# System for Storing & Retrieving Scanned Documents



## woodland81 (Dec 27, 2010)

Hello Im looking for some advice on what best software to use and what functions may best suit me.

What it is, is at work we have so many paperbased files, where we want to Scan them and have them logged in a system.

Sometimes 1 paperfile relates to 1 whole topic, usually 1 file is broken up into 15-20 different sections. Ive had a few initial ideas however you may have a good idea. if come across something before.

The paper will be scanned into a pdf so I need to develop a system so can find what has been scanned, so will be logging details of the correspondence and a link to the pdf for retrieval.

Probably just have a series of Folders/Directories on our network and link to the files there.
Longterm I think we will scan existing and new documents, where I may have to merge pdfs together or have a series of pdfs per 1 record. 

Been thinking Access could be my best idea. At least there could have a series of drop down lists to select from for retrieval, and also on a Form for inputting new records.
as the way filing is referenced and filed is predetermined from existing Lists

Really appreciate some input if access best way to go or excel. Done bit of googling to see if i can find some basic freeware system I could take and adapt to save myself some time lol.

Somehow im been given the task to develop something due to efficiency plus I used to log the filing and file it on the paperfiles.

:smile:


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## JMPC (Jan 15, 2011)

How many documents are you talking about?
I would suggest purchasing a software package that is made to do just this. There are a lot of programs that scan and index documents.


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## woodland81 (Dec 27, 2010)

I dont think they are willing to pay which has always been the problem, not willing to invest in a proper system. To me its like they want them scanned...by who i dont know and on a system where they can be accessed.

Probably talking definitely hundreds paper files. Majority A4 size 3-4inchs thick. I did have to estimate however cant remember off top of my head. Taking up alot of storage space


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## RSpecianjr (Jan 20, 2010)

Hey woodland81,

As long as there is a naming convention setup, I don't see why Access wouldn't work. It is the best for database managment stuff, as opposed to excel which is really more suited for calculations.

Just make sure that whoever is scanning the documents knows how to name them and where to put them. You can then have a macro run a "search" in the main folder/subfolders to find the new items. Using the folders are sortable options for your different categories. 

Basically Access would return a list with, lets say, four columns. 

Category, Record, Section, and Document. Perhaps add description in there (that would have to be manually inputted).

Each column is represented by a folder under your main folder. For example you would have a file path that looks like:

Main/Categorytype1/Recordtype3/Section2/document7.pdf

OR

You could have a single folder housing all the files, but have each file name setup with its category, record type, section, unique name. This is probably easier.

From there you can basicall create whatever kind of database you want from it. You will have the file paths to open the individual files and the ability to "restrict" which files appear. Making it easier to search for a particular category or section... etc.

Just my thoughts, it has been a while since I have even thought about using Access. I'm by no means no pro at it.

Ciao,

Robert D. Specian Jr.


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## woodland81 (Dec 27, 2010)

Our filing runs off Road Numbers, then each Road has a list of 57 Topics, and each topic can have unlimited Number of Files, mostly broken to a list of "events" per File. that cannot be populated from a list. along with date relating to the "incident"

These would be the searchable variables Event and Incident date, or some sort of description added. preferrably once a Road and Topic has been selected, if not obviously more Results would be returned


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## woodland81 (Dec 27, 2010)

Ive been thinking would making something in website form be a good idea or be more difficult involving sql asp etc to search for things.

Am not sure if will need to still use things like that in an access Form to search


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## RSpecianjr (Jan 20, 2010)

Hey,

Yeah, the basic layout that I was describing above should work for you. Naming the files based on the incident date plus some other unique identifier and saving them to the correct folder/subfolder.

As far as the website aspect of it, I believe Access has the ability to publish to websites. If not it can be stored in an SQL database and queried from the website server. Assuming the server has access to it.

If you are truly desiring a website style database, I would suggest moving this thread to either the web design forum or the web serving and management forum. They will have more information on that. If you haven't used it before, it will be a huge project to learn, but very useful in the future. I am just now trying to learn that side of development = ).

Let me know,

Ciao


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## woodland81 (Dec 27, 2010)

You could be right. I did learn a little of asp at college but very little and I think I struggled. Probably biting off more than I can chew. 

I think maybe designing a basic interface is where I need to start to see what my requirements are and if that would be suitable for Recording info and Retrieving. Im assuming 1 Form would be able to handle both.


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## RSpecianjr (Jan 20, 2010)

If I remember correctly, Access can publish a webpage of sorts. I'm not sure how it works because I haven't ever really sat down to learn the ins and outs. So perhaps start with an Access database and see where you can go from there.

If you already have one database, it is pretty easy to put that information into another. So starting with Access then migrating to somethings else shouldn't be too hard.


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