My boss has tasked me with doing some research on hardcopy management
for a large information processing function and I heard about this
from a friend and thought I would give it a try.  Basically some
information on how large businesses deal with the tons of hardcopy
information that must be stored.  And possibly some information on
keeping this same documentation up to date.

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Request for Question Clarification by easterangel-ga on 26 Aug 2002 23:28 PDT

Hi! Thanks for visiting us.

Would links to hardcopy management companies and services suffice as an answer?

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Clarification of Question by sbaker-ga on 27 Aug 2002 08:09 PDT

Unfortunately not.  We are going to have to do this completely
in-house, so I am looking for methods and procedures for hardcopy
management specifically for a large company.  Although, any additional
information on the subject would be helpful.  Thanks, and I hope this
helps.

Hi sbaker, 

There are several methods for managing the vast quantities of hardcopy
that seem to somehow take over companies.  Some of these methods can
be done in-house and others involve sending the documents out for
storage.

Although you have specified in-house, I'm going to discuss both
because some things really should be stored in special facilities. 
Also, you mentioned you want to know what BIG companies do. Most big
companies do not store their archival hardcopies on site, but instead
hire companies store and manage it for them.


WHAT IS HARD COPY? ------------- 

There are 2 things that makeup the hardcopy that most large companies
generate: paper and electronic/magnetic media.

The paper can be divided into 2 subsets -- active and archival. 

Each of these things requires a different storage method… I'll address
each of these briefly and then provide you with links to do your own
follow up.


ACTIVE PAPER FILES  --------------

This kind of hard copy is normally stored in what is called "OPEN
SHELF" systems, usually onsite. These systems allow for easy
day-to-day searching and retrieval of records.  I will assume that
your company already has a system for monitoring the active paperwork
and that you are looking to manage your archives.



INACTIVE PAPER FILES (ARCHIVES) ------------- 


This includes old records, checks, ledgers, memos, letters, reports,
blueprints,  and all the other paper that companies generate and need
to store over the long-term.  This kind of hardcopy gets stored in
CARTON OR BOX SYSTEMS, usually in a warehouse.

For this type of system, the copy is inventoried and stored in boxes
and each box is given a bar-coded label. The label assigns the box an
individual number which is tied to a database listing the contents of
the box.   Like any asset tracking system, the database is the record
of what is in the boxes and where specific boxes are located. Any user
should be able to search the database to find a specific hard-copy
item.


DIGITAL AND MAGNETIC MEDIA  ----------------- 


Digital and magnetic hard copy of records should not be stored in
boxes in warehouses or simple "storage rooms. It can be easily damaged
and requires special handling if it is to last indefinitely.  This
type of hard copy should be placed in special media containers stored
in what is called a VAULT SYSTEM.  Most companies do not maintain
their own vaults, so must store their data off site.  Here are some
samples of companies that offer vault storage:

"Protecting magnetic media, computer tapes, film and sound archives
and vital records and documents requires a secure offsite data storage
environment including motion, heat, smoke and fire detection systems
monitored 24 hours a day by a central station. Security systems such
as electronic keypad entry and digital deadbolt locking provide
additional safeguards for your most vital computer data storage
needs."
http://www.archiveamerica.com/solutions_vault.htm


"Our substantial vaults are all temperature maintained at 70 degrees
and humidity controlled at 50 percent. We use a HALON oxygen
suppressant system for flame control, supplemented by 4-hour fire
walls."
http://www.kentrecords.com/storage.htm


"Owning and operating two, underground, nuclear hardened facilities,
VRI provides around the clock support and services to over 1,500
clients, protecting over 2.1 million tapes, with over 220,000 daily
transactions.  All possible through the expertise of over 100
professionally trained librarians and couriers."
http://www.vitalrecords.com/



SUMMARY OF THE BASICS   ------------------- 


A good hardcopy storage and management system will provide --

Storage  - to provide long-term and reliable storage that will
accommodate changing documents, growing volumes and advancing
technology.

Indexing  -  creates an organized document filing system and makes
future retrieval simple and efficient.

Retrieval - system uses information about the documents, including
index and text, to find images stored in the system.

Access  - Document viewing should be readily available to those who
need it, with the flexibility to control access to system.



A NOTE ON DOCUMENT SCANNING  ----------------

Document scanning is the process of converting all of your paper
documents to digital form. Basically you scan in your documents and
convert everything to files that can be searched, accessed and read
via computer.  Due to the digital nature of the archiving system, all
documents are available for on-screen viewing and processing at any
given time.
I haven't discussed the idea of scanning documents for digital storage
and access because scanning doesn't eliminate the problem you have
identified; that is what to do with the original paper?  You still
need to store it!

If you are also interested in having your documents scanned (or doing
it yourself) then do a quick search for "document management" and you
will be hit with more companies and tools than you know what to do
with!


SUGGESTION   ---------------

If you are a large company with years of documents to store, retrieve
and track, you really may want to consider hiring a professional firm
to do the work for you.  These companies have proprietary database
systems and the barcode technologies that keep track of everything. 
In addition they have entire fleets of the lower-paid staff that do
all the dirty work of sticking labels, inventorying paper, packing
boxes, entering data and a lot of the work that you might find
yourself doing.

What might be worth your while is to contact some document storage
companies near you and ask them to send a salesman around to talk to
you. This would give you an idea of what is offered by the
professionals and what you may be able to do in-house.

Here's where I would start:

http://www.archiveamerica.com/index.html
http://www.donnegan.com/index.html
http://www.kentrecords.com/storage.htm
http://www.starpointusa.com/

This should provide a good overview of what hard-copy storage and
management entails. If anything I've said is not clear, please feel
free to ask for a clarification.

