Technology advancements continue to provide opportunities for government agencies to find new ways of doing business that will reduce costs and improve productivity. The amount of work that needs to be accomplished, and the volume of information which is flowing in and out of government, can stretch the capacity of traditional processes and tools. If agencies want to take full advantage of new technology they need to change the way work is done.

Records are at the core of every business process, and the information they contain is a valuable asset to the agency. Good records management can facilitate the efficiency and effectiveness of a business process. Records management focuses on the way that records are created, maintained, stored, accessed, used and eventually disposed of.

Scanning paper documents can save storage space, and that translates into dollars saved. One four-drawer filing cabinet full of documents typically contains 10,000 single-sided pages. For most document imaging applications, a single CD-ROM disc can hold that number of images. Similarly, the contents of two file cabinets will fill one gigabyte (GB) of magnetic disk storage when scanned.

The Records Management Services administers the State of Michigan's master contract for document imaging services. Both state and local government agencies can use these services. The Records Management Services works with the vendor to ensure that agencies receive a quality product at a fair price. Agencies that use this contract will receive free consulting services from the Records Management Services to ensure that a quality product is created. These consulting services include:

• Analyzing the records to determine if digital imaging meets the agency's needs.
  
• Analyzing the business process to determine when in the record lifecycle the scanning should take place.
  
• Assisting the agency with cost-justifying the need for the imaging application.
  
• Developing a Statement of Work that is signed by the agency and the vendor to ensure that a quality product is created.
  

Costs of digital imaging services will vary, and will be dependent upon the requirements of each application. For more information regarding imaging, please contact the Records Management Services at (517) 335-9132.

Updated 08/25/2008

Michigan Historical Center, Department of History, Arts and Libraries
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