The speeds and capabilities of scanners published by vendors are often not a good indication of the actual time required for processing. To make accurate estimates you should undertake trials on the records to be processed. Further information on scanning equipment can be found in Appendix 2. Digitising in-house or outsourcing Either the agency itself or a commercial provider can undertake a digitisation project. There are issues to consider for both options. In some cases a combination of the two might be best—for example using an external service provider on agency premises. When outsourcing a project you should be careful to ensure that security handling requirements are met. See the section on handling security classified material for more information. Some issues to consider when deciding between an in-house or outsourced digitisation process are outlined below. In-house: records are continuously available and under agency control requires purchase or leasing of equipment which may be difficult to justify (such as for a one-off project) requires dedicated and specifically-skilled staff requires initial and ongoing training of specifically-skilled staff allows enhanced control over application of metadata skills and quality assurance are maintained in-house allows greater control over the security of the records quality controls can be easily adjusted as issues are identified the agency must bear costs associated with technical infrastructure problems such as network downtime or equipment failure. Outsourcing: records are unavailable to the agency for a period payments for scanning images are all-inclusive high production levels or volumes are available
The speeds and capabilities of scanners published by vendors are often not a good indication of the actual time required for processing. To make accurate estimates you should undertake trials on the records to be processed. Further information on scanning equipment can be found in Appendix 2. Digitising in-house or outsourcing Either the agency itself or a commercial provider can undertake a digitisation project. There are issues to consider for both options. In some cases a combination of the two might be best—for example using an external service provider on agency premises. When outsourcing a project you should be careful to ensure that security handling requirements are met. See the section on handling security classified material for more information. Some issues to consider when deciding between an in-house or outsourced digitisation process are outlined below. In-house: records are continuously available and under agency control requires purchase or leasing of equipment which may be difficult to justify (such as for a one-off project) requires dedicated and specifically-skilled staff requires initial and ongoing training of specifically-skilled staff allows enhanced control over application of metadata skills and quality assurance are maintained in-house allows greater control over the security of the records quality controls can be easily adjusted as issues are identified the agency must bear costs associated with technical infrastructure problems such as network downtime or equipment failure. Outsourcing: records are unavailable to the agency for a period payments for scanning images are all-inclusive high production levels or volumes are available
dapr_tcm16-88758.docx