Document management

[Arlo Barnes]

We have talked a little on this list about related topics, but I figured I would ask people's opinions outright.

I have about 3 cubic meters of assorted paper documents -- and by assorted I mean both unsorted into categories, but also of various types.
For example, there are papers that are unimportant that should be set aside for disposal. There are papers of mild interest that should be kept if possible (in a digital form, as their physical presence has no value beyond the contained information, and negative value in space taken up and mental clutter added). There are documents that should be digitized, but cannot be disposed of as their physical form is important to their existence (certificates for instance). Some of the information in the documents is sensitive, and since it is mixed in, the whole pile should be treated as such (although there is not nothing that could not be shown to a well-trusted entity). And the papers are not all of the same size or stock; some of them are loose, some pamphlets, brochures, or even slim books.

Once they are digitized they will also need to be semanticized and related to one another to start to make sense of it.
So, how should I go about this? Would mechanisation of some form help? Can this even reasonably be done by one person?

-Arlo James Barnes

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[Marcus G. Daniels]

An in-house drone to sort through similar things like the pile on the kitchen table?

(If nothing else, it would entertain a pet.)

 

http://uploads.movidius.com/1461814467-Fathom-Combined-2-pager.pdf

 

From: Friam [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Arlo Barnes
Sent: Sunday, May 01, 2016 10:34 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[hidden email]>; Wedtech <[hidden email]>
Subject: [FRIAM] Document management

 

We have talked a little on this list about related topics, but I figured I would ask people's opinions outright.

 

I have about 3 cubic meters of assorted paper documents -- and by assorted I mean both unsorted into categories, but also of various types.
For example, there are papers that are unimportant that should be set aside for disposal. There are papers of mild interest that should be kept if possible (in a digital form, as their physical presence has no value beyond the contained information, and negative value in space taken up and mental clutter added). There are documents that should be digitized, but cannot be disposed of as their physical form is important to their existence (certificates for instance). Some of the information in the documents is sensitive, and since it is mixed in, the whole pile should be treated as such (although there is not nothing that could not be shown to a well-trusted entity). And the papers are not all of the same size or stock; some of them are loose, some pamphlets, brochures, or even slim books.

Once they are digitized they will also need to be semanticized and related to one another to start to make sense of it.
So, how should I go about this? Would mechanisation of some form help? Can this even reasonably be done by one person?

-Arlo James Barnes

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Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
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[Barry MacKichan]

3 cubic meters is about 60-90 book boxes of the size the mover gave us
for our books the last time we moved.

If you are going to do it yourself, over a long period of time, I hope,
I recommend the ScanSnap ix500 scanner. It scans about 25 pages (50
sides, since it scans both sides simultaneously) per minute, with a 50
sheet feeder and fairly intelligent detection of double feeds and blank
sides.You have to be careful to check for dust buildup. The software
with it is pretty good also.

For processing, classifying, and storing the files, I recommend
DevonThink Pro Office if you have a Mac. It has some intelligence built
in to it to determine similar content in different documents, and this
supports auto-classification and "see also" functionality. I confess I
haven't really given that part of it a test. The OCR of your documents
can be done by ScanSnap or by DevonThink. DevonThink does not do data
lock-in. Your documents will be files in the OS, but can be stored
optionally in the DT 'database' which is just a bundle of files with
indexes.

There are commercial scanning services, but I've never checked out their
prices. If you scan them yourself, you will probably end up hating
staples as much as I do. They can go through the scanner easily and
harmlessly, but if they attach 2 or more sheets, you'll have to unjam
the document feed. Booklets are no problem if you can take the pages
apart. Books are no problems if you are happy bandsawing the spine off.

And it is very satisfying having everything on a hard drive, fully
backed up, fully indexed. Or so I believe -- I haven't gotten through my
stack yet.

--Barry



On 1 May 2016, at 22:34, Arlo Barnes wrote:

> We have talked a little on this list about related topics, but I
> figured I
> would ask people's opinions outright.
>
> I have about 3 cubic meters of assorted paper documents -- and by
> assorted
> I mean both unsorted into categories, but also of various types.
> For example, there are papers that are unimportant that should be set
> aside
> for disposal. There are papers of mild interest that should be kept if
> possible (in a digital form, as their physical presence has no value
> beyond
> the contained information, and negative value in space taken up and
> mental
> clutter added). There are documents that should be digitized, but
> cannot be
> disposed of as their physical form is important to their existence
> (certificates for instance). Some of the information in the documents
> is
> sensitive, and since it is mixed in, the whole pile should be treated
> as
> such (although there is not nothing that could not be shown to a
> well-trusted entity). And the papers are not all of the same size or
> stock;
> some of them are loose, some pamphlets, brochures, or even slim books.
>
> Once they are digitized they will also need to be semanticized and
> related
> to one another to start to make sense of it.
> So, how should I go about this? Would mechanisation of some form help?
> Can
> this even reasonably be done by one person?
>
> -Arlo James Barnes
> ============================================================
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com

