The Green Sheet 050

Keeping You Informed

M a y /J u n e 2008

issue 50

The forem ost authority on the Information Management industry, the Green Sheet provides news, views and technical reviews from around the world.

H O lV rrS tM D E Getting it together at Green Sheet Managing editor John Baker takes time out to let you know how an issue reaches your desk

Content & G raphics Strange as it might seem, a magazine does not put itself together! There are quite a num­ ber of steps involved in the publishing pro­ cess, so let's have a quick look at them all.

The detailed parts of the process are outlined in the panel to the right, the main work of put­ ting the magazine together centres on what is going in and how it is to be presented.

As a B2B magazine, we have to ensure the subject is put across in an interesting, inform­ ative and concise manner. We also need to ensure what you are reading is correct, true to it's word, and of course within legal guidlines for the UK. (As it is the country of origin.)

Once an article is edited and approved as con­ tent, the job of putting the page together can

IN-HOUSE MILESTONES begin. This is akin to an artist working with a blank canvas. Out of this process, the seri­ ISSUE THEMES - allow advertisers, edit­ ousness, content and tone of the article will ors and contributors to put material togeth­ er for individual issues. A list of special evolve to become a finished result which is themes, promotions and major shows and editorially and graphically in context with the events is compiled 9-12 months ahead. theme of the article.

Carrier sheet, + magazine EDITORIAL -

It is well known that humour, (being subjective and often culture-specific,) should be avoided. However as with any industry, there are funny stories to tell and anecdotes to be quoted. All of which we hope brings you a well-rounded and informat­ ive publication.

Essential to any printed publication is you, the reader, after a ll....

Without you - we have nothing to say!

stones the printers

www.centralmailina.co.uk

www.stonestheprinters.co.uk

WHY ARE WE CALLED 'Green Sheet?'

Printing & Distribution

Green Sheet MEDIA as a company, con­ siders itself a 'green' organisation. The name was not originally related to the en­ vironment however. The magazine is in fact a combination of two publications. In 2002 the merger took place between the UK's 'Micrographics Marketplace', and 'The Green Sheet' from the USA. (The lat­ ter so called, because it was printed on green paper stock when it first came out in 1969.)

Many readers will be surprised to read that the Green Sheet goes all the way back to the year of the moon land­ ing. Although in this issue we celebrate the 50th 'Issue' of the Green Sheet, in 2009 we are celebrating 40 years of providing in­ formation to what we know as the informa­ tion industry.

One of the most important aspects of magazine publishing is print quality. That is why GSM uses Stones the Printers of Ban­ bury in Oxfordshire, England. Their state-ofthe-art Heidelbergh presses produce excel­ lent quality print from the high resolution PDF's we provide. These presses work so quickly that a 1,000 sheets of paper might go t Typical GSM image, captured at a show

As with the Green Sheet of old, the UK's Micrographics Marketplace focussed on the microfilm industry. It was first pub­ lished in 1986. As trends changed it fo­ cussed more on document management and associated systems. Now the global remit of the magazine and Green Sheet MEDIA as whole, is to keep information management professionals (at all levels of expertise,) up to date with trends, news, people, equipment and software in regular use by us all in the IM industry.

GSM has a wealth of information on micro­ film and document management stretching back through the years. If you are in need of a nostalgia fix, why not ask us about your favourite kit of yesteryear.

GSM:050.02

% hrough the press, just so the printer can check the set-up. The sheets of paper are not A3 as the magazine format is, in fact the en­ tire magazine needs just TWO sheets of paper to print all 32 pages.

Once the printer is happy with the colours and registration on the printed page, the magazine is then run off. After that step, the printed pages are transferred to the finishing room. This is where the printed sheets are cut, collated and folded, before being passed through a 'saddle stitch' machine to keep it all together. Finally, the right hand side of the magazine is trimmed to tidy up the pages, the How It’s Made

material for the magazine is gathered in the weeks leading up to the compilation of the magazine pages. Urgent news goes straight on to the web site and less urgent (but nonetheless important) information, is kept for publication. Articles usually come from 3 main sources: You the readers, PR com­ panies acting on behalf of clients, and our own in-house team.

PHOTOGRAPHS & GRAPHICS - relevant to articles and special features, play an im­ portant role in the overall look and 'feel' of the magazine. Sometimes GSM will use a photo agency, but more often the large col­ lection of in-house images holds something of use.

LAYOUT - is the final step before going to press. Once all pages have been finished they are then passed through a pre-press checking system. Finally the electronic pages are ready to be converted to high resolution PDF files which are then sent to the printer electronically using FTP. JOB DONE!

Green Sheet is ready for transport to the 'ful­ fillment house'. This is where the issue is labeled and bagged ready for mailing to you.

Green Sheet use a specialist company called Central Mailing Services, who are based in Birmingham, England.

Once CMS have picked up the boxes of magazines from Stones, they are taken by road to the CMS HQ and then held until the job is ready to go through their system. At this point, CMS have already received from GSM, a spreadsheet file needed to mail merge all of the recipients names and addresses with a word processor file.

When the job is ready to go through, the magazines are placed in bundles onto a ma­ chine with a conveyor belt system As the magazines whizz down the line, a carrier sheet pops out of side rollers, and the magazine, complete with its new front sheet is bagged in polythene, heat-sealed, then bundled ready for mail separation.

After that CMS pass the magazines on to spe­ cialist mail handling companies. Pre-split by country of destination, the magazines then make their way through distribution and mail­ ing services around the world, and (hope­ fully!) arrive on your doormat, desk or in your internal mail - one week later. ■

www.greensheetmedia.com

Keeping You Informed The foremost authority on the Information Management industry, the Gi

May /June 2008

"Perfect Book"

Zeutschel comes to the aid of book scanning

Scanner Guide

Now includes microfilm scanners and writers

Scanning Part 1 First in a major new series o f articles

Worlds Largest Scanner?

It's Show Time

NEW! Regular show preview and review spot

www.greensheetm edia.com

Issue 50

ieet provides news, views and technical reviews frqgn around the world.

ISSN

DON'T READ THIS!

If yo u are a su b s c rib er. If you are N O T a su b scrib er, th is is Y O U R L A S T F R E E C O P Y U N TIL A U G U S T 2009 (at least) W e are n o t bein g m ean ! W e n o w h ave o v e r 12,000 re c ip ien ts, so you w ill m iss out.

W e C A N help you s u b s c rib e in 3 w ays ....

1. www.greensheetmedia.com/subscriptions.htm (PayPal and email/pro-forma subscriptions) 2. Subscription Hotline: 0044 24 7638 2328 3. Subscription Faxline: 0044 24 7638 2319

. ... comment from the editors desk

f

Well Here I Am My first issue since Tim Nixon retired, and I am joined at GSM by an old friend of mine who has taken over the Tale Piece I used to write. Welcome Crusty, I am sure you will give the readers some sage advice in your aptly named PENultimate section.

So what's in store for Green Sheet readers around the world? Well, there is more of the same, but also new features to come. I can also bring you news of further expansion to give all things Green Sheet a more global appeal.

Starting in the next issue, the aim of this page will be to present direct comment on a key issue (or issues) within our IM/DM industry.

For this issue however I need to bring you all up to date with changes to the magazine, web site and trade directory.

The Magazine You will notice a further shift in style for this, our 50th issue. I have been deliberating for some time what style to adopt in order to bring you an easily read format with optimal layouts which allow us to present information to you with clarity and reader appeal. I hope this is being achieved. (Let me know if not!)

In terms of content, it is my intention (within the constraints of editorial and layout,) to keep certain features in roughly the same posi­ tion within the magazine from issue to issue.

The scanner guide returned by popular de­ mand to a one page format in the last issue.

That is now extended back to two pages with the introduction of (ever) increasingly popular information on microfilm scanners and writers.

Test reports will continue to feature as will hardware and software reviews.

The Web Site Plans have been drawn up for a step-change process to further improve the web site. All major pages are to be re-formatted to im­ prove search engine optimisation, and a migra­ tion to a brand new server will take place through the Spring.

The end result will be a faster and more effi­ cient web site bringing you all the usual fea­ tures as well as new content such as video.

ADVERTISERS A-Z 12 A&P International 02 CMS 25 Crisp Documents 09 Fujitsu 11,12, 15 Genus Group 13 Hyland Software 25 IBML 23 MISL 15 Microvue 32 nextscan 21 OIT www.greensheetmedla.com

24 13 02 25 31 32

Our web site has had over 700,000 hits since it was re-launched a year ago. It now re­ quires the management of well over 700 files, and including the news section on the front page, is updated over 100 times per week.

This allows us to bring you industry news al­ most as soon as we receive it.

On the UK's Budget Day, we ran a successful experiment where we streamed live TV foot­ age to our front page, from the Houses of Parliament. This was available during the Chancellors's speech, and paves the way for a future format which will provide you with video content. Due later in 2008, content will take the form of tutorials news, product in­ formation and sales presentations. We think this will prove to be very popular.

A A Scanning Update:

I VI

First in a major series se of articles

tv r j

The GSM Directory The Directory is also to be improved, with new features such as more categories, Speed Search and Advanced Search. These will be implemented once the migration to the new server is completed during May/June.

Continuing the quest for international appeal, the directory now has an easy to use form al­ lowing company's to submit their details for a FREE listing.

A A Case Study:

Subscriptions Also easier to use will be our application and payment process for subscriptions. We are in­ troducing a Hotline and you can now pay by all major credit cards online, by phone, or pro-forma invoice.

A Q "Perfect Book":

Advertising We are always keen to encourage advert­ isers of course, and readers will see many new names come to us in the forthcoming is­ sues. Let us know if there is something spe­ cial you require.

It's Your Magazine All of us at GSM hope we are bringing you a better news and information experience.

Please let us know what you think: feedback@areensheetmedia.com Thank you all. John Baker, Managing Editor iohnbaker@areensheetmedia.com ■

Oakdene International OnBase Stones the Printers vPDF Wicks & Wilson nextscan

GREEN SHEET SPECIFIC 28 29 30 04

* //+

Diary Dates 2008 It's Show Time (New!) PENultimate (New!) Subscriptions

CORRECTION - Issue 48 The British Library article should have stated that the illustration on page 16 was in fact a Zeutschel planetary scanner. Zeutschel equipment is supplied in the UK by BestTec Ltd. and they can be contacted on 0044 (0)7000 785368 or via their web site at: www.best-tec.ltd.uk

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Zeutschel Devel Develops 3D for Book Scanning

Black Stuff: Mammoth Scanner at UK's Coal Authority

Outer Cover Image:

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Arc de Triumphe stair way, Paris, France

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Inner Cover Image Spring Blossom, CeBIT, Hannover ©Element903

GSM:050.05

MAGAZINE & CONTACT INFORMATION Green Sheet Magazine is registered with the UK Post Office as a newspaper and is published by Green Sheet MEDIA, South Lodge, Stradbroke Road, Fressingfield, Suffolk, IP21 5PP, UK ISSN 1476-3842 Copyright: No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, scanning, recording or otherwise without the express permission of the publishers Green Sheet MEDIA, or the express per­ mission of the owners of other copyright material reproduced within this publication.

All material is © Green Sheet MEDIA 2008 (except where otherwise indicated) CONTACT DETAILS SUBSCRIPTIONS Phone Hotline: 0044 247 638 2328 Pay Online: subs.greensheetmedia.com Renewal Queries: 0044 247 638 2328 Email: subscriptions@greensheetmedia.com ADVERTISING (For magazine, online, directory, cover disk and insert advertising) Phone: 0044 247 625 4957 Email: advertisina@oreensheetmedia.com EDITORIAL & COPY SUBMISSIONS Phone: 0044 247 625 4957 Email: editorial@areensheetmedia.com TRADE DIRECTORY (FREE ENTRY) Web: greensheetmedia.com/directorylisting.htm Email: directorv@areensheetmedia.com ACCOUNTS Phone: 0044 247 638 2328 Email: accounts@areensheetmedia.com MANAGEMENT Production/Editorial Manager - John Baker Email: iohnbaker@areensheetmedia.com ONLINE PRESENCE General Green Sheet web site: www.areensheetmedia.com GSM Trade Directory: www.areensheetmedia.com/directorv.htm GG Baker: To be announced Printed by: Stones, Banbury (UK) www.stonestheprinters.co.uk Printed on: FSC controlled 100gsm Regency paper

FSC Mixed Sources Product group from well-managed forests and other controlled sources Cert no. SW-COC-002940 www.fsc.org © 1996 Forest Stewardship Council

Mechanical: Stones print the magazine using Heidelberg 10 colour Speedmasters. www.uk.heidelbera.com Origination & Finishing: All pages com­ piled by Green Sheet are created on Scribus. Plate ready pages are converted to high resolution PDF files. Subscriber PDF files are converted using both ABBYY FineReader 8.0 & vPDF by Crisp Software. www.scribus.net www.abbvv.com www.crisDdocuments.com Fulfillment: is by Central Mailing Services of Birmingham, UK. www.centralmailina.co.uk

GSM:050.06

IM World: N e w s fro m a ro u n d SunRise ReelScan® for Roll Film SunRise Imaging, Inc. (SRI), the global leader in high-performance production microfilm scanning systems, has announced its ReelScan® application software which is designed to be used when scanning roll film.

