maintenance.

Iron Mountain shows revenue, income gains - Iron Mountain reported higher revenues and earnings for IQ 2003. Total revenues for the records storage and information services giant were $352 million, up ll°/o over a year earlier. Nearly two-thirds of these were storage revenues, important to Iron Mountain since such revenues are largely recurring. This was the 57th consecutive quarter in which Iron Mountain reported increased

Quality you can depend on

storage revenues. Operating income was $72 million, up 26°/o.

The company also announced it has teamed with four leading instant messaging solution providers to include compliant instant messaging records archiving and retention solutions.

These solutions are in response to increasing regulatory pressure for electronic communications records compliance.

SourceCorp reports excellent 1Q results - SourceCorp, a leading nationwide provider of business process outsourcing solutions and services, reported increased revenue and earnings in the first quarter of 2003 (March 31), a considerable achievement in light of the weak U.S. business economy in that period. Revenues were $109.5 million while net income was $8.2 million, 6°/o and 36% increases, respectively, over the same period a year earlier. They also were increases over the fourth quarter of 2002.

ACS - entered the ranks of the Fortune 500 for the first time when the prestigious business magazine revealed its 2003 ’’Fortune 500” listings. Based on revenues of $3.1 billion for the 2002 fiscal year ending June 30, 2002, ACS was ranked 488. It had been 685 the year earlier. ACS, which offers imaging and microfilming services within its outsourcing services portfolio, is now a premier provider of business process information technology outsourcing solutions to vertical markets which, aside from industry, include government agencies, health care institutions, and education.

The company’s most recent results, for the third quarter ended March 31, showed record revenues and net earnings. Revenues were $1.01 billion, up 26% from a year earlier, and net income was $79.5 million, a 28% increase. Nine-month totals were also records.

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ROUND (V A B 0 U T The Society of American Archivists (SAA) will host the International Archives and Information Technology Exposition August 21-22 at the Century Plaza Hotel in Los Angeles. Some 1,200 archivists, representing a variety of institutions around the world are expected to attend. SAA is the largest professional association for archivists in North America. For more information go to www.archivists.org on the web.

Within Prithvi is, we’re told, a good team of people who effectively manage large and complicated projects to satisfy all the requirements of our clients.

They are distributors of Kodak (I) Ltd.for Imaging Division but are tied up with almost all equipment manufacturers in the field of imaging throughout the world such as Kodak, Zeutschel, Imtech, Minolta and Canon to name but a few.

$20 million in damages for value of lost records - For the first time, a U.S. juiy awarded damages - more than $20 million - to a plaintiff based on the value of the records they lost, not on the value of the boxes in which the records were stored.

As a part of their expansion programme they are looking forward making associations with other companies for mutual benefits. If you are interested in having any offshore associates, specifically in India, they are confident that they will prove to be a right choice

When a fire engulfed Diversified Information Technologies’ West Patterson, Pennsylvania document storage facility in May 1997, some 800,000 boxes of corporate records were destroyed. One customer, Mobil Oil, lost 67,000 boxes of documents because of problems with the facility’s sprinkler system. Mobil sued Diversified and Grinnell Corp., the manufacturer of the sprinkler system, alleging both were negligent. It also sued Grinnell separately for product liability.

In its suit against the two companies Mobil argued its damages totaled $24 million. These included lost tax deductions, lost underground storage tank remediation reimbursements because supporting documentation was destroyed, as well as ship drawings and other documents lost in the fire. A jury found Diversified and Grinnell both negligent and awarded Mobil $20.75 million in damages.

Other companies, including First Union Bank, also won similar claims. First Union was awarded $20.55 million, an amount that included $9.5 million to cover the bank’s estimated future costs in reconstructing personal and charitable trust documents that were lost.

ARMA International said these are the first awards ever for the value of records lost based on the information they contained or the cost of recreating that information. In the past, awards in similar cases amounted to $1-2 per box, the figure for which the boxes were insured. The precedent established by the awards can be far reaching in the U.S. document and records storage industry.

PAGL20

A taste of India - Prithvi Surveys (P) Ltd. has been established for over 10 years and now claim to be one of the largest companies in India offering document management services. The company provides 35mm and 16mm microfilming, printing from microfilm, scanning of either original documents or microfilm and conversion services to which several Government departments subscribe, including the Irrigation and Archives Registration departments as well as many public and private companies.

Prithvi’s services include media conversion (digital imaging, micrographic services, document storage, retrieval workflow, data entry and indexing). They provide conversions of all microfilm and paper formats to the various digital formats.

