Thanks for the tip on the Fujitsu scanner--you can get a nice tray-
feed scanner for a lot less than when I used a $3,000 Canon tray-feed
scanner to to make tiffs for a fax-on-demand service.
However, scanning is the EASY part. I've worked on--and supervised--
scanning projects and digital document archives before. A well-
thought-out classification system, preferably embodied in an idiot-
proof, robust database (planned BEFORE you start scanning) is a
must. I say this from sad experience. The last such project I
worked on had an Excel spreadsheet (in lieu of a real database) to
keep track of the documents, with a vague classification system and
minimal data in the spreadsheet. The spreadsheet was kind of an ad-
hoc affair, altered whenever the supervisor decided that the project
needed improvements. Result: the association members, who were
supposed to log into the website to download the documents, couldn't
find anything. They complained a lot before they just gave up on
using the system entirely.
Needless to say, I wasn't supervising THIS project.
By contrast, the computerized fax-on-demand service, which I DID
supervise: I used a FileMaker Pro database; the paper documents were
classified and entered into the database before anything was
scanned. I always knew where to find any type or category of
document--or any particular title--and the members did too.
And as for the nonprofit with the cabinet full of documents to be
scanned: I"m betting they have friends in other organizations with
tray-feed scanners they can use, and interns to run them. These
small political nonprofits tend to be cash-poor--which is why I'm
hoping that Base will work for them--but they're connection-rich.
--Constance Warner
The previous system
On Jun 19, 2009, at 4:35 PM, Tony B wrote:
Okay, so we have a whole honking *file cabinet* full of paper
documents that need to be scanned and put online. This is not going to
be an easy task.
But you're skipping all the way to almost the end of the project and
asking about databases. Long before you worry about a db you need to
figure out how to scan the stuff. Most commercial scanners will come
with some sort of document management app. I think.
Monumental task, not for a database app at all. What you want is a
sheet-fed scanner with document management software. I dunno, but
here's a random link via a search for "sheet fed document management":
http://ask-leo.com/
fujitsu_scansnap_a_fast_sheetfed_document_scanner.html
On Fri, Jun 19, 2009 at 1:06 PM, Constance Warner<cawar...@his.com>
wrote:
It's like this: I was visiting the offices of a small nonprofit
dedicated to
promoting civic activism and getting out the vote. One of the
staff members
gestured towards a filing cabinet and some banker boxes and said,
"We'd like
to get these [documents] organized and have a way to get these out
to our
field organizers when they want them and when we need to send
them." They'd
been using fax, U.S. mail, and hand carrying the documents in the
past.
Right now, most of the documents aren't even in electronic
format. They
have basic computers, of course, but neither they nor their field
organizers
can afford the latest electronic bells and whistles (no iPhones, for
example). A lot of small nonprofits are like that.
So I was trying to offer them a few basic suggestions. FileMaker
Pro would
be nice for them to use to index their documents, because it's
easy to use
and, once it's set up properly, it's practically crash-proof. On
the other
hand, it's expensive. Base is free, but I've never used it (and
neither has
anybody else I know). Somebody else--not me--will be doing the
work for
this nonprofit, but these are very nice people and I wanted to
offer them a
few signposts.
They're really brilliant, politically; they just haven't had the
time to get
really computer savvy, or the money for the latest computers,
webmasters, or
IT workers.
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