ReelScan allows rollfilm to be scanned continuously for post segmentation and image processing. The driving design requirement for ReelScan is the elimination of the need to rescan and the ability to scan and deal with problem images. The ReelScan application speeds up the workflow process, reducing operator time, and the overall expense of operation.

Together with the latest ScanFlo image processing applications, ReelScan provides unparalleled performance in terms of speed, functions and features. It allows the operator to change or delete single poorly captured images through a very user-friendly 'segmenter' module, without having to go through the whole re-scanning process. This software has the fastest image capture that detects varying image sizes, density, and poor quality.

Image segmentation, correction, extraction and processing are performed afterwards.

These tasks can be executed either on the system connected to the SunRise scanner or an external workstation connected to the network, freeing up the scanner.

ReelScan is user-friendly with a graphical user interface that gives the operator total control over the scanning process. For many of today’s scanners, the conversion process from film to digital images can encounter problems, increasing time and cost.

ReelScan is designed with functionality to eliminate these problems producing the best 1 in throughput and image quality.

SunRise®, is the international market leader for high-performance microfilm digitizing scanning systems, and their 3-in-1 modular system offers flexibility and delivers superior image quality for more film formats and film challenges than any other single scanner. ■ Email: sales@sunriseimaaina.com Web: www.sunriseimaaina.com

SMA Gathers Momentum German (Wolfersheim) based SMA, manufacturers of quality document and book scanners, conversion systems, and microfilm cameras, continue to prosper under the new management of Peggy Zilian and Ralph Fuchs. They joined forces in 2007 to take SMA to it's next level of development, and their book scanners and hybrid systems (where scan and film technologies are combined in one capture unit,) are particularly successful, with export and VAR success around the world.

Peggy, who joined SMA in 2003, began her career in the document management industry in 1996 at Eichner Mikrofilmhaus.

There she was responsible for the consumables business of the export depart­ ment, and became Area Sales Manager for countries where she could bring in her various language skills.

Ralph started in the document management industry in 1992 as Export Manager at Staude Foto Chemie. In July 1997 he changed jobs and took the same management position at Eichner Mikrofilm­ haus, (where he and Peggy met). In July 2003 Ralph Fuchs became President of SMA, and then purchased the company along with Ms Zilian in July 2007.

There were no plans for immediate changes when the buy-out took place, instead they IM W orld: News from around the globe

concentrated on growing the business, staying relatively small, yet at the same time being as flexible as possible. This rationale is evidently successful, judging by the range and quality of the SMA product range.

As SMA exclusively holds the international distribution rights for Staude products, they strengthened their co-operation when SMA moved into the Staude building end of 2007.

The long term plan is for Staude and SMA to co-operate in developing and manufacturing products.

SMA also have a popular microfilm writer, the SMA 51. The machine'takes digital files as input and is capable of converting them on to 16mm or 35mm microfilm roll film. ■ Email: mail@sma-edocument.com Web: www.sma-edocument.com www.greensheetm edia.com

( N E W S IN B R IE F

the globe Passwords for Chocolate Scandal!

A survey of 576 office workers by Infosecurity Europe (www.infosec.co.ukf has found that women are far more likely to give away their passwords to total strangers than their male counterparts. 45% of women versus 10% of men were prepared to give away their password to strangers masquerading as market researchers. With the lure of a chocolate bar as an incentive for filling in the survey, the survey was actually part of a social engineering exercise to raise awareness about information security. The survey was conducted outside Liverpool Street Station in the City of London.

This year’s survey results were significantly better than previous years. In 2007 64% of people were prepared to give away their passwords for a chocolate bar, this year it had dropped to just 21% so at last the message is getting through to be more infosecurity savvy. The researchers also asked the office workers for their dates of birth to validate that they had carried out the survey here the workers were very naive with 61% revealing their date of birth. Another slightly worrying fact discovered by researchers is that over half of people questioned use the same password for everything (e.g. work, banking, web, etc.).

“Our researchers also asked for workers names and telephone numbers so that they could be entered into a draw to go to Paris, with this incentive 60% of men and 62% of women gave us their contact information”, said Claire Sellick, Event Director, Infosecurity Europe.

As she revealed her details to our researchers one woman said, “even though I have just been to Paris for the weekend I would love to go again.”

Sellick continued, “that promise of a trip could cost you dear, as once a criminal has your date of birth, name and phone number they are well on the way to carrying out more sophisticated social engineering attacks on you, such as pretending to be from your bank or phone company and extracting more valuable information that can be used in ID theft or fraud."

Workers were also queried about their use of passwords at work. Half said that they knew their colleagues passwords and when asked if they would give their passwords to someone who phoned and said they were from the IT department, 58% said they would. Researchers also asked workers if they thought other people in their company knew their CEO's password. 35% them w w w.greensheetm edia.com

thought that someone else did with PA'sl and IT staff being the most likely suspects.

“This research shows that it’s pretty simple for a perpetrator to gain access to information that is restricted by having a chat around the coffee machine, getting a temporary job as a PA or pretending to be from the IT department.” Sellick continued, “This type of social engineering technique is often used by hackers targeting a specific organisation with valuable data or assets such as a government department or a bank.”

One man said, 'I work for a government department, I would never give my password to anyone else, it could cost me my job'.

Most people used only one (31%), two (31%) or three (16%) passwords at work, but a few poor souls had to use as many as 32! It was also found that 43% of people rarely or never change their password which is very poor security practice.

After the survey was completed, each worker was told ‘We do not really want your personal information this is part of an exercise to raise awareness about information security as part of Information Security Awareness Week which runs from the 21-25 April 2008. We will tabulate results to find out how good people are at securing their information.’ At this one man told one of our pretty researchers you look so well dressed and honest I did not think you could be a criminal, which was a sentiment echoed by many others.

Claire Sellick continued “This is precisely the problem, whether a criminal approaches you on the street or online, they will often not be who they appear to be, a criminal can often look very presentable. Many of the social engineering techniques used by face-to-face fraudsters have been adopted by criminals to encourage people to open spam emails or visit websites that are infected with viruses, trojans or malware collectively known as crimeware.

The crimeware silently takes control of PCs and other devices then steal identities and cash or in many cases joins the PCs to a network of controlled PCs as part of a “BOTNET" to launch attacks on other people or organisations.”

The survey was carried out as part of the run up to Information Security Awareness week which started on the 21st April. ■ www.infosec.co.uk

IM W orld

A nacom p 40 This Year Unveiling a new logo and web site, Anacomp Inc. celebrates its 40th birthday this year.

Consolidating its position with a "One Anacomp" strategy, it has united and rationalised its solutions and services.

With 40 years of information processing experience across the USA and Europe, they plan to build on their reputation.

Anacomp also owns docHarbor which hosts more than 14 billion pages of customers mission-critical digital data. www,angpQmp,gom

Green Sheet 40 Next Year In 1969 the first Green Sheet was first published as a micro­ graphics newletter. Although this is the 50th issue (see story on inside front cover) next year sees GS hit its 40th year of 'Keeping You Informed'. www.gree nsheeim edig-CQm

Defacto & Version One Go Strategic Accredited Sage Enterprise software developer, Defacto Solutions, has formed a strategic partnership with award-winning document management and imaging author Version One, to fulfill the increasing demand from Sage Line 500/1000 users for document management functionality. Version One’s solutions enable the electronic creation, storage, retrieval, management, delivery and authorisation of business documents such as invoices, PO's and statements. www.dqf9gtpsq!uti9n$.g9,uk vywvy.YqrsiQnQne.gQ.UK

Lighthouse Wins IBM Award Lighthouse Computer Services has been named winner of the 2008 IBM Business Partner Excellence Award for North America. This award is given to one business partner from each of IBM’s six geographies.

Lighthouse was chosen from all IBM Business Partner com­ munities. Including Resellers, Consultants, Integrators, and Independent Software Vendors. The selection was based upon Lighthouse’s impact on the marketplace, its innovative solutions using IBM offerings and proven customer satisfaction and value de­ livered. yvwYY,lighthpq?9g$,gom _______J GSM:050.07

' new s

in brief

Senior VP Announcement Skywire Software have announced the appointment of Ken Leibow as their new Seni­ or VP of product development.

In his new position, Leibow will guide the company’s global development teams, driving innovation across all key vertical markets. www.skywiresoftware.Qom

SharePoint: New Lotus Notes?

SharePoint Server 2007 is repeating history as it mimics the allure and pitfalls of Lotus Notes, according to research released today by CMS Watch, an independent analyst firm that evaluates content technologies.

Exploiting traditionally underserved needs for information workers laboring within Office tools, CMS Watch found that SharePoint fulfilled a common desire to easily create disposable workspaces. www.cmswatch.com

Kodak i860 Spend Tamworth (UK) scan bureau Arrow Imaging, has invested over £200,000GBP in i860's, in­ creasing their capacity to over 60 million documents per year. www.arrow-imaaina.co.uk

Formscan Acquisition Digital Documents Ltd. is the latest acquisition bringing Formscan's turnover to £2.3 million. The move is to help develop Formscan as a platform on which to build a significant document solutions business throughout Europe. www.formscan.co.uk

EDM Acquisition Business Designs Ltd. has been acquired by the EDM Group in order to establish a Business Process Management (BPM) practice.

The acquisition includes all existing Business Designs consultancy staff and a prestigious customer list that includes British Telecom, Channel 4 and Hallmark. www.theedmarouD.co.uk

Graphic Data DP Arm Sold The document processing business has been acquired by MailSource UK Ltd. Part of Swiss Post, MailSource provides iolutions for digital mailroom and document management services. w w w .araD hicd ata.co.u k

V __________ _______________ GSM:050.08

IM World: __ c o n t i n u e d Stortext Install IBML ImageTrac IV IBML, manufacturer of the high-speed ImageTrac® Colour Scanning Platform, has installed an ImageTrac IV for Stortext Document Solutions Ltd. With over 20 years of experience, Stortext has grown to be one of the UK’s largest suppliers of digital imaging services, focusing on high volume time critical digitisation and hosting for a range of blue chip clients. Owen McLean, Head of Operations at Stortext said, “The addition of the ImageTrac scanners will allow us to continue to provide high quality solutions to our clients, being able to offer enhanced services and service levels." The Image Trac IV utilises built in intelligence, reducing major physical workloads with regard to pre and post scanning processes.

Imaging Business Machines LLC provides intelligent scanning technology for the most demanding document imaging applications, including mixed documents of different weights, sizes and compositions.

The ImageTrac® Scanning Platform consists of the ImageTrac

scanners, SoftTrac® user interface software with DocNetics® and professional services.

ImageTrac scanners offer front and rear colour image capture, multiple image outputs, barcode, 2D barcode, ICR, MICR and multiple sort pockets. Every day, hundreds of ImageTracs capture millions of colour and bi-tonal images for customers in 34 countries. ■ Stortext: www.stortext.com IBML: ww.ibml.com

DPCI Assists Scientific Am erican

A nyD oc O pens Germ an Office

DPCI, a provider of integrated technology solutions for organizations that need to publish content to Web, print, and mobile channels, today announced it supported Scientific American through the process of selecting a digital asset management system to centralize all of the organization's digital content. The leading publisher of scientific and technological news utilized DPCI's expertise and vendor selection process to refine its requirements, manage the request for proposals (RFP), and ultimately select Canto® Cumulus®.

Due to the high demand of its solutions, the U.S.-based technology leader for automated data capture and document classification has expanded its presence in Europe with a concentration in developing a strong reseller channel. AnyDoc Software has opened its first German branch with a location in Wiesbaden. This is in response to the great demand in Germany for AnyDoc solutions and the company to provide more local support to partners, particularly with large projects. The goal is to further develop its partner network in Germany.

Scientific American publishes 15 foreign language editions and has a total of more than 1,000,000 copies in circulation worldwide. Its website - www.SciAm.com - is viewed by 1.7 million visitors per month.

