Re: [FRIAM] Document management

2016-05-06 Thread Russell Standish
Obviously this a problem everwhere in the world. My experience in
dealing with this is that a typical cubic meter of paperwork is 90%
obsolete, and can be shredded at source. Tax documents need to be kept
for only 5 years, memorabilia you aint going to need it, etc, etc.

What really remains are a few certificates etc (as you mention), plus
occasionally a gen in the form of a diary or unfinished manuscript by
that forgotten uncle :). A recent example of sorting through my
mother-in-laws stuff yielded very little that needed to be kept.

As for tax related stuff, receipts, warrantees, instruction manuals,
know your sunset dates, sort them into envelopes with a discard by
date, and as you go, discard the stuff that has passed its discard by
date. Seriously, it fits into one small small box (maybe 1/4 cubic meter).

I am trying to deal with photos, and academic paper that were printed
of yore, now. Of course the temptation is to actually try to read the stuff!

Cheers

On Mon, May 02, 2016 at 12:38:59PM -0600, Barry MacKichan wrote:
> 3 cubic meters is about 60-90 book boxes of the size the mover gave
> us for our books the last time we moved.
> 
> If you are going to do it yourself, over a long period of time, I
> hope, I recommend the ScanSnap ix500 scanner. It scans about 25
> pages (50 sides, since it scans both sides simultaneously) per
> minute, with a 50 sheet feeder and fairly intelligent detection of
> double feeds and blank sides.You have to be careful to check for
> dust buildup. The software with it is pretty good also.
> 
> For processing, classifying, and storing the files, I recommend
> DevonThink Pro Office if you have a Mac. It has some intelligence
> built in to it to determine similar content in different documents,
> and this supports auto-classification and "see also" functionality.
> I confess I haven't really given that part of it a test. The OCR of
> your documents can be done by ScanSnap or by DevonThink. DevonThink
> does not do data lock-in. Your documents will be files in the OS,
> but can be stored optionally in the DT 'database' which is just a
> bundle of files with indexes.
> 
> There are commercial scanning services, but I've never checked out
> their prices. If you scan them yourself, you will probably end up
> hating staples as much as I do. They can go through the scanner
> easily and harmlessly, but if they attach 2 or more sheets, you'll
> have to unjam the document feed. Booklets are no problem if you can
> take the pages apart. Books are no problems if you are happy
> bandsawing the spine off.
> 
> And it is very satisfying having everything on a hard drive, fully
> backed up, fully indexed. Or so I believe -- I haven't gotten
> through my stack yet.
> 
> --Barry
> 
> 
> 
> On 1 May 2016, at 22:34, Arlo Barnes wrote:
> 
> >We have talked a little on this list about related topics, but I
> >figured I
> >would ask people's opinions outright.
> >
> >I have about 3 cubic meters of assorted paper documents -- and by
> >assorted
> >I mean both unsorted into categories, but also of various types.
> >For example, there are papers that are unimportant that should be
> >set aside
> >for disposal. There are papers of mild interest that should be kept if
> >possible (in a digital form, as their physical presence has no
> >value beyond
> >the contained information, and negative value in space taken up
> >and mental
> >clutter added). There are documents that should be digitized, but
> >cannot be
> >disposed of as their physical form is important to their existence
> >(certificates for instance). Some of the information in the
> >documents is
> >sensitive, and since it is mixed in, the whole pile should be
> >treated as
> >such (although there is not nothing that could not be shown to a
> >well-trusted entity). And the papers are not all of the same size
> >or stock;
> >some of them are loose, some pamphlets, brochures, or even slim books.
> >
> >Once they are digitized they will also need to be semanticized and
> >related
> >to one another to start to make sense of it.
> >So, how should I go about this? Would mechanisation of some form
> >help? Can
> >this even reasonably be done by one person?
> >
> >-Arlo James Barnes
> >
> >FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> >Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> >to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
> 
> 
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com

-- 


Dr Russell StandishPhone 0425 253119 (mobile)
Principal, High Performance Coders
Visiting Senior Research Fellowhpco...@hpcoders.com.au
Economics, Kingston University http://www.hpcoders.co

Re: [FRIAM] Document management

2016-05-02 Thread Barry MacKichan
3 cubic meters is about 60-90 book boxes of the size the mover gave us 
for our books the last time we moved.


If you are going to do it yourself, over a long period of time, I hope, 
I recommend the ScanSnap ix500 scanner. It scans about 25 pages (50 
sides, since it scans both sides simultaneously) per minute, with a 50 
sheet feeder and fairly intelligent detection of double feeds and blank 
sides.You have to be careful to check for dust buildup. The software 
with it is pretty good also.


