Solutions I have seen vary widely. Scanning of paper for easy retrieval is
done in many environments, but I have worked with IBM ISV's in the past to
help them implement the IBM Visual Info product family. This ties scanning
software with a database. It has been used at many government agencies, and
is frequently also used in medical records, insurance processing, and
banking. In short, it is used wherever there is a large volume of paper.
I've seen literally miles of paper storage converted to disk images kept on
a system with less than a 200 sq ft footprint. These are often backed up
with TSM, but as others have said, it is not a friendly product to this
environment as the metadata usually searched on is not readily available for
searching with TSM. Instead, the massive libraries of paper images tend to
be converted to devices like WORM jukeboxes, where data can be saved in its
original form, remain unmolested for prolonged periods of time, and be
easily retrieved - though it may be at a significantly slower speed than the
typical disk environment of today.
-----Original Message-----
From: M DeVault [mailto:tracylists AT YAHOO DOT COM]
Sent: Monday, May 05, 2003 11:38 AM
To: ADSM-L AT VM.MARIST DOT EDU
Subject:
I had someone come to me today quizzing me about
potential solutions for long term document storage.
Long term defined as up to 30 years.
Currently these paper documents are stored in bins in
a document storage facility that manages them. There
are *thousands* of bins, each with maybe 2000-4000
pieces of paper. The guy that came to me was
wondering about the feasibility of scanning these
documents to store electronically. I said something
like "not in my database you won't".
Anyway, what I'm wondering is what do other companies
do with data such as this? I can't imagine that it is
feasible to store this stuff online (especially since
some of it is 30 year old paper). There are legal
requirements regarding the storage of this stuff, and
I don't have a clue what it is. Even if we could
realistically scan and store online, you have to take
into account what type of file formats and media you
use, and will it be readable 30 years from now.
Would be interested to lean what your thoughts are.
Thanks.
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