DPCI worked with Scientific American to understand its business and workflow processes associated with centrally managing all of its editorial content, including text, illustrations and photographs. It also identified a strategy to manage digital rights, permissions, accessibility and repurposing of all content which includes years and volumes of magazine issues. ■ SA: www.sciam.com DPCI: www.databasepublish.com IM W orld: News from around the globe

The specialist for automated data capture and document classification, founded in 1989 in Tampa, Florida, USA, has achieved outstanding growth in Europe in the last five years. The branch office in Wiesbaden now supplements the European branches in England and Switzerland. ■ AnyDoc: www.anvdocsoftware.com

STOP PRESS! Keeping You Informed For daily updates on all aspects of IM news, visit www.greensheetmedia.com www.greensheetm edia.com

It feels good to feel safe.

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PRODUCTION SCANNERS

DEPARTMENTAL SCANNERS ScanSnap

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S510

WORKGROUP SCANNERS

fi-5530C2 ScanSnap S510M

ScanSnap S300 What makes a good family?

You can rely on every single member.

By partnering Fujitsu you are in safe hands and can rely on us and our product family members. With decades of experience, market and technology leadership', Fujitsu scanners are state-of-the-art.

Fujitsu has exactly the scanner that suits your specific needs.

How can reliability be even safer?

By having the right assurance. By partnering with Fujitsu you w ill have the opportunity to opt into our Assurance Programme, the manufacturer supported warranty and maintenance offering available on Fujitsu scanners. In addition to the standard warranty provision a series of warranty options and upgrades w ill be available as well as Out of Warranty cover for existing scanners. Simply said: A good family unit.

For further information on regional coverage and all AP products please visit http://emea.fujitsu.com/scanners • Infosource Scanner Market Report Spring 2006

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All names, manufacturer names, brand and product designations are subject to special trademark rights and are manufacturer's trademarks and/or registered brands of their respective owners. All indications are non-binding. Technical data is subject to change without prior notification.

Scanning Update: P art 1 The first in a series of articles on document and microfilm scanning for commercial and archive applications About This Article When GSM internally discussed the title for this article in the autumn of 2008, we had a fairly clear idea of how it was to be structured and what it would contain. With so much having happened in the IM industry since the original concept was mooted, we have concluded that there is simply too much information to fit comfortably into a single article.

Aside from that, the structure and editorial viewpoint of GSM has been re-aligned, and as there is always scanning news to report with each issue, after the series is completed we will continue on the theme with a scanning update article in each issue.

We also felt that the original title was a little long-winded to keep repeating, and that Scanning Update is more palatable. (By default that will cover all forms of scanning and all forms of archive, commercial and industrial applications.)

The article series will cover: -

Overview (Current Status) Office Documents Drawings & Technical Doco.

Books & Newspapers Microfilm Scanning Microfilm Writing Future Trends

Feel free to contribute with: - press releases - opinion pieces - white papers - case studies Email contributions to: scanarticle@areensheetmedia.com This will allow us to present a global viewpoint of interest to all readers as collectively, the articles will reflect general trends. We are also keen to encourage SIG's, or Special Interest Groups. This is where information on a specific industry or commercial sector, or scientific specialities will be reported, (e.g. X-Ray, RFID etc.) ■ Ed. GSM:050.10

Scanning Overview Source Documents There are three main areas of source document scanning operation. These apply in varying degrees, to the document capture bureau, third party capture centre, and in-house scanning operation.

The key areas are 'source document scanning', (up to A3 originals), 'large format scanning' (originals of A3 size and above) and what GSM refers to as 'specialist scan­ ning', which covers very small documents, (such as vouchers, cheques, etc.) books and vertical applica­ tions such as x-ray scanning.

Printed (and hand created) documents have been around for many centuries. The quality of different types of documents varies with their use in everyday life. Purchase invoices for example are likely to be well thumbed, creased, torn and curled at the edges or overall. Sales invoices in comparison, generally have much less exposure to humans, and are therefore closer to their original quality.

Paper quality has changed through the decades, often to fit in with current technologic­ al changes (typewriter, NCR paper, duplication machine, copier etc.) Some documents for example, were created on what was called 'onion-skin' paper. This thin paper was prone to finger marks, and can often jam a high speed scanner as they do not always remain flat when out of their original file. Static is also a factor when scanning, especially at high speed.

Scanner manufacturers have come up with some great ideas for preventing jams or multiple sheet feeds. Rubber rollers, infra-red and/or ultra­ sonic detection and contra-ro­ tating rollers have all featured.

Many modern documents par­ ticularly standard forms, are created and processed elec­

tronically. These documents tend to be printed only when there is a need to send a copy to another party who do not have the electronic means to receive documents.

As a result of electronic cre­ ation of documents, capture bureau operations only (in gen­ eral) need to scan these documents when that third party either has a storage problem, or if the documents need to form part of a live document system such as for accounts or a quality control system.

With many organisations now creating, managing,

output from highly accurate printers or plotters the norm.

However, even in fairly recent years, the quality of drawing copies (as given to third party contractors for example) and the quality of drawing updates, has left a lot to be desired. The author has witnessed first hand, a situation where important oil and gas industry drawings were being surface 'scraped' with a scalpel.

This technique, performed by the draughtsperson, was used so that the old part of the drawing could be removed to allow an update to be drawn

Scanners such as this desktop model from Canon, are ideal for small office or front office use.

For high volumes o f documents, a much faster higher speed scanner would be required.

This scanner was tested in Issue 49.

Canon DR-2510C

transferring, delivering and archiving documents totally electronically, bureau businesses must consider that there will ultimately be a downturn in the requirement for the scanning of large repositories of documents.

Drawings These can also vary quite dramatically in quality. This is partly due to handling which co-relates to the criticality of the drawing within an organisa­ tion. For instance a site plan for (say) a gas plant, may be updated several times daily, whereas an electronic diagram for an obscure and relativley un-changing part of the plant, may only change when that plant falls under review for replacement, or for repair or maintenance.

Another important factor is the age of the drawing. Most organisations use CAD (Computer Aided Draughting) which provides pristine quality

Scanning Update: Part 1

on afresh. Another 'update' technique employed was to cut out new detail (freshly drawn on velo material) then to paste it on to the older drawing. This often resulted in a drawing which had background density variations to such an extent, that only those more modern large format scanners capable of running dynamic thresholding software, are capable of providing a result where both light and dark areas of the drawing are legible in the finished file. Thankfully for the bureaus, most CAD operations perform electronic updates, which provide a seamless and top quality end result, readable by all scanners.

Microfilm For many organisations in the present day, there is now the opportunity to integrate (most) legacy microfilm system(s) with their w w w.greensheetm edia.com

corporate document management system. This is achieved by scanning the microfilm media and conversion into digital file format. In turn, the microfilm repository may consist of a single format, or it may cover a variety of formats which have come to, and/or fallen out of favour in the decades since microfilm was first popularised in office practice.

If documents are already on microfilm media, the range of original document sizes can extend from the smallest receipt to the largest drawing.

The microfilm process itself will (or at least should,) have already standardised the format onto which the filmed documents are stored. There is a caveat here: If an unusual system or format has been used, there may be a need for not only special requirements during the microfilm scanning process, but also for special concern over the viability of high speed capture of the film.

As with any large microfilm re­ pository, there is a fundemental question which has to be asked before embarking on

any project involving the scan­ ning of extremely high volumes of microfilm. Is there any value in going to the ex­ pense of scanning all-at-once, when on the other hand, per­

orientation, duplex filming at high magnification for eaxample, all have a bearing on how fast the scan process will work.) Manual intervention to set up the scanning of indi­

achieved within the microfilm.

This will at least allow scan­ ning of microfilm media to take place on a level playing field.

Consistancy

of

microfilm

'The quality of the original document is key to scan quality haps a scan-on-demand pro­ ject might be more cost effi­ cient, allow the repository to be scanned over a period of time, and generally, not put too much strain on personell or ICT resources.

vidual frames is inefficient and not cost effective in a back-scanning/volume project. If the decision to go for scan-on-de­ mand has been taken however, the cost and through­ put metrics are totally different.

(As the need for high speed throughput goes away.)

A further complexity with micro­ film scanning, is that the magnification originally used to capture the content, will determine the speed and method of microfilm scanning.

Ultimately, the degree of automation which can be em­ ployed, is tied to the consist­ ancy of frame format within the microfilm media. (Mixed magni­ fication within roll film, mixed

The quality of the original document is a further key to good scan quality. Providing the source document creation AND the microfilm capture process have been managed according to international standards, then a readable, legible, and hopefully consistant result will have been

image quality is likely to be the biggest bug-bear of any micro­ film scanning project. Some benfit may be gained in having a duplicate made of the micro­ film onto diazo film. (Particu­ larly a black based diazo film.)

The resulting increase in con­ trast can often 'lift' scan quality enough to get a better result.

Apart from that, it is likely that any organisation would prefer not to have large volumes of reference microfilm out of their premises for the scan job to take place. Creating copies in batches may be more efficient and more convenient to both the client and the scanning bur­ eau. ►

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SCANNING FACTOIDS Who will scan for you ....

Document Capture Bureau?

Ideal for large back-log, high volume and legacy/archive document scanning, most capture bureaus will have a range of scanners from specialist flat-bed/media type devices, all the way up to large format drawing scanning equipment.

With an ability to handle large volumes of documentation fairly quickly, the bureau may also be able to offer short/medium/long term document storage, online storage, or scan-on-demand facilities with a 'menu' of services to pick and choose from as required.

For extremely large throughput a bureau may have made substantial investment in BankTec or IBML scanners. (See scanner guide on pages 16 and 17 for more information.)

Third Party Company?

Becoming more common within larger organisations, this is often an FM arrangement which includes document (and data) capture within your own premises.

The remit might cover only certain types of document, or all documents, and may also include faxes, email management and other office services For specialist forms processing such as credit card applications, a dedicated team may be formed, with complex data capture pro­ cedures being placed offshore to countries such as India or China.

Effectively this is akin to having a complete document scanning bureau within your organisation.

The benefits are that documents remain (reasonably) accessible, there are no/less transportation issues, (making handling and general security less of an issue,) and the headache of specialist management lies with the con­ tractor.

In-House Scanning?

Where documents are of a sensitive nature, or if they simply cannot be allowed out because of time sensitivity or accessibility issues, organisations can set up their own in-house operation.

One of the main problems with inhouse scanning is a lack of exist­ ing know-how and specific man­ agement skills available within the organisation. This affects throughput, but it is not a technology problem. It is partly due to a lack of commercial pres­ sure, as the rationale behind an in-house scanning operation, is politically and financially different to the above two scenarios. ■ GSM:050.12

Scanning Update: Part 1 .... continued Of course if the job takes place in-house this is not a concern Volume Scanning By far the highest volume of source documents to be scanned, will normally be business documents below A3. This is the area where heavy duty and high volume scanners come into their own.

With such a large number of images being captured at high speed, there is also a require­ ment for an efficient and com­ prehensive ICT infrastructure.

This is necessary to support image storage. (Document Indexing and database requirements are minimal by comparison.) When storing the final indexed images within the system they are to be retrieved from, that disk space requirement is also cru­ cial.

With a new system, following any Requirement or Functional Analysis for a scanning operation, [You did do one didn't you? Ed ] the procurement cycle will see a box delivered to the door. For some this is where their part in the project life cycle ends.

For others, it is the beginning of a route along the timeline that can be fraught with prob­ lems and issues. Only once the equipment is set up, tested, calibrated and ready to go, will a true indication of likely rate of progress be as­ sessable. Once the fully pre­ pared documents hit the scan­ ner, operator error, experi­ ence and skill will determine the actual scans per hour.

Document quality, scanner feed quality and software/network ability will then determ­ ine the other factors.

at an approximate file size.

The operator simply purges the files deemed irrelevant by file size.

The legal profession on the other hand, could easily earn the cost of an Armani suit many times over, on the basis that in court it may be a re­ quirement to 'prove' there was nothing on the reverse side of a document, rather than have it ’assumed’ there was noth­ ing. Once a document is ap­ proved for quality and index­ ing and then certified for de­ struction, there is no going back to the original and prov­ ing the content, or lack there­ of, of the reverse side. The de­ cision to be taken on whether or not to include reverse side scans within a system, pro­ ject, or back-scanning exer­ cise is one thing. Considera­ tion must also be given to how the reverse side is to be stored and presented to the users at the electornic retriev­ al side.

