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  Asked: Oct 18 2006   11:40 AM GMT
  Asked by: skepticals

Document scanning and organizing


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Does anyone know of an open source/cheap document management system? (Windows-based system)

I would like the ability to have a searchable database of scanned documents/photos/receipts/etc. I do not need OCR.

For example, a folder name "Job1" that I can click on and see subfolders of receipts/photos/documents/etc. And the bility to searh said folders would be a plus.

OR, does anyone know of a better way to manage these documents. My goal is to have digital copies of all documents in a searchable database. Any ideas?

J

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Last Answered: Oct 18 2006  5:14 PM GMT  by ITCowboy53




Have you considered a copier/scanner that allows scan-to-folder functionality? We have implemented a process that works as you described using a Canon ir5020. Basically, you scan the copies to a folder/subfolder which has been predefined. Maybe this is too simplistic for what you're wanting, but it works for us.
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petkoa  |   Oct 19 2006  5:02AM GMT

Hi skepticals,

How do you mean to search this database - by filenames, by some imagefile-embedded metadata (EXIF, IPTC ,etc.) or by user comments separate from the imagefiles?

The solutions should be quite different - in the first case probably placing images in the right folder will suffice; in the last - may be a simple MSAccess database; for searching in metadata you may try some freeware stuff (ImageQuery & friends)

BR

Petko

 

ITBird  |   Oct 19 2006  6:06AM GMT

Hi J

I use a program called Pro-file which is not expensive and allows you to keep track of all files, folders and archive CD/DVDs. Here’s the link:-

<a href="http://www.1-pro.com/" rel="nofollow">http://www.1-pro.com/</a>

Hope that helps.

 

skepticals  |   Oct 19 2006  8:50AM GMT

Thanks for all the information. I’m not sure which way would be best. I guess even searching by file name might work as long as the person scanning puts in enough information. I think some type of small database would work better. I’m not a database programmer; so I was looking for something with similar results that is already out there.

 

IdongesitDaniel  |   Oct 20 2006  11:47AM GMT

Hi skepticals,

You can try solution from betasystems. I use s similar procuct from them. You can please contact them on this site : <a href="http://www.beta-systems.com" rel="nofollow">www.beta-systems.com</a>

Thank you,

IdongesitDaniel

 

MarkPulse  |   Oct 20 2006  12:46PM GMT

Depending upon your requirements, I may be able to offer some suggestions. Can you give a more thorough description of the capabilities you are searching for? It would help if you could also shhare what level of investment you are willing to make in a management system. There are systems designed for a wide range of organizations with varying requirements and budgets. They each can provide a broad range of additional capabilities where necessary. Email at <a href="mailto:mark.pulse@gmail.com">mark.pulse@gmail.com</a> if you would like some assistnace in getting your requirements more firmed up and documented so that you can eliminate the too-high or too-low fruit, and make a better judgement as to the proper capabilities required to meet your needs.

 

KingTut  |   Oct 23 2006  11:54AM GMT

Building a Document Management System used by more than 1 person requires a taxonomy and/or metadata structure that provides a method which results in the file being placed in a single folder location (think of the filing cabinet metaphor). The key is to provide the fewest number of choices for the person inputting the data (filing the document) for each document to be managed. This number is controlled by the span of the documents in the collection. Using metadata also provides for keywords to search items in ways that differ from the taxonomy. One of our sites was also very big on using a file naming structure which allowed direct browsing of the document collection instead using the web interface based on the taxonomy. OCR can be a valuable add-on. I recommend using the “image + hidden text” type of PDF format. This format displays and prints the scanned image, but allows searches based on the OCR text results also contained in the file.