They scan microfilm, microfiche, aperture cards and paper documents to a variety of digital image file formats including industry standard Tiff Group IV compressed format. They also convert file formats like Tiff to other image formats including Gif, JPEG, PDF etc.

Contact: Shriram Deodhar, Chairman ft Managing Director, Prithvi Surveys (P) Ltd., 1140 Sadashiv Peth, Shantisagar Apartment, Pune 411 030, Maharashtra (India) Tel.No.:- 91(20) 4472111 Fax No. :-91(20) 4471288 Email : prithvi@ pn3.vsnl.net.in

The China Syndrome - Information Technology International Inc. (ITII) is a data entry company located China. They are looking for client opportunities in other countries. Many companies in the Western World are now outsourcing information management services offshore because labour costs are so much lower.

ITII is located in Jinzhou, which is 200 miles north of Beijing, and has been in the business of large volume data entry, scanning and data processing for the past five years. They were founded in March 1998. The company consists of a team of more than 200 data entry professionals offering high quality, time saving and competitive pricing of information management services.

The services that ITII offers include document indexing, image editing (OCR, ICR, and OMR), data entry, electronic file conversion and cleanup, litigation coding, the processing of health care forms and other allied services.

They claim to have the edge over their competition due to significantly lower pricing, superior quality control (keystroke errors less than one per ten thousand characters), quick turnaround time (They offer a 24-hour turnaround service if needed), optical fibre (10Mbps and two dedicated links. ISO standard Network), data entry operators are available seven days a week, guaranteed security (They sign a confidential agreement with all of their customers!)

If you would like to conduct an initial quality control testing of their work for free, please contact Qiuyue Wang. He will arrange sample processing for free and provide the detailed pricing of an actual project of that size. He will sign a confidentiality agreement for the work and will gladly provide you the references of satisfied customers upon request.

Contact: Qiuyue Wang, Tel: (0416) 313-1255 Email: Sales@datamanageinc.com Web: http://datamanageinc.com

The Federal Reserve Bank has put together a proposal for new legislation, called the Check Truncation Act. The proposal, submitted to Congress in December 2002, would allow for digital images of checks to be legally recognised as “substitute checks”. This would make a check image legally the same as a paper version and banks would not have to

wait to receive the paper check. They could begin processing payment as soon as the digital image is received.

Many U.S. banks believe that if Congress approves the bill, the use of digital check images will soar. Conversely, though it will not happen overnight, the retention of microfilm copies of checks will decline and, conceivably, the need for check processing back offices will be greatly reduced or eliminated.

(It sounds ike a recipe fo r disaster to me - Ed)

Records Managers try Automated Fixes for E-mail Archival Woes - E-mail is now almost the lifeblood of most U.S. federal and local government agencies. Consequently, government records managers are straining to cope with the deluge of these electronic records. Of the more than 30 billion estimated e-mail messages sent daily worldwide, U.S. government agencies undoubtedly accord for more than their fair share.

When such messages are used to “transact real business” they become subject to the same regulatory and legal requirements as any other system or media used for archiving and retaining official records, according to Betsy Fanning, director of standards at AIIM International.

To better manage their e-mail records, some agencies are starting to create automation strategies and turning to commercial software that helps sort, store and index critical e-mail messages in a secure, searchable archive repository. To help them there are e-mail archiving tools offered by a growing number of vendors.

The tools differ in focus and capability, but generally give users the option of archiving e-mail from the server or from individual user mail boxes. Once e-mail messages are moved from personal mailboxes to an archive, most systems allow them to be searched by keyword and retrieved using header information such as subject, sender or receiver. But making email messages easily searchable is a touchy subject for some organisations because of privacy issues.

Another challenge for e-mail archiving is assuring a way for future access to e-mail and attachments. This has led to the National Archives and Records Administration’s (NARA) project to build an electronic records archive. Previously NARA required agencies to print e-mail records before submitting them to NARA. Last fall it began officially accepting e-mail in electronic form. If all goes well, NARA’s electronic records archive, on which the federal government has spent millions of dollars, could come on-line in 2008. To be successful it will have to guarantee long-term future readability in the face of ever-evolving software and hardware changes and without migration problems and costs.

That’s no easy task and one which has not yet been solved.

Company Valuation Service Ft Website Launch - Having your company valued is a process, which up until now has involved a great deal of cost, time and disruption. As a busy manager, your time is precious and costs have to be minimised during current uncertainty. That is why Plimsoll Publishing Limited has just launched a new company valuation service with the busy manager in mind.