The preceding scenario should also be discussed in re­ lation to a file delete opera­ tion. Even trusted administrat­ ors can make mistakes. It is

not impossible for an opera­ tion to be invoked at com­ mand line level, which recusrsively deletes all contents of a directory tree. If the user is in the rang directory at the wrong time, a total disaster can ensue. Even with backup tapes, it is a long slow route to recovery. However such events are unusual. More common is a users with de­ lete privelege, removing a document or series of docu­ ments in error. Best case is that all they did was simply break the link between the data seen by by normal users, and the image storage loca­ tion. Worst case is that the EDMS does not have audit­ ing, or a proper delete proced­ ure with a built-in safety gaurd against such a possiblity.

Finally on this subject. There is the legality of performing a 'virtual1 delete in this way.

There must be an issue with retention of data after a pre­ scribed period of time. A typic­ al scenario would be where DNA is taken from several people as they are crime sus­ pects, with the records being 'deleted' if not guilty. Follow-

One of the major debates in many large projects in recent years, has been the argument for and against scanning both sides of a document. If a docu­ ment has anything on the re­ verse side apart from stard text such as terms and condi­ tions, in theory, it need not be scanned. Many bureaus will scan both sides regardless, then delete all files below a cer­ tain file size. This is on the basis that a scan of white paper is will always come out Scanning Update: Part 1

w w w.greensheetm edia.com

ing the safe route means that not only is the data still avail­ able (albeit via an administrator/techie back-door) but come time it will exceed the retention period and remain on the system. In some cases this is il­ legal, as it is just as bad to re­ tain data data for longer than permissible, than it is not to re­ tain the data at all.

Common Sense Prevails(?)

As with many situations we find in the constantly shifting landscape of information tech­ nology versus sensibility, some decisions should be taken early, while others wait for a 'precedent' to be set. Whilst awaiting this legal or procedur­ al precedent, many organisa­ tions will develop their own set of. This is a good thing, as often out of those rules will evolve a better understanding of what the actual require­ ments are. (As opposed to a perceived set of requirements.)

There is however nothing like a court judgement against a similar company or organisa­ tion to your own, to focus the at­ tention of management on what needs to be formalised.

The use of standards for abso­ lutely all aspects of business life would cripple the spirit of the enterprise. If you truly can­ not see the wood for the tress then your organisation must suf­ fer. Many, particularly in the UK, complain about overbear­ ing governmental legislation which makes enterprise hard to achieve. Embrace the rules yes, but at the same time, do not be afraid to question them.

That is precisely how im­ portant standards evolve, such as those originated by the BSi and ISO organisations. More re­ cently, businesses have had the ear of these bodies, and the recent ISO standard for CRM, is testimony to the fact that those institutions DO learn, and DO listen.

Returning to the subject of scanning, (which is after all what this article is meant to be about,) there must be a happy medium between 'total control' in -the work environment, and simply being able to 'get the job done'. In project manage­ ment parlance, there is an oftquoted warning of 'paralysis by analysis'. If focus is too much on the how, why, and where the 'when' part of the job might never take place. On the other www.greensheetmedia.com

hand, give some people and inch, and they will take several miles from you!

case it is probably from a manual/analogue paper processing system, to semi-automatic or automatic digital processing.

ment from the process of con­ version. In other words something from which the or­ ganisation might gain benefit.

have the arguments at the start of the project, and not part w a y '

Clearly, if there appears to be none, then think again. All too often projects to scan millions of documents have been stopped part way through, or totally failed, simply because those involved did follow one simple rule - always have the arguments at the start of a pro­ ject, and not part way through or at the end.

So let's complete this scanning

overview by returning to the practicalities, and reminding ourselves of why we are em­ barking on the scanning pro­ cess to begin with. The old say­ ing of ’garbage in garbage out’ is never more true when ex­ pressed in relation to any form of process conversion. In this

At the start of the project, take a step back and look at the BIG picture. Are the docu­ ments suitable for scanning?

Does your organisation actu­ ally need to scan them, or is it a ’nice-to-have’ situation. Is there a cost benefit involved, or any form of return on invest­

Remember, scan-on-demand means you have the benefit of ’paying-up’ the cost of scan­ ning. All of which means you don't spend all of the budget at once. ■ John Baker This article thread w ill con­ tinue in the next issue.

capture • store • search • retrieve • collaborate ■ manage • distribute • comply

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O n B ase a Hytwwt Software wlutitw OHyland Software, Inc. All rights reserved. Trademarks are the properties o f their

Scanning Update: Part 1

GSM:050.13

Iron Mountain Top With IBML

Latest scanning solutions lower costs ana deliver rapid return on customer investment Iron Mountain’s reputation as the world’s leading document management company has grown since its inception in 1951. Through a combination of unparalleled expertise, close customer partnership and use of cutting edge technologies, Iron Mountain delivers tailored and innovative solutions. In the modern ‘hybrid’ information environment, customers need nothing less.

Today, organisations need to cope with increasing complexity in their information requirements. The amount of information they need to deal with is rapidly increasing; regulation of this information is becoming ever more robust; the information they have changes between various electronic and physical formats, making it difficult to track and manage; and information has to be easily accessible whilst carefully protected.

Iron Mountain found these four factors confronting a major UK client when it began work with them in 2005. The task was an exacting one, with the client receiving around 4.5 million document packages from individuals every year. Each package contains varying amounts of documents that are held in a clear plastic wallet visible within each wallet is a coversheet that includes standardised information and a unique barcode to identify the specific document package.

Each coversheet needs to be accurately scanned so that document wallets can be stored and identified for rapid and accurate retrieval over many years.

On beginning work with the client Iron Mountain found that the system in use to process the document wallets was far from ideal. On receipt, an outsourced organisation laboriously opened each wallet and extracted the coversheet GSM:050.14

for scanning, then replaced it before sending on for storage.

Iron Mountain saw that the challenge was not simply of scanning, it was of document management - combining scanning, indexing and storage in an integrated solution.

More than 55 years of experience has taught Iron Mountain that businesses do not simply need a supply of products; they need a partnership that delivers tailored solutions to specific requirements. This understanding has led to the development of Iron Mountain’s Document Management Solution (DMS), a suite of bespoke tools that can be used individually, in various combinations or in totality. DMS allows the creation of unique solutions that make sense of the hybrid electronic/paper information environment.

Iron Mountain set about providing an innovative solution to increase efficiency and deliver an enhanced service to the client. Integral to this was Iron Mountain’s sourcing of Imaging Business Machines Limited’s (IBML) state-of-theart ImageTrac® High Volume Colour Scanning Platform.

Working with Kodak, IBML’s premier reseller in the UK, Iron Mountain installed two machines at its Stafford document management centre - and transformed the service it offers to the client.

Craig Atton, Iron Mountain Contract Manager, explains, “Iron Mountain aims to offer flexible and innovative solutions to customers and IBML’s ImageTrac technology has helped us to deliver for a major, high volume client. Our staff can now process the document wallets without opening them, thanks to the ImageTrac scanner’s ability to cope with document bundles of varying widths, and to see

through plastic wallets to capture the critical information on the coversheet. We have found that by investing in advanced IBML technology to automate the data capture process, we can halve scanning costs, improve service level agreements by 48 hours and achieve return on investment within 12 months.”

Continuity of service was a critical client requirement and so Iron Mountain installed two ImageTrac scanners three months before the change over to the new system - ensuring that back up was always on hand and business continuity protected. In practice, with its high volume capabilities and ongoing technical support from Kodak, a single ImageTrac has proved sufficient to cope with client demand. Nevertheless, the additional machine has proved itself to be wise investment. Craig adds, “The second machine has brought new opportunities for Iron Mountain to deliver additional capabilities to more of our customers. We have, for example, created a 2.5 million medical records image archive, which required scanning fragile 50 to 60-year old documents.

Using ImageTrac as part of our DMS offering, Iron Mountain is creating paper and image archives that help our customers to meet vital regulatory demands such as Sarbanes-Oxley.”

DMS incorporating ImageTrac offers a holistic solution. A wide variety of documents can be

Case Study

scanned quickly and cost effectively. Once scanned, electronic information can be stored in an Iron Mountain Digital Record Centre, allowing rapid and secure retrieval by authorised staff from any internet enabled computer.

Physical documents can be held offsite in secure Iron Mountain data storage facilities, freeing up expensive office space, data security resources and archive staff.

Craig concludes, “We have improved delivery times, and switched to volume-based pricing that is more competitive and beneficial for customers, yet we are more profitable and securing business not previously available to us. Staff morale is high; our teams know we are running an efficient and effective operation, and regularly enjoy demonstrating their skills to visitors wanting to learn from our experience.

The combination of state-of-theart technologies such as IBML’s ImageTrac, in-depth understanding of customers’ needs and the flexibility of DMS allows Iron Mountain to deliver solutions to customers that are more effective than ever before.” ■ Iron Mountain: ' www.ironmountain.co.uk IBML: www.ibml.com www.greensheetm edia.com

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TIFF. PDF

17 images/min

600 dpi

7X - 54X zoom

Motorised for roll

JPEG, TIFF, PDF

60 images/min

16 & 35mm roll. ANSI & 3M Cartridges. Ap cards, Fiche & Jackets

9.5X - 16X, 1 6 32X, 3 0 -5 5 X , 10 - 24X zoom or fixed 7X

Motorised for roll

MS 800

16 & 35mm roll, ANSI & 3M Cartridges. Ap cards, Fiche & Jackets

9 .5X -16X , 14X30X, zoom or fixed 7X

Motorised for roll

ImageMouse

Fiche & Jackets

24X & 28X or 42X &48X

Manual

ImageMouse Plus

16 & 35mm roll, Ap cards, 24X & 28X or 42X Fiche & Jackets &48X

Motorised for roll

ABR 2400 DSV-E

16 & 35mm roll, ANSI & 3M Cartridges. Ap cards, Fiche & Jackets

9 X -1 6 X , 13X 27X or 23X - 50X zoom or fixed 7.5X.

ABR 3000 DSV-E

16 & 35mm roll, ANSI & 3M Cartridges. Ap cards.

Fiche & Jackets

9 X -1 6 X , 13X 27X or 23X - 50X zoom or fixed 7.5X.

i7300

16mm roll on reels, ANSI or 3M cartridges

Motorised

TIFF, JPEG

OM 1200 & 1400

16 & 35mm roll

Motorised

TIFF, JPEG, PDF

OM 1500

Microfiche & Jackets

/VI standard formats

Motorised

Polyscan 400

Aperture cards

7.5X - 37X zoom

Motorised

Microscan 400

Aperture cards

7.5X - 37X zoom

Motorised

Scree" Sc an 100

As reader

As reader

As reader

ScreenScan A3

As reader

As reader

As reader

16 & 35mm roll, ANSI & 3M Cartridges. Ap cards, Fiche & Jackets ScreenScan 3500

e-lmage Data

ScanPro 200, 300 & 400 16 & 35mm roll, ANSI & 3M Cartridges. Ap cards, Fiche & Jackets

19X, 24X, 32X, 36X, 42X, 48X or 54X

ScanPro 500

35mm roll and ap cards.

7.7X

ScanPro 1000

16 & 35mm roll, ANSI & 3M Cartridges. Ap cards, Fiche & Jackets

MS 300 & MS 350

Weight KG

240 Megapixel

Input Category A6 to A2 Sheet Film

Dims MM Depth

Screen (mm)

16 images/min

Model Universal

0 9 M z s 1

Dims MM Width

Max Resolution

TIFF, RAW, LZW, JPEG, PDF, BMP

Make Book2Net

Transport Manual

Film Reduction

Scan Speed

Outpu tFormats

O o 3

3 |

1170 1060 665

50

USB

558

432

508

16

305 X 305

USB

558

432

508

16

600 dpi

PC

Fire-wire

190

305

406 19.5

10 Images/min

600 dpi

300 X 300

SCSI 2

668

442

541

26

17 Images/min

600 dpi

297 X 420

SCSI 2

760

612

600

47

MS Windows

One second

1.3 Megapixels

PC

USB 1

95

260

350

2

MS Windows

One second

1.3 Megapixels

PC

USB 1

200

630

350 8.75

Motorised roll options

13 images/min

800 dpi

300 X 300

SCSI 2

716

503

821

39

Motorised roll options

13 images/min

800 dpi

303 X 404

SCSI 2

853

560

760

65

20-30 images/ min

300 dpi

PC

RS 232

1200 - 150 images/min 1400 - 300 images/min

600 dpi

PC

3.3 images/min

600 dpi

3.3 images/min

400 dpi

5 images/min

800 dpi

4.6 images/min

400 dpi

TIFFG 4

6 images/min

400 dpi

10X -24X or 22X - Manual or motorised 36X zoom.

