No charity can afford to waste money...

childrens charities can't afford to lose time or data either

The issues

Action for Children (formerly National Children’s Home) was storing and retrieving documentation in a microfiche archive at it's London HQ. With seven regional offices needing access to data, this ‘physical’ media involved delays and complications.

1. The microfiche would be identified from a vast archive

2. The document printed to individual sheets using a dedicated microfiche printer - this record often comprising 50-100 A4 sheets

3. The printed document would be posted to the requestor

4. On completion, the microfiche record would be returned to its original location.

Each ‘transaction’ involved manual handling of the files, a task that inevitably led to the occasional case of misfiling, frustrating future attempts to locate the records.

Challenges and opportunities

1. Cost to resources – Charity staff involved in the ‘transactional’ process of archiving, retrieval, copying posting and administration of the archive

2. Cost of paper – Tens of thousands of sheets of paper consumed in the process of reproducing files. The financial and environmental implications were substantial

3. Cost of space – Expensive London real estate being used to store a substantial volume of microfiche and bulky equipment

4. Cost of equipment – Ageing equipment to maintain and repair

5. Cost of time – Regional offices waiting for hard copies to arrive – data they needed at the mercy of the mail service.

So, Action For children (AFC) needed a centrally managed system that would give all authorised staff instant access to the information they need. The system would have to save the time, cost and risk issues involved in their dated microfiche library.
 

The answer

• The answer had to be digital, and the solution robust, proven and secure.
  A content management tool to control data access and increase information security.
• Capita TDS provided an end-to-end service, from digitising the  microfiche archive to supplying, populating and installing the most suitable ECM system. 
• The index was compiled using the information within the header strip of the original microfiche file.
• The processed data was then loaded into an ECM offering a comprehensive range of search and viewing options as well as fully managed security.
• To complete the overall service offering Capita would provide ongoing system support through a dedicated IT team.

Conclusion:
A complete solution that makes a significant contribution to improving the service, freeing the resources and aiding the security of data for this vital charity.

Technical Features

Digitisation

• Films retrieved in scheduled order. Images sampled from the fiche and optimal trigger points, focus and contrast settings established.
• The latest Mekel microfiche scanners employed - ultra high quality images regardless of variations in density and image size.

Image cleaning

• Optimised image enhancement through careful set-up of the scanner plus image enhancing data capture software.  
• Noise-reduction, smoothing and line removal included in the scan-time settings. 

Quality Assurance

• QA technician inspects each electronic image against the original
• Rejected images added to a rescan report
• New images are again QA’d before inclusion in the new database.

Key services

• Back file conversion of legacy microfiche
• Supply and installation of ECM system
• Supply of storage media
• Ongoing scanning service
• DR program

Key advantages

• Speedy and reliable access
• Centralisation of data 
• Comprehensive data management
• Electronic distribution
• Ongoing secure storage
• Lower cost of management
• No reliance on unreliable and antiquated microfilm equipment
• Controlled data movements
• Fully auditable