WHY DIGITAL ARCHIVE?

The objective of digitization is principally to create content of databases to facilitate access to, preservation and dissemination of information resources.

Digitization is primarily the process of converting written and printed records into electronic form. The content may be text, image, audio or a combination of these (multimedia). The output of digitization process is an electronic document that can also be hosted on Internet/Intranet. The electronic document may be in Portable Document Format (PDF) or Tagged Image File Format (TIFF). PDF format is usually used to store information on the Web, as the file size is relatively small and easily downloadable and transferable. PDF is also has a unique print/display format that is the same on any platform and can be read using Acrobat Reader (downloadable freely from the Internet).

If you suddenly couldn’t access the Place where your vital records were kept, what would you do? In a paper-based world, traditional archiving has meant storage of paper. But what happens as more and more records are created and archived. What happens, 10-20 years from now?????

As more and more records and files are created more and more people are required to manage, maintain & archive them. A research has shown that professionals spend only 5% to 15% of their time reading/using information and they spend up to 50% of their time looking for it.

Archiving or preservation is the practical task that consists of keeping documents intact for future use”. In preserving documents, we want to make and keep the information that they contain available for the future. There are many different reasons for preserving documents. In the business community, documents are mainly preserved for legal reasons. Documents are kept because we are required to do so by law or because we are obliged to do so by virtue of a contract, or for the sake of their value as evidence. For society in general, historical and scientific research are two additional reasons for preserving documents.



NEED FOR DIGITAL ARCHIVING

Pharmaceutical companies retain a large number of records pertaining to their research and development activities, laboratory notebook data from pre-clinical research, case report forms, research protocols and trial master files from clinical research activities - as well as large databases of raw and surrogate clinical data, Government circulars/ reports, assignment reports etc.. To these, one has to add a variety of other data sets on standard operating procedures, training modules, systems validation, systems access records, and more. All this information is crucial to business either from a knowledge management or a regulatory-compliance point of view.

Regulatory requirements are not the only reason for records retention. Patent disputes, legal issues and, of course, knowledge management can dictate a whole new set of rules for documents and data retention. So far, the simplest way many pharmaceutical companies have found for dealing with the complexity of the situation has been to retain paper copies of everything indefinitely.

Digitization has become a practical necessity and reality with technology interventions to provide improved access to information resources, preservation and dissemination as required, at any time; anywhere and any place as it were.

BENEFITS OF DIGITAL ARCHIVING

1.   Electronic archives unlock information that was previously difficult to access in paper form.
2.   It enables more effective sharing of information, and contribute to knowledge flows.
3.   Information can be made available to anyone in the organization by granting access privileges
4.   Files can be remote accessible
5.   Digital data can be enhanced to make it more legible.
6.   Old, faded & fragile documents are enhanced
7.   Cost Saving on Processing , moving & storing paper
8.   Time saving in finding needed information dispersed with in organisation
9.   Faster support to constituents regarding any query & question
10.  Ability to collaborate & work with team members at different locations




Electronic archives can contribute to extensive cost savings

MAN HOUR COST SAVING

Digital files can be searched in many ways other than alphabetically;

Metadata search
full text search
Boolean Search


SPACE SAVING

Voluminous Files/encyclopedias/records/ maps etc that take up Cubic meters of space in Paper/analog form can fit into minuscule space.

Approximately 3000 kilograms of paper records can fit in one DVD. Reduced cost of space and transportation

Data can be recombined for easy manipulation and compressed for digital storage and be easily ready for changes and alterations. Reduced time to organisation response





The digital record is a mirror image of the original analogue/paper based file in terms of

Page layout
Number of pages
Hand written text
Graphics & logos
Colour of original document, or…..
As required by the user


The complete sequence of images is then rendered into PDF/any other desired format for archiving, printing and distribution.

In this process the digital document is now a high resolution unaltered and accurate representation of the original.

In order to create electronic archives, emphasis is given to the creation of metadata.

Inclusion of Metadata controls and manages records for users to search and index them

Additional metadata can be included to provide important contextual information about –

 • Who used the records
 • How they were used
 • When they were used
 • Access codes by way of digital


Signatures/passwords can be provided to prevent unauthorized access

DIGITAL ARCHIVING CONVERTS ANALOGUE DATA INTO BINARY STRINGS OF 1S & OS. THUS MAINTAINING :-