TIFF G4

6 images/min

As reader

As reader

As reader

TIFF G4

ScreenScan PC

As reader

As reader

As reader

FlexScan

16 & 35mm roll, fiche and 7 X -7 2 X jackets

Eclipse 300 & 500

16 & 35mm roll

Oce

3050

Aperture cards

Solar

Aperture Card Scanner Aperture cards

Full frame

Universal Reader/Scanner

16 & 35mm roll, ANSI & 3M Cartridges. Ap cards, Fiche & Jackets

Speedscan

Canon

Eyecom

Kodak

330

380

560 29.5

483

279

533

27

483

838

457

59

USB 2

650

1000 750

45

PC

USB 2

255

780

550 ~2<r

As reader

SCSI 2

290

200

70

3

As reader

SCSI 2

415

505

66

5.5

400 dpi

420 X 320

SCSI 2

670

540

360

21

4.5 images/min

400 dpi

As reader

SCSI 2

325

315

110

3

TIFF G4

8.5 images/min

400 dpi

As reader

SCSI 2

325

315

110

3.2

Motorised

TIFF, JPEG, CALS. PDF

Roll 240 images/min Fiche 125 images/min

600 dpi

PC

1 GB net­ work inter-face

7X - 72X zoom

Motorised

TIFF, JPEG. CALS. PDF

300 - 300 images/min 500 - 500 images/min

600 dpi

PC

1 GB net­ work inter-face

71.1

48.3 55.9

34

5X - 36X zoom

Motorised

TIFF, CALS

5.5 images/min

400 dpi

PC

415

715

315

31

Manual

RAW, JPEG

0.5 secs/card

12 megapixels

PC

USB 2

330

260

300

7X - 48X zoom

Manual or motorised

MS Windows XP

PC

USB 2

16 & 35mm roll, fiche, jackets and ap cards

7X - 72X zoom

Motorised

TIFF, JPEG, GIF

PC

USB 2

688

368

673 43.5

Wicks & Wilson RS 100 Scanstation

16 or 35mm roll

7.5X - SOX

Motorised

TIFF, CALS

65 images/min

RS 150 Scanstation

16 or 35mm roll

7.5X - 50X zoom

Motorised

TIFF. CALS, JPEG, BMP,

RS 200 Scanstation

16 or 35mm roll

7.5X - SOX zoom

Motorised

TIFF. CALS, JPEG, BMP,

RS 325 Scanstation

16 or 35mm roll

7.5X - 50X zoom

Motorised

FS 150 Scanstation

Fiche & jackets

7.5X - 50X zoom

FS 300 Scanstation

Fiche & jackets

7.5X - SOX zoom

CS 300 Scanstation

Aperture cards

CS 350 Scanstation

Aperture cards

CS 500 Scanstation

Mekel Technology

Microbox

Nanomach

NextScan

SunRIa.

E&OE

ccrrr, ccrrr,

t if f ,

jp e g

t if f

TIFF, JPEG, CALS, EDMICS

—

PC

400 dpi

PC

348

440

593

29

120 images/min

400 dpi

PC

348

440

593

29

180 images/min

600 dpi

PC

348

440

593

29

TIFF, CALS, JPEG, BMP,

325 images/min

600 dpi

PC

348

440

593

29

Motorised

TIFF, CALS, JPEG, BMP,

71 images/min

PC

471

570

360

36

Motorised

TIFF. CALS, JPEG, BMP,

178 images/min

400 dpi

PC

471

570

360

36

7.5X - 36X zoom

Motorised

TIFF, CALS

4.2 images/min

400 dpi

PC

430

890

400

40

7.5X - 36X zoom

Motorised

TIFF, CALS

5.4 images/min

400 dpi

PC

451

882

388

40

Aperture cards

7.5X - 36X zoom

Motorised

TIFF, CALS

8.3 images/min

400 dpi

PC

451

882

388

40

CS750 Scanstation

Aperture cards

7.5X • 36X zoom

Motorised

TIFF, CALS

10.3 images/min

600 dpi

PC

451

882

388

40

C-Drive & C-Drive X

Aperture cards

7.5X - 40X zoom

Manual

TIFF, CALS, PNG. PDF, JPEG. BMP

6 images/min

400

PC

USB

90

150

200

L9

C-250

Aperture cards

7.5X - 40X zoom

Manual

TIFF, CALS, PNG. PDF. JPEG. BMP

6 images/min

400

PC

USB

210

170

460

5.8

All information pi

inly. Contact the suppliers / manufacturers to verify data.

O in Z H

0 T3 ■H i 3

CD

<D ■+■» mmm k.

E ■MB 4— o k_ (J ■mmm

2

S

CO

CD

GSM Tested

W eight KG

DimsMMDepth

Dims MM Width

DimsMMHeight

Connector Type

MaxResolution

Speed

Film Reduction

Film Formats

Model Make Model 6880 | Fiche | 24X, 42X, 48X, 72X | | 240 dpi On-line or Off-line 1030 1680 840j 469 G I D Quantor Other Features: Accepts alphanumeric and image data and outputs to fully processed cut fiche. Electronic soft forms outline. 4 international soft fonts in 9 sizes. CRT imaging. Direct positive (green) film.

Options Include: 300 dpi resolution. Stacker. Duplicator. Collator. Packager.

16mm roll 24X, 40X 1196 615 810 159 Kodak i9600 Series 8 5 -1 7 0 ipm

Other Features: Accepts 2 film cassettes for simultaneous production of two sets of output with no reduction in speed. Text file index can be merged into an enterprise database.

Options Include: Model 9610 with output speeds of 85 ipm at 24X and 200 ipm at 40X. Model 9620 with output speeds of 170 ipm at 24X and 400 ipm at 40X. CADMIC | Aperture Cards j Tofitfram e. | 1 card/min | | 112551 1680 17001350 | Microbox Other Features: 500 card hopper. Automatic density control, OCR and Hollerith indexing. Uses silver halide film as CADMIC or dry silver film as CADMIC DRY COM. 3 chamber processing for wet film, thermal processor for dry film.

Options Include: Alternative file formats. Facility to operate on-line.

Microbox Polycom 35mm roll 1, 16 or 64 images 400 dpi 260 350 630 36 per frame.

MicroPrinter Other Features: Film is recorded by a laser. Indexing in OCR characters at start and end of film, also machine-readable bar code under frames with frame number, length of section, reduction and positioning of images.

Options Include: TIFF 8-bit greyscale or PostScript level 3 file format input.

1050 1200 900 80 16 & 35mm roll Variable to record A5 60 ipm LAN interface SMA Model 51 to A2 input Other Features: A1 images can be recorded as 4 frames. Uses normal camera microfilm. 1,2 or 3 level retrieval blips. Frame numbering. Facility to record file name below each frame. Polarity of images can be reversed.

Options Include: Model 105 | Fiche ~| 24X (98 frame) ~l 1200 2000 900 180 SMA Other Features: File formats accepted include TIFF, JPEG, PDF, Doc and XLS. Originals can be up to A1 size. Integral film processor does not require plumbing.

Options Include: Alternative reduction ratios available.

Network compatible 1100 1320 950 Fiche 24X (98 frame) 41 ipm Staude Digi-Fiche Other Features: Automatic batch conversion or selective image writing. Integral film processor delivers fully processed fiche. Accepts originals up to A3. Fiche are cut from 60m rolls of 105mm width. Records images and fiche titles with up to 3 lines of eye legible text.

Options Include: 16/35mm converter for producing roll output.

W icks & W ilson ACO-2 Aperture Cards 30.66X41.28 max image area

35 cards/hr

400 dpi

650 Via PC running Windows 98, NT or 2000.

1280 530 105

Other Features: 12 row 80 column Hollerith punching, 60 or 80 position printing for indexing. 250 card capacity hopper. Imaging using laser technology. Accepts digital image data from CAD system or EDMS and plots to fully processed aperture cards.

Options Include: All inform ation provided as a guide only. Contact the suppliers / manufacturers to verify data.

E&OE

CALL FOR INFORMATION & GSM GUIDE UPDATES The information in the guides from this page and the centre spread, has been gathered from a variety of sources and is an ongoing exercise. If you are a mnaufacturer, imnporter, distributor, VAR or reseller and you think we have incorrect information about your product, please email us at auidecorrections@areensheetmedia.com and we will amend the data ASAP. This is a free service.

If your product is not listed here and you would like to be included, please email us for an Excel template for inclusion at: formsforauides@areensheetmedia.com and we will be happy to include your hardware. We provide the GSM guides for information only and cannot accept responsibility for accuracy or completenes. GSM reserve the right to withdraw or amend data based on information received. E&OE and provided for information only. This is a free service.

I I • K O

•

M . C • aI • • •

• 3

• • r O

I 1C O I L # #» _O i C

.1 n n o CuuO

Part c'

Will appear in the July/August (Issue 51) of Green Sheet.

SUBSCRIBE NOW - DON'T MISS OUT GSM:050.18

GSM M icrofilm W riter Guide

w ww.greensheetm edia.com

"Perfect

Part 1_______________ Zeutschel have developed 3D book scanner distortion correction technology: Siegfried Dannehl describes what it does and tells us how it works.

Until now, undistorted and evenly illuminated scanning of bound volumes was almost impossible. Thanks to the collaboration and transfer of knowledge between the Tubingen scanner specialist, Zeutschel, and the Institute for Electronics, Signal Processing and Communication Technology in Magdeburg, this problem is now a thing of the past. The innovative technology, which makes it possible to almost perfectly correct the distortion in the area of the fold of the book, is called "Perfect Book". This technology has been incorporated in the new Zeutschel OS 12000 series.

Digital archiving of bound volumes is becoming an increasingly important part of the work undertaken by libraries and museums. But particularly when dealing with thick volumes it was almost impossible in the past (due to the curvature in the area of the spine) to achieve an undistorted and evenly illuminated image of individual pages without damaging the books in the scanning process.

Electronic reading of information in paper-bound form by means of optical character recognition was also previously beset by a high fault rate due to the distortion caused by the curvature of the surface.

for books and documents which were not precisely aligned as required have been employed for a long time in scanner technology. In the past they were based on correction processes, which for example deduced from the light distribution or the actual surface contour that lines or the edges of pages should be straight.

By means of mathematical algorithms and using purely software solutions, distorted lines and characters were aligned, “set straight” and smoothed out using approximation processes. This was also the case with the ‘‘Orthoscan technology" used

by Zeutschel. For many applications it is indeed an efficient tool for smoothing out the fold at the spine, but in practice often has its limitations as with other comparable purely computerbased methods.

exclusively software-based, mathematical correction processes achieve any useful results.

1 and 1 makes 3D! “Perfect Book” was developed in close collaboration with the Otto von Guericke University in Magdeburg. The Department of Information Technology Engineering at the Institute for Electronics, Signal Processing and Communication Technology (IESK) has many years of experience in the areas of image processing and optical 3D measurement technology together with their application in surface reconstruction, in­

Uneven book contours, as occur for example with inserted notes or damaged pages, are the main obstacles which make it difficult or even impossible to achieve

Distortion-correction methods w w w.greensheetm edia.com

“Perfect Book” is a method based on a combination of hardware and software which can be employed with the Zeutschel OS 12000 scanner series and in combination with Zeutschel OS 11 capture software. The design of “Perfect Book” is based on a stereo vision system which captures the 3D surface contour of the page during the

scanning process. In addition to the usual high resolution line-scanning camera (marked in yellow in the illustration over­ leaf) the capture of the 3D data requires an additional standard USB camera with VGA resolution (640 x 480 pixels), which functions as a so-called surface or matrix camera (marked in green in the illustration overleaf).

The combined hardware and software solution developed jointly by Zeutschel and the Institute for Electronics, Signal Processing and Communication Technology at the Otto von Guericke University in Magdeburg addresses the basic technical problem and provides the solution.

Optimum results used to be affected by “fringe phenomena”

challenge for the working group there, led by Professor Bernd Michaelis, in that the process required a high level of resolution in the capture of the surface texture in addition to the reconstruction of the surface contour.

© Zeutschel

Virtually closer to reality

complete distortion correction.

Only where the upper and lower book contours are easily identifiable and identical can

eluding its use in the automobile industry (http://tiiesk.et.uni.magdeburg.de/TI/) The project presented a new

"P erfect B ook" Part 1

The images captured simultaneously by the two imaging systems - no timeconsuming pre-scanning is required - are converted into a 3D reconstruction. Using the line-scanning camera an image is created in reproducible form. ► GSM:050.19

"Perfect Book" Part 1 .... continued

Graphical representation of the "Perfect Book" concept shown in relation to the scanner

The resulting 3D 'map' of the book being scanned computed 3D surface contour is derived from a defined system of coordinates which is set by calibrating the whole system.