Available on PlimsoH’s dedicated new website for company valuations http://www.valueyourcompany.com/ the service includes a definitive valuation of your own company plus a valuation of your nearest 10 competitors.

Plimsoll Publishing Limited has been analysing companies for over 17 years in the UK and other major markets in Europe and Asia. Valuations are given on a purely financial basis using each company’s latest four years of annual accounts. www.plimsoll.co.uk

NEW: VersalMAGE-GOLD Astounding image OCR with full text Search!

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VersalMAGE software keeps track of microfilm roll/frame locations and correlates them with their corresponding digital image (Tiff) addresses as film images are converted to digital form in daily use. This way, every microfilm retrieval will be made only once for a given film image. All subsequent retrievals of the same image(s) will immediately be displayed in digital form by VersalMAGE.

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LINK 51 Quick-2-Fit electric mobile shelving 'swallows' twenty filing cabinets The entire contents of some 20 four drawer filing cabinets have now been accommodated by a Link 51 ’Quick-2-Fit’ electric mobile shelving installation - with further room for significant growth. The installation, at the Shrewsbury offices of the Employment Tribunal Service, sees the latest Link 51 shelving systems used as part of an office refurbishment programme and staff there are now reaping the benefits of the significant space savings that it has produced.

The layout features two back-to-back shelving runs which can be moved electronically through a simple push button operation. Static shelving has then been located on both sides to produce an overall facility which meets all the organisation’s document storage requirements, both those in archive and current case files. Despite the presence of exposed roof support timbers, the installation has been designed to take full advantage of the room height.

The project is a prime example of the benefits associated with Link 51’s latest mobile shelving system. Because the QuickCFit design does not require floor fixing, installation is fast and simple with minimum disruption to the work place. A choice of Link 51 shelving systems can be incorporated into each installation - at the ETS, for example, the company’s Clearstor shelving is used. The space saving benefits associated with Link 51’s mobile units arise from the fact that only one aisle needs to be open at any one time. This means the majority of the installation is kept in a closed position thereby minimising floor space requirements - a benefit which is of direct note to staff at the ETS.

“Our file retrieval is simple and very effective and we have been surprised by the amount of documentation that can be stored,” comments Pearl Burton, Office Manager. “In the majority of the system we have specified vertical dividers to create a series of square pigeon holes within which files can be efficiently held and separated.”

Each run provides twelve pigeon holes across and six shelf levels with one of the static installations installed as a half height unit to just three shelf levels. Wood effect decorative end panels have also been specified to match the decor of the office environment.

Contact: David Buller, Link 51 (Storage Products), Link House, Halesfield 6, Telford, Shropshire TF7 4LN Tel: 01384 472543 Fax: 01952 683977 Email: enquiries@link51.co.uk

Rotary Filing Unit is a stylish New Turn for offices At the heart of the Gyrofile system is an innovative base unit measuring 1144mm(W) x 795mm(D) x 2270mm(H). It is a double-faced storage unit that pivots centrally giving access to either face. When not in use the unit is swivelled through 90°, effectively closing the cabinet for increased security.

Through its wide range of accessories and stylish finishes (plain shelf, roll-out shelf, lateral filing frame, roll-out suspension frame, letter sort compartment, roll-out slotted draw - wood finish and diy white-board fascias) the new Gyrofile from Autoscan simply adapts to customer filing requirements.

A major advantage of the new rotary filing cabinet is the increased accessibility to files in open-plan offices. With the Gyrofile placed between desks and workstations, staff are able to retrieve or file information more quickly from positions close to where they sit. It is also ideal for confined areas where back-to-back arrangements or positioned against a wall in a corridor are the most appropriate locations.

The latest addition to Autoscan’s range of high-density storage systems is a unit specifically engineered for the office environment - the Gyrofile. This new rotary filing system provides flexible storage for a wide variety of file-formats in less space. Trials have demonstrated that just three Gyrofile cabinets can replace 16 x four-drawer filing cabinets, or putting it another way, achieve up to 2.5 times the storage capacity over the same footprint.

Gyrofile is a revolution in filing cabinet technology, and very much like other industrial storage solutions from Autoscan, offers key advantages of space-saving storage and easy access for fast more efficient filing and retrieval of items.

Contact: Nick Shelvey, Autoscan Ltd, Barton House, 61 High Street, Chilwell, Nottingham NG9 4AJ Tel: 0115 922 4249 Fax: 0115 922 9142 Email: nick.shelvey@autoscanuk.co.uk or visit www.autoscanuk.co.uk

T H E

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 lim it 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.

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