For processing, classifying, and storing the files, I recommend 
DevonThink Pro Office if you have a Mac. It has some intelligence built 
in to it to determine similar content in different documents, and this 
supports auto-classification and "see also" functionality. I confess I 
haven't really given that part of it a test. The OCR of your documents 
can be done by ScanSnap or by DevonThink. DevonThink does not do data 
lock-in. Your documents will be files in the OS, but can be stored 
optionally in the DT 'database' which is just a bundle of files with 
indexes.


There are commercial scanning services, but I've never checked out their 
prices. If you scan them yourself, you will probably end up hating 
staples as much as I do. They can go through the scanner easily and 
harmlessly, but if they attach 2 or more sheets, you'll have to unjam 
the document feed. Booklets are no problem if you can take the pages 
apart. Books are no problems if you are happy bandsawing the spine off.


And it is very satisfying having everything on a hard drive, fully 
backed up, fully indexed. Or so I believe -- I haven't gotten through my 
stack yet.


--Barry



On 1 May 2016, at 22:34, Arlo Barnes wrote:

We have talked a little on this list about related topics, but I 
figured I

would ask people's opinions outright.

I have about 3 cubic meters of assorted paper documents -- and by 
assorted

I mean both unsorted into categories, but also of various types.
For example, there are papers that are unimportant that should be set 
aside

for disposal. There are papers of mild interest that should be kept if
possible (in a digital form, as their physical presence has no value 
beyond
the contained information, and negative value in space taken up and 
mental
clutter added). There are documents that should be digitized, but 
cannot be

disposed of as their physical form is important to their existence
(certificates for instance). Some of the information in the documents 
is
sensitive, and since it is mixed in, the whole pile should be treated 
as

such (although there is not nothing that could not be shown to a
well-trusted entity). And the papers are not all of the same size or 
stock;

some of them are loose, some pamphlets, brochures, or even slim books.

Once they are digitized they will also need to be semanticized and 
related

to one another to start to make sense of it.
So, how should I go about this? Would mechanisation of some form help? 
Can

this even reasonably be done by one person?

-Arlo James Barnes

FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com



FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com


Re: [FRIAM] Document management

2016-05-02 Thread Marcus Daniels
An in-house drone to sort through similar things like the pile on the kitchen 
table?
(If nothing else, it would entertain a pet.)

http://uploads.movidius.com/1461814467-Fathom-Combined-2-pager.pdf

From: Friam [mailto:friam-boun...@redfish.com] On Behalf Of Arlo Barnes
Sent: Sunday, May 01, 2016 10:34 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group ; 
Wedtech 
Subject: [FRIAM] Document management

We have talked a little on this list about related topics, but I figured I 
would ask people's opinions outright.

I have about 3 cubic meters of assorted paper documents -- and by assorted I 
mean both unsorted into categories, but also of various types.
For example, there are papers that are unimportant that should be set aside for 
disposal. There are papers of mild interest that should be kept if possible (in 
a digital form, as their physical presence has no value beyond the contained 
information, and negative value in space taken up and mental clutter added). 
There are documents that should be digitized, but cannot be disposed of as 
their physical form is important to their existence (certificates for 
instance). Some of the information in the documents is sensitive, and since it 
is mixed in, the whole pile should be treated as such (although there is not 
nothing that could not be shown to a well-trusted entity). And the papers are 
not all of the same size or stock; some of them are loose, some pamphlets, 
brochures, or even slim books.

Once they are digitized they will also need to be semanticized and related to 
one another to start to make sense of it.
So, how should I go about this? Would mechanisation of some form help? Can this 
even reasonably be done by one person?

-Arlo James Barnes

FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com

[FRIAM] Document management

2016-05-01 Thread Arlo Barnes
We have talked a little on this list about related topics, but I figured I
would ask people's opinions outright.

I have about 3 cubic meters of assorted paper documents -- and by assorted
I mean both unsorted into categories, but also of various types.
For example, there are papers that are unimportant that should be set aside
for disposal. There are papers of mild interest that should be kept if
possible (in a digital form, as their physical presence has no value beyond
the contained information, and negative value in space taken up and mental
clutter added). There are documents that should be digitized, but cannot be
disposed of as their physical form is important to their existence
(certificates for instance). Some of the information in the documents is
sensitive, and since it is mixed in, the whole pile should be treated as
such (although there is not nothing that could not be shown to a
well-trusted entity). And the papers are not all of the same size or stock;
some of them are loose, some pamphlets, brochures, or even slim books.

Once they are digitized they will also need to be semanticized and related
to one another to start to make sense of it.
So, how should I go about this? Would mechanisation of some form help? Can
this even reasonably be done by one person?

-Arlo James Barnes

FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com