The book is automatically precisely aligned, making things easier for the operator, saving time and protecting the book. In addition, "Perfect Book” can precisely separate double pages, ensuring optimum image quality for printing if required.

A band of light, whose movement is synchronised with the line-scanning camera at a reproducible speed, is used to illuminate the object during scanning. The image, which is illuminated by the moving band of light, is recorded by a fixed matrix camera in a sequence of images with a defined frame rate. Using specialised calculation algorithms the surface contour of the scanned page can be reconstructed from the image frequency as recorded by the matrix camera and as a second stage this can be transformed into a flat surface.

© Zeutschel

Because it uses real 3D data, “Perfect Book” does not rely on the page edges to determine position or format.

Identification of the page edges is based rather on the heights of the page profile on the right, left and at the centre of the book. If the height data are unreliable, texture analysis is employed to identify the page edge.

Image from the line-scanning camera

By simultaneously using two calibrated imaging systems working from different angles a high level of correction quality can be achieved. The effects of obscured or damaged book edges - as occur with purely mathematical processes - are eliminated with “Perfect Book”.

The camera and surface camera are combined to create an exact, virtual 3D surface model of the book on the scanning platform. The

“Perfect Book” corrects distortion of characters which occurs towards the centre of the book and automatically recognises page sizes.

A nd that is where we w ill p ick up in the next issue. ■ For more information visit: www.zeutschel.de Image from the surface-scanning camera

PART 2 of this fascinating article will appear in Issue 51: July/August.

Don't miss out - subscribe now!

GSM:050.20

"P erfect B ook" Part 1

w w w.greensheetm edia.com

THE INFORMATION ENTERPRISE Information is the lifeblood of all businesses, regardless of size or

while it retains a high business value, deployment and use of EDMS

will mean that organisations w ill not be able

sector. The policy of how this information is managed and accessed

and Workflow systems w ill benefit from the long awaited executive

to comply with government legislation.

should be a paramount issue to managers at all levels.

attention and backing, as organisations begin to realise that these

Most businesses w ill be dependent on both paper-based content as well as electronic content. The latter is surely a sign of more recent times, particularly with low-cost, high-speed desktop computing.

Many businesses have fallen into a culture where information is stored in a veritable hotchpotch of formats, leading to an incoherent and ill-defined approach to information management. In order to turn this around, Electronic Document Management Systems (EDMS) offer the chance for businesses to evolve their practices and

very least a high-level

to succeed and maintain the competitive edge in the new

/

/

■ ■

inventory of a

company’s information assets. Complying

"information enterprise.”

with legislation like the Data Protection Act, and

The portability of huge amounts of critically sensitive data

more

recently

the

Freedom

of

Information Act, and Civil Procedures rules

via laptop computers and portable media such as flash

on

drives has also opened up a area of concern when it

Electronic

investment

comes to data security. Over the past year there have been a number of high profile incidents where data stored by

embrace a culture of effective information management practice.

Compliance with legislation demands at the

systems are not simply a luxury, but essential tools that are needed

and

Discovery careful

w ill

require

application

of

available technology.

Compliance is not an issue that should be shied away from, but

to

government departments or large organisations like banks have

confronted head on, thus assuring a policy of good practice in

operate a ‘Year Zero’ policy in

lost data via theft or human error, leaving customers and

adhering to legal compliance issues is in place. A small amount of

relation

members of the public vulnerable to becoming victims of identity

time and resources in ensuring a coherent and watertight policy

No

business to

can its

afford

information

management policy. Therefore,

scenario of costly legal cases arising from negligence in sticking to

the process is a migratory one, w ith

could prove a worthy investment if placed next to the potential

theft or other criminal activity. n

newly created ‘current’

compliance legislation.

documents being ‘born’ onto the

With appropriate safeguards in place however, EDMS has a proven

OITUK have an established track record in providing and

EDMS

'legacy'

track record of long-term cost savings combined with increased

implementing EDMS. At the core of the OITUK solutions is the

information is scanned and digitised in a staged manner. While

w hilst

efficiency with no loss of security. EDMS offers very tangible and

award winning C-Cube suite. The C-Cube suite of products

there is some ‘lag’ time in this process, a strategically planned

quickly realised benefits to a business. This comes however with

incorporating, work flow, electronic document, records, and content

process should lead to harmonisation with minimal disruption to

the caveat that the information is used as a resource in a defined

management, is designed to meet the ever changing demands of

business processes.

and responsible manner, with an im plicit code of good practice and

the business and help fulfil the regulatory requirements, as deemed

security protocols to act as checks and balances against misuse or

by the overseeing authorities.

Document management or "electronic filing” started with the former - turning paper into electronic files, which can save, space, be

malpractice.

moved around and shared. Lessons learnt from early adoption of

The

such systems are now being realised through more sophisticated

obligations

combination

of

and

legal

external

| |

No business can afford to operate a ‘Year Zero' policy in relation to its information management policy.

Electronic Document Management Systems (EDMS) which include

threats surrounding the issue

Therefore, the process is a migratory one, with newly created

electronic content. Add a dose of systems integration, workflow, and

of storing and safeguarding

‘current’ documents being ‘born’ onto the EDMS whilst ‘legacy’

compliance, and suddenly organisations are beginning to realise

crucial information applies to

tangible benefits from this technology. However, goal posts keep

all

moving - the worldwide migration towards the Internet and the

sectors. Businesses need to

resultant connectivity is pushing digitisation further into business

put

businesses the

across

storage

all

information is scanned and digitised in a staged manner. While there is some ‘lag’ time in this process, a strategically planned

and

process should lead to harmonisation with minimal disruption to business processes.

11

processes and practices. This translates to integration between

management of documents to

disparate systems to help streamline data flow between systems

the top of their agendas. First and foremost, there is a wide range

and a consistent approach to data storage -

of external threats to a company’s crucial information. These

OITUK works with companies and organisations across the public

include hackers, malicious damage, fire, theft and flooding. Data

and private sectors. Its clients including NHS Trusts, local

merely stored on computer hard drives or paper-based filing

authorities and even the Metropolitan Police. The common theme

systems are particularly vulnerable to loss or destruction.

running through all these customers is their need for a robust,

a Centralised

Information Repository.

OITUK believes that EDMS is likely to become as ubiquitous and as pervasive a part of a company’s enterprise application infrastructure in the coming few years as database management systems have been over the past two decades. Database management systems,

legislation compliant information management system, which acts The portability of huge amounts of critically sensitive data via

as a hub for vital information which can be accessed and archived

based on open standards enabled organisations to move away from

laptop computers and portable media such as flash drives has also opened up a area of concern when it comes to data security. Over

proprietary, legacy systems and opened up options for inter­

the past year there have been a number of high profile incidents

operability. Similarly, EDMS w ill enable organisations to minimise

where data stored by government departments or large organisations like banks have lost data via theft or human error,

From hospital wards to local council planning departments, to the

leaving customers and members of the public vulnerable to

terrorism, OITUK is helping to demonstrate how EDMS is making

becoming victims of identity theft or other criminal activity.

real and lasting changes to the way information is stored and

dependencies and process in-efficiencies due to "information silos," The returns from investments in EDMS (e.g. process and staff efficiencies, standardisation, automation via workflow, etc.) are

measures to solve paper problems. By managing the document

it, when they need it.

leading edge in the fight against organised crime and international

managed across the UK and beyond.

being realised through careful application of this technology to address strategic business requirements rather than short-term

at the touch of a button and deliver information to those who need

Also, there is the growing amount of legislation being rolled out.

Failure to manage electronic documents as formal corporate records

C-CUBE SOLUTIONS FROM OITUK...

THE ANSWER TO INFORMATION AND DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT ISSUES With its award-winning C-Cube Solutions software platform, OITUK has been providing document and information management solutions to the public and private sector for over a decade.

OITUK's C-Cube, Electronic Document Management Systems (EDMS) allow organisations to manage their information effectively and efficiently, delivering savings in terms of staff time and storage issues.

C Cube

With clients including the Metropolitan Police, NHS trusts and local authorities, OITUK has a proven track record of delivering solutions that store, protect and manage information, allowing organisations to grow and develop.

^

O I T U K LTD Member of the Genus Group

CtmiemCapntrt Control

Hammond Close • Nuneaton • Warwickshire • CV11 6RY • U.K. Telephone (024) 7625 4940 • Facsimile (024) 7638 2319 E-mail sales@oituk.com • Web-Site www.oituk.com

The UK's Freedom o f Informa­ tion Act was intended to make public authorities more ‘open and accountable’ and add ‘transparency’ to their dealings.

As we enter the fourth year since the legislation came into force, what trends can be seen in the way the Act has been and is being used, and what developments can be seen which show the impact on administration and operation of public authorities? I have used examples from my own unitary authority throughout, although from discussion with colleagues this seems to be indicative of more general trends.

There are several aspects to this overview. The first is the media response to the Act despite the fact that the media have been obtaining information for articles for years, there was a major increase after the Act came into force in media stories which trumpeted that the information had been ‘obtained under the Freedom of Information Act’ a trend which has continued. The suggestion seemed to be that only by dint of using the Act could the reporters or researchers obtain the information they were seeking. The reality tends to be a little different. Of the three media enquiries we received in January 2005, two were for information which was readily available (information on playing fields sold off, which is published by the DfES, and on councillor’s expenses and interests, which are in the public domain) while the third was for details of a Council decision, the result of which was the subject of a press release made seven days later.

It is a trend which has continued, with a response to a media enquiry often being answered by a polite redirection to the website page where the information was held, or by providing information we hold in a published form in order to supply performance indicators to a Government department (which frequently publishes this as well). While the Act may have been of use in obtaining information held by the Government (although the Government also had in place a system for dealing with GSM:050.22

Now W e fir e Four Freedom o f Information: Trends and Developments since 2005 'Freedom of Information' is an 'Act' that was never on Shakespeare's agenda, but it is on Sue Broughton's Sue is an inform ation officer with W est Berkshire council in the UK, although the views expressed here are her own. Many points raised are in com ­ mon with authorities around the world

media requests prior to the Act, and an open government code of practice) I would doubt whether the media has obtained much more information from local authorities than they would have acquired before the Act, although the statutory timescale has probably improved response times.

Despite this we have seen an increase in requests made by the media under the Act. In the first three months of 2005 we had 5 media enquiries (out of 47 requests) -1 local, 4 national. In the first three months of 2008 we have seen 18 (out of 69) such requests, only 2 of which were local. For 6 of these requests the Council did not hold the information (generally because it was not information which was collated or collected).

The trend here seems to be that of research being carried out ‘on the cheap’ with an Fol request taking the place of research or journalism work, (or a quick look on the council website) and sometimes leading to a null response because the query isn’t well thought out or worded.

Because the Act is ‘purpose blind’ and the requests are usually a list of questions with no explanatory detail, we don’t tend to explore the ‘what information might be useful’ question although we may offer an alternative where the request was for statistics we don’t collect. Where the query is badly worded, advice and assistance to clarify what is requested does usually receive a reply (not always the case with other requests).

Nevertheless we have some

Checklist: • Publish what you can (electronically if possible) and encourage others to do the same. Pi’s and stats are particularly useful, and proper website management and metadata should make reports, minutes and similar readily available.

• If it’s on the website - tell them where to look. Never answer more than you need when the information is readily available.

This will encourage staff to publish more, as well.

• Look at 'repeating requests’ and have stock answers on your disclosure log. Renew these every year (or when the information changes if this is sooner).

• Identify what you don’t hold, and be ready to include this on the disclosure log too. Requests for biometric data are a particular example.

• Seek clarification where a request is unclear. Don’t be afraid of explaining the application of the Act - ‘recorded information' not opinions or ideas.

• Scope requests where it appears they will exceed the appropriate limit and explain how the scoping has been applied.

Requesters often don't realise just how much information may be held.

• Always give a proper explanation of the exemptions applied.

• Seek to answer all requests in 20 working days. Don’t rely on extending the time, even where you have a public interest test.

The longer a request takes to do, the less you can engage the staff to assist.

"P erfect B ook" Part 1

‘request not pursued’ returns for the media. An impact has been seen on the website, with a detailed disclosure log linking enquiries to published information, and an impetus in services to put more statistical and PI information into the public domain. The result has been a decrease in staff time to deal with such requests where they are duplicates of those received in earlier years.

Companies initially made some detailed requests for information, although again this sometimes turned out to be information readily available on our website or elsewhere (information about the contracts which were running, and when they would cease was particularly popular).