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[Russell Standish-2]

Obviously this a problem everwhere in the world. My experience in
dealing with this is that a typical cubic meter of paperwork is 90%
obsolete, and can be shredded at source. Tax documents need to be kept
for only 5 years, memorabilia you aint going to need it, etc, etc.

What really remains are a few certificates etc (as you mention), plus
occasionally a gen in the form of a diary or unfinished manuscript by
that forgotten uncle :). A recent example of sorting through my
mother-in-laws stuff yielded very little that needed to be kept.

As for tax related stuff, receipts, warrantees, instruction manuals,
know your sunset dates, sort them into envelopes with a discard by
date, and as you go, discard the stuff that has passed its discard by
date. Seriously, it fits into one small small box (maybe 1/4 cubic meter).

I am trying to deal with photos, and academic paper that were printed
of yore, now. Of course the temptation is to actually try to read the stuff!

Cheers

On Mon, May 02, 2016 at 12:38:59PM -0600, Barry MacKichan wrote:

> 3 cubic meters is about 60-90 book boxes of the size the mover gave
> us for our books the last time we moved.
>
> If you are going to do it yourself, over a long period of time, I
> hope, I recommend the ScanSnap ix500 scanner. It scans about 25
> pages (50 sides, since it scans both sides simultaneously) per
> minute, with a 50 sheet feeder and fairly intelligent detection of
> double feeds and blank sides.You have to be careful to check for
> dust buildup. The software with it is pretty good also.
>
> For processing, classifying, and storing the files, I recommend
> DevonThink Pro Office if you have a Mac. It has some intelligence
> built in to it to determine similar content in different documents,
> and this supports auto-classification and "see also" functionality.
> I confess I haven't really given that part of it a test. The OCR of
> your documents can be done by ScanSnap or by DevonThink. DevonThink
> does not do data lock-in. Your documents will be files in the OS,
> but can be stored optionally in the DT 'database' which is just a
> bundle of files with indexes.
>
> There are commercial scanning services, but I've never checked out
> their prices. If you scan them yourself, you will probably end up
> hating staples as much as I do. They can go through the scanner
> easily and harmlessly, but if they attach 2 or more sheets, you'll
> have to unjam the document feed. Booklets are no problem if you can
> take the pages apart. Books are no problems if you are happy
> bandsawing the spine off.
>
> And it is very satisfying having everything on a hard drive, fully
> backed up, fully indexed. Or so I believe -- I haven't gotten
> through my stack yet.
>
> --Barry
>
>
>
> On 1 May 2016, at 22:34, Arlo Barnes wrote:
>
> >We have talked a little on this list about related topics, but I
> >figured I
> >would ask people's opinions outright.
> >
> >I have about 3 cubic meters of assorted paper documents -- and by
> >assorted
> >I mean both unsorted into categories, but also of various types.
> >For example, there are papers that are unimportant that should be
> >set aside
> >for disposal. There are papers of mild interest that should be kept if
> >possible (in a digital form, as their physical presence has no
> >value beyond
> >the contained information, and negative value in space taken up
> >and mental
> >clutter added). There are documents that should be digitized, but
> >cannot be
> >disposed of as their physical form is important to their existence
> >(certificates for instance). Some of the information in the
> >documents is
> >sensitive, and since it is mixed in, the whole pile should be
> >treated as
> >such (although there is not nothing that could not be shown to a
> >well-trusted entity). And the papers are not all of the same size
> >or stock;
> >some of them are loose, some pamphlets, brochures, or even slim books.
> >
> >Once they are digitized they will also need to be semanticized and
> >related
> >to one another to start to make sense of it.
> >So, how should I go about this? Would mechanisation of some form
> >help? Can
> >this even reasonably be done by one person?
> >
> >-Arlo James Barnes
> >============================================================
> >FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> >Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> >to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
>
> ============================================================
> FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
> Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
> to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com

--

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Dr Russell Standish                    Phone [phone] (mobile)
Principal, High Performance Coders
Visiting Senior Research Fellow        [hidden email]
Economics, Kingston University         http://www.hpcoders.com.au
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