Thinking of scanning records?

Scanning, if undertaken properly, and for the right reasons, can make information more accessible, and reduce the amount of physical space taken up by paper records.  But it can also have serious cost and legal implications.

The following guidance highlights the advantages and disadvantages of scanning and provides a checklist for any School/Directorate considering scanning as a solution to problems with some of their paper records.

Once you’ve worked through this checklist, and are sure that scanning is suitable for your situation, it is important to use a scanning service which has the appropriate policies and procedures in place to ensure that any scanning carried out can be relied upon as a true copy of the original.  The Records Management Team has conducted a tender exercise and awarded contracts to two suppliers for the University’s use.  These suppliers are audited regularly.  For further details, please contact Sarah Phillips, University Records & Institutional Archives Officer (phillipssj7@cardiff.ac.uk ext. 79403).

The advantages of scanning

Scanning can provide significant benefits if done properly and for the right reasons.  It can: 

• increase the security of information;
• make it easier and quicker to access information;
• reduce the amount of office space taken up storing records;
• make it easier to transmit paper records by electronic means, whilst still allowing you to print a hard copy.

Scanning can also be used as a means of duplicating and dispersing a School/Directorate’s vital records, for further information please see the Records Management Team’s advice on vital records.

However…..

Scanning is not a substitute for developing good records management and effective record keeping practices.  A fundamental problem with records will not be resolved by scanning – it will just be turned into a digital problem with additional issues to address.  Scanning is just one part of a larger information management exercise that should be addressed by Schools/Directorates.

The disadvantages of scanning

• It is costly(if the records are rarely referred to off site storage can be a cheaper option – for information on the University’s off site storage service see the COCOM webpages); 

• It is unsuitable for a series of records which you are still adding to;

• It may make records less reliable as a source of evidence (a scan is a copy and not the original document).  It is a good idea to consider who you may need to present the scanned documents to and whether they would accept scanned copies as evidence of a transaction before commencing on a scanning project; 

• It makes it harder to preserve records for a long period of time (electronic document preservation is not a guarantee and requires additional time and expenditure for checking media and migrating records); 

• It can be expensive to make scanned records accessible (indexing increases accessibility to your records but is one of the most costly aspects of scanning work).

To establish whether the advantages of using scanning for your set of records outweighs the disadvantages work through the checklist below:

Checklist

1.  Is the records series closed, or will records continue to be inserted into it?              

2. How long do the records need to be kept?  (if you’re unsure check the University’s record retention schedule) 

3. Are the records duplicated elsewhere in hardcopy or electronically?