Services who responded found that these requests were sometimes followed by a letter from the company introducing themselves and offering some service, or asking to be informed when a contract came due. This tendency led, in our case, to an improvement on the Procurement website, making advertisements for tenders more interactive and we have noticed that the number of such requests from companies has declined.

Enquiries from researchers have made up an increasing number of the requests with 29 (out of 69) received in the first three months of 2008 which could be categorised as research enquiries not from the media. These types of requests tend to be staff intensive, since they are usually couched as questionnaires or lists of questions, and the council has to establish whether we hold or collate the information in such a way as to be able to provide an answer. It is also noticeable that the precept of the Act requests for ‘recorded information’ - doesn’t seem to be understood by some researchers, and we have received requests which almost entirely consist of ‘what does the Council think about’ ‘what do you intend to do about’ and ‘do you believe that’ enquiries to which there are no recorded information answers.

Where it is possible to categorise these requests further they tend to be ► www.greensheetm edia.com

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Now We Are F o u r.... continued from page 22 Where it is possible to categorise these requests further they tend to be from students, parliamentary researchers, and organisations carrying out their own or another’s research (sometimes commercial, sometimes charitable). Researchers seem the least able to understand the type of information the Council will hold, the likely information which would be disclosed, and the amount of time which might be taken to extract what is requested. Their requests often take longer to answer even where the answer is mainly a null response. They are also the most dilatory in responding to an ‘advise and assist' emails or letters, even where we have suggested information we might consider of use, or asked for greater clarification of what has been requested, and made our own suggestions of what we believe is meant. Since these types of requests cannot be predicted, they tend to take up a major amount of the time spent on dealing with Fol.

My own belief, shared by other staff, was that we would receive a number of requests from local people or organisations with particular concerns or issues around council budgets and spending or decisions by council committees. In the beginning the stats bore this out; in the first three months of 2005 we had 23 localised requests, (almost half of those received) of which three were around the same issue and from the same requester, and later in the year we received a letter campaign by over 200 residents. But over the last three years the number has steadily declined, and now while each month may see a few requests where a specific issue is being explored, the use of the Act for this localised type of enquiry seems to have decreased, with very few issues raised in this way. In the first three months of 2008 we received only 8 such enquiries.

Finally there are the ‘weird ones’. In most cases these reflect a specific interest; the

number of belisha beacons and zebra crossings in the authority area, the distance children have to travel to school (broken down by longest and shortest journey for each of 90+ schools), the cost of fireworks used by the Council, or the number of roads entering the authority which don’t have a County boundary sign although these pose their own problems - we don’t for example keep a list of signs we don’t have... Some represent a lack of understanding about what the council does or the information it holds. Often, again, it takes time to establish a null reponse.

It seems likely that these trends will continue to develop, with the act increasingly being a tool for those seeking information for more general purposes, and with fewer localised enquiries except around areas of particular concern, or an individual’s own issues. This seems to stray form the original intention, and the impact on staff may be a less than willing view of the

requests received. But there are some things you can do to make sure staff stay focused and to improve your chances of dealing quickly and effectively with the requests you receive.

Sue Broughton (See page 22 for Sue's details)

GET KNOWN! Do you have a similar article you would like to see in print?

The article Sue submitted is typical of many hundreds we recieve each month at our of­ fices. Green Sheet are always happy to consider opinion pieces, white papers and case studies, whether generic or brand specific.

All submissions are assessed by the editors for suitability for inclusion in either the magazine, or the web site or both. [We can't pay you unfor­ tunately, but we are widely cir­ culated around the world! Ed.] artigies@grgenshegtmgttia.gom

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Fossil fuels are formed over millions of years, but when there is a need for them to be extracted, unique knowledge is required John Baker investigates how the UK's Coal Authority manages centuries old data The Past Long gone are the days when miners used to take a canary in a cage below ground with them as the first-line defence against poisonous gas. These days the mining industry is much more progressive, with gas analysers linked to alarm systems and hopefully a rapid means of evacuation.

The advances in the mining industry have been many-fold in recent decades. With people extracting material around the world from ever dwindling resources, it is more important then ever to have the right information regarding any mineral extraction site.

In the UK, you are not

Because there are so many mine workings and utility services criss-crossing the country, extraction is not something you want to attempt if ill prepared.

No surprise then that the British people, through a Government body, owns the information and controls the licensing process which allows extraction permission to be granted on these islands. In the 20th century, the darker days of coal saw the industry nationalised in the UK, and run by the National Coal Board.

The organisation now has a much more modern face to it (no pun intended) as The Coal Authority. These days they do

monumental task to digitise them into a consistent electronic format. This exercise was undertaken to protect the drawings from deterioration, and to make them much more accessible to researchers and others within the mining community. This process is now almost complete, with over 90% of the drawings having been scanned. But more about that in a minute.

The biggest problem which faced the Coal Authority's capture process, was the manner in which the very early drawings were created, and in some cases, how they were stored The digitisation had to cover drawings going back as far as the 1700's. Many must have started life as a large sheet of paper on the mine managers office wall. Handdrawn, hand annotated, and possibly drawn with a variety of implements, the consistency of detail and description was a major problem. Over time, Additions and modifications were performed on the original (in the case of early drawings,) as there was no copy process such as dye-line available at that time. Fading due to direct sunlight, tea and coffee spills etc. all add to the character, and the difficulty of scanning these valuable pieces of 100,000 drawings in the fire protected store at the Coal Authority. Drawings mining information and history. are not stacked, which makes handling easier when unrolled for scanning

permitted to extract mineral of any kind without a permit.

Even sand and gravel removal needs an extraction permit (although that is controlled by the local authorities). The paper before the quarry workers or miners go in. (With mechanical diggers, explosives, or hoses in the case of open-cast mining.) It is right and proper that this permission system is in place, not only in terms of the environmental impact of extraction, but also what happens to the land after the event. There is also a health and safety requirement.

GSM:050.26

not perform any mining themselves, that is left to third party companies, the Coal Authority are however an extremely important asset to the UK as they licence the ongoing coal mining operations and hold thousands of mining records relating to hundreds of thousands of workings from Lands End to John o' Groats (and beyond!).

With some of the older drawings out of the Authorities' 100,000+ collection having been created in all shapes and sizes and on a variety of materials, it has been a

The miners were a resourceful breed. If paper was not available in the size required, sometimes a piece of carpet like material was used (actually hesian backed cartridge paper). Not the best of original to pass through a conventional wide format scanner!

With some of the older draw­ ings out of the Authorities' 100,000+ collection having been created in all shapes and sizes and on a variety of materi­ als, it has been a monumental task to digitise them into a consistent electronic format.

The Black Stuff

This exercise was undertaken to protect the drawings from deterioration, and to make them much more accessible to researchers and others within the mining community. This process is now almost complete, with over 90% of the drawings having been scanned. But more about that in a minute.

The biggest problem which faced the Coal Authority's cap­ ture process, was the manner in which the very early drawings were created, and in some cases, how they were stored The digitisation had to cover drawings going back as far as the 1700's. Many must have started life as a large sheet of paper on the mine FACTOIDS o Following on from the National Coal Board (NCB), and then Brit­ ish Coal, the Coal Authority was formed in 1994 by act of parlia­ ment.

o The remit was to undertake specific statutory responsibilities associated with: • Licensing coal mining operations in Britain • Handling subsidence damage claims which are not the responsibility of licensed coal mine operators • Dealing with property and historic liability issues, such as treatment of minewater discharges • Providing public access to information on past and present coal mining operations • Provide a 24 hour call-out service for reported surface haz­ ards o The scanning project consisted of over 100,000 drawings cover­ ing a wide range of quality, media, size and storage method. o The camera used to scan the documents has 6 heads and is built upon a steel A-frame struc­ ture. o Some drawings were created on hessian backed cartridge paper not dissimilar in appearance to a roll of carpet! o The health and safety requirment to store the plans date back to 1872, and the CA holds them on behalf of the Health & Safety Executive for the UK. www.greensheetmedia.com

©Element903 a much m

managers office wall. Handdrawn, hand annotated, and possibly drawn with a variety of implements, the consistency of detail and description was a major problem. Over time, Additions and modifications were performed on the original (in the case of early drawings,) as there was no copy process such as dye-line available at that time. Fading due to direct sunlight, tea and coffee spills etc. all add to the character, and the difficulty of scanning these valuable pieces of mining information and history.

The miners were a resourceful breed. If paper was not available in the size required, sometimes a piece of carpet like material was used (actually hesian backed cartridge paper). Not the best of original to pass through a conventional wide format scanner!

With some of the older draw­ ings out of the Authorities' 100,000+ collection having been created in all shapes and sizes and on a variety of materi­ als, it has been a monumental task to digitise them into a consistent electronic format.

This exercise was undertaken to protect the drawings from de­ terioration, and to make them much more accessible to researchers and others within the mining community. This

process is now almost complete, with over 90% of the drawings having been scanned. But more about that in a minute.

The biggest problem which faced the Coal Authority's cap­ ture process, was the manner in which the very early drawings were created, and in some cases, how they were stored The digitisation had to cover drawings going back as far as the 1700's. Many must have started life as a large sheet of paper on the mine managers office wall. Handdrawn, hand annotated, and possibly drawn with a variety of implements, the consistency of detail and description was a major problem. Over time, Additions and modifications were performed on the original (in the case of early drawings,) as there was no copy process such as dye-line available at that time. Fading due to direct sunlight, tea and coffee spills etc. all add to the character, and the difficulty of scanning these valuable pieces of mining information and history.

The miners were a resourceful breed. If paper was not available in the size required, sometimes a piece of carpet­ like material was used, which resembled hessian backed cart­ ridge paper. Not the best of orig­

The mammoth A-frame camera purpose built by the Coal Authority to handle huge sized original drawings www.greensheetmedia.com

Not Mission Control at Houston, but complex enough to put most scanner setups to shame. 3 PC's manage 2 cameras each to achieve the result.

inal to pass through a conven­ tional wide format scanner!

The Present Special drawings need special solutions, and that is what the Coal Authority developed at their UK headquarters in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire.

Buying a specialist scanner is one thing, but designing, resourcing, procuring, building, setting up and commissioning a SIX head camera set-up where images need to be joined in software, is quite another. That is precisely what the Coal Authority set about.

They decided on the functionality required, designed the A-frame based support system, and the layout of their mammoth digitising facility. They then procured the parts, joined them all together and made the whole project work for them. Now they have what must be the largest planetary scanner facilities in the whole of Europe if not the world. It's certainly the biggest anyone at GSM has ever seen.

With six heads slung between twin monster steel girder 'A'frames and software fit for NASA, the first impression of the camera 'room', which is actually a small warehouse, is its overwhelming size. The high-tech aspect of the set-up only really becomes apparent when a drawing is placed in the mechanised flat-bed feed system and the camera is ready to scan. That is when the camera control room is revealed to observers. With six computers each handling one camera image, the specially modified software is set up using a further two powerful computers to align the cameras so that the end result is one extremely large high

The Black Stuff

resolution image of the entire drawing, which can be up to approximately 3 x 2 metres.

Scanning at 300 dpi, which takes about four minutes, results in a final file of approximately 2Gb per drawing.

The Future Now that the Coal Authority have almost completed the project of digitising all of their records archive, their attention has turned to the thousands of microfilm frames and photographic negatives they have in storage. Many of these will be digitised too, providing a totally unique archive, and a vast repository of mine and geological information.

The expertise gained from the scanning exercise, and the method of capturing and disseminating the data, has led the Coal Authority to seek commercial work, especially from Local and County Authority archives, as well as National collections and the private sector. They have also undertaken work internationally, in particular, scanning architectural draw­ ings of Southwell Minster in Nottinghamshire for a client based at the University of Virginia, USA. Come time, the operation in Mansfield could well become a centre of excellence for both the mining of data, and the data of mining. ■ John Baker In July, this article will be placed on the Green Sheet web site, where additional photographs and video footage will be available for viewing.