Best of luck with your project .. (and try not to let the paper win!
;-) )

--K~

Search terms:

"Hard copy" storage
"Hard copy" management
"Document management"
"document management software"

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Request for Answer Clarification by sbaker-ga on 28 Aug 2002 17:34 PDT

Thanks for the information, but my problem does not include magnetic
or optical storage just paper.  I am looking for methods or systems
that are used by most companies to keep documents current and also
storage of the vast amount of paper.  Even though I was told this is
going to be done in-house it might not be possible, so information
about offsite storage solutions could be useful also.  Thanks for your
help, it is greatly appreciated.

---

Clarification of Answer by knowledge_seeker-ga on 29 Aug 2002 15:20 PDT

Hi again Sbaker --

First, a thank you to seedy-ga for the fabulous additional
information. Sbaker, you should find his links useful for seeing what
other companies offer in the way of storage and retrieval systems.

You have twice asked;  What methods or systems are used by most
companies? Most companies either hire a company to archive and store
their hardcopy information or they implement a barcode tracking system
like I described in my answer. The specific system they use (as in
which software and hardware) will vary depending on the company. I can
provide you with some suppliers of such systems and you can contact
them to find further details.

In all cases the system you implement should serve the exact same
function as the off-site  service provider would give you. That is, it
will keep track of:

--- All containers on the system, date added, number of times
accessed, and current location.
--- Containers returned to the warehouse this month.
--- All containers currently out of the warehouse and date removed.
--- Containers permanently removed from storage.
--- All containers eligible for destruction.
--- File folders returned this month.
--- Containers destroyed this month.
--- File folders accessed this month.
--- New containers added this month.
--- File folders currently out of the warehouse, to whom delivered and
date delivered.


Now I'll provide you with some further links to companies that provide
services and products that should help you. Please take the time to
read these sites thoroughly and learn as much as you can about the
systems they offer. Also, once again I urge you to contact sales
representatives to explain the details of the system to your company
decision-makers.


RECORDS MANAGEMENT AND BARCODE TRACKING SOFTWARE

One of the largest companies is O'Neil Software .."… the standard in
software solutions for the Records Storage industry."
http://www.oneilsoft.com/html/history.html


Review of O'Neil Software--
http://www.insideselfstorage.com/articles/251spotl1.html

Do a further search for "O'Neil RS-SQL " and notice how many companies
proudly claim to use their system:

://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&q=O%27Neil+RS%2DSQL


FileOnQ provides automated and information management systems that
manage the complete life cycle of an organization's physical records
and imaged documents.

http://www.nevrfile.com/software.html


See this website for links and information  --

"Filing Systems Online has information on all records management
products, everything from mobile shelving to file folders and color
coding.  Use Filing Systems Online to find a local dealer for these
file or folder storage systems, such as shelving, mobile shelving,
rotary files, or automated carousels."

http://www.filingsystems.com/


Further searches you can do to see more examples of companies and
products:

asset management software
asset management software archive
barcode record storage
hard copy storage system

Finally, don't confuse "version control" with hard-copy storage and
retrieval. When you ask about "keeping documents up to date" this is
not archiving and storage. When you file a hard-copy document in
storage, it never gets changed. In fact, if a person takes a document
from the archive, they are usually not permitted to change it. The
whole point of archiving is to maintain the record AS IT WAS
ORIGINALLY WRITTEN.

What may change are versions. An updated version may be created on
someone's computer or at someone's desk. Keeping track of these
changes is "Version control," and is a whole other topic, well beyond
the scope of this question.  If you need further information on
version control, you may ask that as a new question.

I trust this has answered all your questions regarding hard-copy
storage systems. Best of luck.

--K~

Excellent response to my question, I was informed of things I probably
would never have thought about.   Thanks.

Dear Sbaker:

In addition to the links provided by knowledge seeker in the answer,
you may wish to contact Steelcase at

       http://www.steelcase.com  

or by telphone at  1-800-333-9939  

As leading supplier of file cabinets, they also provide design
services for filing and for retrieval systems for in-house storage.
They may be your best bet to determine your needs, introduce you to
in-house storage software which allows quick retrieval of information,
and give you ideas as to how to solve your SPECIFIC opportunities.  I
have found Steelcase to provide considerable information for "free"
since they are trying to sell their very fine office filing systems in
the process of assessing your needs.

HON Filing systems also provides some service but, to my knowledge,
does not provide software or tracking services.  You may with to
review their website at the following link:

     http://www.hon.com/officesolutions/

The original links provided by knowledge seeker were very strong in
off site storage and alternate systems to storage.  Since this is a
very important decision for any company, I'd advice your contacting
all the companies shown to be sure the decision is correct for you. 
Once you adopt one of these systems, it is often difficult to change
in the future since you get so far into the system that is is almost
impossible to retreat.

    http://www.archiveamerica.com/index.html 

Arvive America provides hardcopy (paper) storage off site with full
retrieveal services.  If you examine their website (link shown above)
or call them at (800) 273-8587 or email them at 
info@archiveamerica.com they can call on you to give you examine your
needs and cost effective solutions. They operate on a national USA
basis.

   http://www.donnegan.com/index.html 

Donnegan Systems lists their objective as being, "Donnegan Systems,
Inc. provides services and products to assist record management
professionals to meet their goals. We assure that the documents and
information of the organization are maintained in systems that
maximize accessibility, minimize space requirements, and are most cost
effective. " They can be reached at the website shown above or at
(800) 222-6311 or by email at Info@Donnegan.com  I particularly like
this company since they also provide microfiche services which is the
most efficient way to store documents.

       http://www.kentrecords.com/storage.htm 

Kent Record Management is another off-site storage, indexing, and
retrieval company which could give you another perspective on this
problem as does

      http://www.starpointusa.com/ 



Thank you for asking GA for advice in this important specific
decision.

seedy