The Coal Authority are at: www.coal.aov.uk GSM:050.027

|JGSM Diary^p.ams in fo rm a tio n is p ro v id e d in g o o d fa ith a n d p u re ly as a guide. Please checfaw

lisers b e fore a rra n g in g to traâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;

MAY May 4-7, 4th International Conference on Web Information Systems and Technologies (WEBIST 2007) Location: Funchal, Madeira, Portugal For more information visit: www.webist.org

June 26-July 2, ALA Annual Conference Location: Anaheim, CA For more information visit: www.ala.org JULY

May 8-10, BITWorld 2008: Information Resources Management: challenges and opportunities Location: Durban, South Africa For more information visit: www.bit-world.org

July 7-9, 2nd International Conference on Bioinformatics Research and Development (BIRD '08) Location: Vienna, Austria For more information visit: www.birdconf.org

May 15-17, Thinking Critically: Alternative Perspectives and Methods in Information Studies Location: Milwaukee, Wl For more information visit: www.uwm.edu

AUGUST

May 18-20, 2008 International Conference on Information Resources Management (Conf-IRM) Location: Niagara Falls, ON For more information visit: www.sprott.carleton.ca May 18-20, Content Forum and CODIE Awards Gala Location: San Francisco, CA For more information visit: www.siia.net May 18-21, 9th Annual Conference on Digital Government Research Location: Montreal, QC For more information visit: www.dgo2008.org

August 19-20, destinationCRM 2008 Location: New York, NY For more information visit: www.destinationCRM.com SEPTEMBER September 11-12, 2nd European Conference on Information Management and Evaluation (ECIME 2008) Location: London, UK For more information visit: academic-conferences.org September 14-16, ASIDIC Fall Meeting Location: Boston, MA For more information visit: www.asidic.org September 26-28, 1st World Summit on the Knowledge Society Location: Athens, Greece For more information visit: knowledge-summit.org

May 20-21, Streaming Media East Location: New York, NY For more information visit: www.streamingmedia.com

OCTOBER JUNE October 11-12, 2nd International Conference on Metadata and Semantics Research (MTSR â&#x20AC;&#x2122;07) Location: Corfu, Greece For more information visit: www.mtsr.ionio.gr

June 01-04, ARMA Canada 2008 Regional Conference A River of Information... A Sea of Solutions Location: Fredericton, NB, Canada For more information visit: www.armacanada.org June 2-3, 7th Annual Security Conference Location: Las Vegas, NV For more information visit: www.security-conference.org

October 14-17, 2nd International Symposium on Information Interaction in Context (IliX) Location: London, UK For more information visit: irsg.bcs.org

June 2-4, ISOneWorld 2008 Location: Las Vegas, NV For more information visit: www.isoneworld.org

October 15 - 16th, Documation Location: Olympia, London For more information visit: www.documation-uk.co.uk

June 3-6, Second IEEE International Conference on Research Challenges in Information Science (RCIS '08) Location: Marrakech, Morocco For more information visit: www.farcampus.com

October 15 - 16th, Storage Expo Location: Olympia, London For more information visit: www.storage-expo.com

June 5-7, Canadian Association for Information Science (CAIS) 36th Annual Conference: Information Beyond Borders Location: Vancouver, BC For more information visit: www.cais-acsi.ca June 9-11, 16th European Conference on Information Systems (ECIS 2008) Location: Galway, Ireland For more information visit: www.ecis2008.ie June 12-16, 10th International Conference on Enterprise Information Systems (ICEIS 2008) Location: Barcelona, Spain For more information visit: www.iceis.org June 14-17, SLAAnnual Conference Location: Seattle, WA For more information visit: www.sla.org

October 20-23 2008 ARMA International 53rd Annual Conference and Expo Location: Las Vegas, NV, USA For more information visit: www.arma.org October 23-24, 5th International Conference on Knowledge Management (ICKM2008) Location: Columbus, OH For more information visit: www.ickm2008.org NOVEMBER November 17-18, 2008 SPARC Institutional Repositories Meeting Location: Baltimore, MD Organised By: Scholarly Publishing and Academic Resources Coalition SPARC) For more information visit: www.arl.org

June 15-20, Joint Conference on Digital Libraries Location: Pittsburgh, PA For more information visit: www.jcdl2008.org

DECEMBER

June 22-24, 9th Annual Global Information Technology Management Association (GITMA) World Conference Location: Atlanta, GA For more information visit: www.science.kennesaw.edu GSM:050.28

October 16-18, Streaming Media Europe Location: London, UK For more information visit: www.streamingmedia.com

TBA, Information World

Diary Dates

www.greensheetmedia.com

Show Time!

CeBIT: Hannover, Germany (March) According to the organisers the new CeBIT format was a success. The show had 5,845 exhibitors from 77 countries, and was visited by 495,000 visitors. That was an increase of 3% on 2007, even though the show was only over 6 days in­ stead of 7. Given the huge variety of exhib­ its, the fact that CeBIT clashed horribly with the AIIM show, probably did not af­ fect attendance, but certainly would have hurt exhibitors pockets if they were intent on covering both events.

Next show: Hannover, March 3-8, 2009.

HotSpot Zeutschel: New OS 14000 planetary scan­ ner. A2's scan in 3.5 seconds. Per-

A round-up o f recent IM related " events from around the world *

ors from 75 countries (and 50 states!)

"The success of the Exposition and Conference demonstrates the critical importance of the content and information management marketplace," said Beth Torrey, event director, AIIM International Exposition & Conference, Questex Media Group.

“The conference program attracted global business and technology professionals, while the Expo floor was filled with attendees exploring innovative technology solutions. From the prominent keynote speakers to the special events, the event was well received from the point of view of attendees, exhibitors and sponsors.”

Next show: Philadelphia, March 30 - April 2, 2009. [I can do this AND CeBIT. Ed.] HotSpot Laserfiche®, presented "Orchestrating Business Processes in an Ever-Changing Environment." Chesterfield County, VA, streamlined payables, planning, human resources, tax administration and records with Laserfiche®. Taking the audience through the challenges related to business process changes and legacy document library integration, the presentation identified benefits in terms of the stakeholders and departments.

Business Continuity: London (April)

fectBook distortion free scanning access­ ory. See separate article in this issue.

AIIM: Boston, MA (March) This years theme was "The Power of Sim­ plicity", something CeBIT should take note* of. A much more IM specific show than CeBIT, AIIM had almost 25,000 visit­

Another successful event highlighting the concerns and needs of organisations who have the foresight to plan for disaster.

The show had a 6.5% increase in visitors over 2007, with 2,457 across the 2 days, from 30 countries (including as far afield as South East Asia and Australia.)

BC provides a unique opportunity for the industry to explore best practice, identify trends and cement vital relationships, help­ ing ensure operational continuity before, during and after an incident.

It all stacks up ...

Held during Information Security Awareness Week, which improves the UK’s understanding of information security by creating a number of initiatives. Big movers and shakers in the IS industry have also formed the Information Security Awareness Forum. www.theisaf.org HotSpot www.infosecurityadviser.com has been launched by the organisers. The portal brings together the information security industry, to chat, share views and discuss the latest issues online.

Library Show: Birmingham, UK (April) A showcase for a wide variety of subjects in relation to the library and information community. Located in central England the show allow easy access for many lib­ rary and IM professionals across Europe.

HotSpot Computer boffins to begin a project to 'develop technology for the long-term storage of digital data.' "The problem is how to build a large-scale data storage system to last 50 to 100 years,” said Ethan Miller, Associate professor of computer science at Baskin School of Engineering, University of California. His group have come up with a new approach to replace technologies such as tape libraries.

Documation UK - OBITUARY One of the biggest UK events for the IM calender passed away quietly in April.

Although apparently healthy in 2007, the organisers had the event put down due to 'lack of interest'!

If you follow the news on the GSM web site you will know that industry reaction was less than positive. ■

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Infosecurity: London (April)

O

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E

1

®

D OC U M E N T M A N A G E M E N T AND IMA GING IT'S SHOW TIME

w w w.greensheetm edla.com

INTRODUCTION

Welcome to my first contribution to the Green Sheet. I have watched the magazine change over the past year, and I am highly delighted that the new managing editor has asked me to contribute in place of his own Tale Piece. I agreed with John Baker on 2 conditions. Firstly I wanted to be able to com­ ment specifically on information industry issues that affect us all, (Mr. Baker did tend to 'ramble' on at a tangent on occasions,) and I wanted to remain anonymous. The latter is not for any underhand reas­ on, but because it allows me to say things in a certain manner. I have known John Baker for many years, but you do not know me from Adam, so I will begin ....

Photo: Sunrise at Dunnotar Castle, North East Scotland. Courtesy element903.com

WHY AM I HERE? I was invited. That's the simple answer! Invited because I have been a businessman most of my life, my experience has carried me all over the world, and I have met many people. (Some I have liked, some I have not liked, but I believe I have always treated them with respect.)

With a background ranging from the Royal Air Force, through busi­ ness school and courses at the UK's Open University, I ended up running a large company.

Those experiences allow me to comment on a variety of busi­ ness situations, as they have been a large factor in my life.

Now semi-retired, (but still only in my late 50's), I like the idea of having a chance to be able to help you all. Through hard ad­ vice, anecdote and observation, I hope to achieve that.

Since my RAF days I have had the nick-name 'Crusty'. I thought we could stick with that. Crusty

and them' situation, ourselves out.

lets sort citizens, and one of them (who will not mind me saying his skin is as black as coal,) is French to MEDIA PROBLEMS the core, and his family have So Prince Harry had to go back been French for over 150 years. home because 'foreign' media did not uphold the secrecy agree­ PROJECT MANAGEMENT ment on his presence with other Yet again we read of another gov­ troops in Afghanistan. ernment department losing key If international industry and com­ data, and still another scrapping merce acted (in general) in that a massive project because the manner (in relation to business new system cannot replace the law and general etiquette), the old one as it is 'unfit for purpose'. world would not be as small a The UK is not the only govern­ place as everyone makes it out ment to suffer from this enigma I

timeline. Now I didn't get where I am today by quoting cliches, but the maxim "Always have the ar­ guments at the start of a project" is a good one that has stood by me on many an occasion.

I would not expect our col­ leagues at AIIM to call Messe in Hannover and say "Hey buddy, can you change your show dates", (or vice versa!).

However it would be nice to think that someone in at least one of the organisations would twig that there was a clash of dates at a very early stage in the proceedings.

COLOUR MICROFILM Stop yawning at the back! Yes I am going to talk about microfilm (isn't everyone?). My first experi­ ence of colour microfilm was when I was a data manager for Shell Oil back in the early 80's.

We had problems with technical manuals which were too bulky or expensive to reproduce and send offshore, so we looked to colour microfilm as a solution. At the time it was expensive, but cheaper than reproduction of the manuals and easier to handle than hard copy. We even had op­ tical blips put on the film so it was retrievable by our C.A.R. system. It worked well, satisfied a need at the time, and when the platform went from fabrica­ tion to operational status, the film remained offshore for many more years.

Now of course you can achieve the same result by installing an EDMS, but there must surely be a case for the development of high volume, low cost COLOUR microfilm writers which will close the loop (and fill the gaps) in the document life cycle. This would also mean we don't have to be 100% reliant on current/latest technology to retrieve data in an emergency situation. ■

OUR INDUSTRY As I am editing this column, and “ouR RECORDS ARE AUOFROZEN, MOTHI/JO CM EE MISFILED, MISPLACED, ALTEREDCft LOST, AOWEUER UE CMT because I have been involved flRD QUIZ MICROFILM OPERATOR.!’' either directly, or on the peripher­ al of information for so many to be. There would be little or no am sure, but at least most other years, please allow me to refer international collaboration or part­ countries manage to either find to it as 'our industry'. nership in business as a result. another supplier/vendor of get As professionals, the 'foreign' around the problem somehow!

IN MY OPINION media should know better!

Proud to be British? Only some­ I noted in the Guardian and on As British Citizens, the BBC and times! the internet in late February, that other UK media should know bet­ Microsoft have been fined an ob­ ter than to call the culprits 'for­ SHOW DATE CLASH scene amount of money ($1.4 bil­ eign'. After all, our Antipodean, You would think wouldn't you, lion). With so many disaster U.S., and Canadian cousins are that all things being equal, it areas and under nourished chil­ all 'foreign' to us Brits! should not be beyond the wit of dren in the world, why does the A final word about discrimina­ man to have two major industry EU not split the money amongst tion. I was absolutely appalled to events on DIFFERENT DATES. charitible organisations who hear a BBC TV news reporter Not only has the clash of CeBIT might pass the benefit on to say the following regarding tests and the AIIM show dates caused those who need it more. One for immigrants coming into the a headache for exhibitors and vis­ frightening statistic to come out UK. (As best as I can remember) itors alike, but the press and of a Save The Children charity he said "... you won't find any media have to live with doubling campaign in the UK, is that black or brown faces at these in­ up on teams and equipment in 10,000,000 children UNDER 5 terviews, as European Union cit­ order to cover the events concur­ die EVERY YEAR, because of a izens are exempt." How dare he! rently - and succesfully. lack of simple basic needs. Be­ Some of my best friends are I recall many project meetings fore we reach the point where it black or brown, yellow and red where arguments were taking C rusty is too late to prevent a real 'us too. Most of them are European place some distance into the crusty@ greensheetmedia. com GS.050.30

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