Disaster Planning for Document Management
By SteveGilheany@ArchiveBuilders.com, +1 310-937-7000 More on document management, classes, and updates at www.ArchiveBuild ers.com 22020v003 Page 1 of 2
INTRODUCTION
I nternet access to public records, such as
co nstruction records, is likely to become an
es sential component of disaster and emergency
r esponse. Using newly available technology,
the Internet can now provide reliable,
im mediate access to public records during and
afte r disasters such as earthquakes, fires,
s torms, and floods. By providing the same
I nternet access during disasters that is provided
on a day-to-day basis, no special disaster
train ing will be necessary to access the public
records.
Be cause storing hard copy records is currently
n ecessary to provide access to records using
Disa ster Planning for Document Management
By SteveGilheany@ArchiveBuilders.com, +1 310-937-7000 More on document management, classes, and updates at www.ArchiveBuild ers.com 22020v003 Page 2 of 12
Public documents access systems are
particu larly simple to provide via multiple
I nternet sites because they are relatively static,
of ten being changed once per month, with daily
up dates considered an extremely fast rate of
ch ange. Only a very small percent of stored
doc uments are changed at any one time, and
ch anges are almost always limited to additions,
us ually due to restrictions in public document
law s. These properties greatly simplify the task
o f providing high system availability and a very
fast sw itchover time between multiple duplicate
online systems.
In a ddition to protection from natural disaster,
hos ted servers provide a well-defined level of
pro tection from most systemic failures and
malicious acts.
Shared Expenses
D ay-to-day access to public records will be
i mproved by the scanning done to improve
acce ss during disasters. It is likely that day-to-
d ay access can share the expense of preparing
th e records for Internet access during times of
disaster.
I nternet access to databases used by disaster
w orkers will share the same Internet access that
is u sed to access the systems that store public
r ecords. Therefore, it is possible that the
d isaster database systems can share in the
e xpense of providing Internet access to public
records.
Local Support
Because the Internet is by definition
d istributed, all jurisdictions, and private
or ganizations, can contribute independently to
su ccessful disaster mitigation responses.
Summary
F or access to public records, it is now possible
to have a disaster plan of business-as-usual
f rom the point of view of system users. This
w ill reduce disaster preparedness costs by
s haring both system and training costs with
non- disaster related uses. In add ition, a
bu siness-as-usual plan will not only enhance
th e mitigation of the effects of disasters, it will
f ree up time of everyone affected by the
d isaster for tasks other than access to public
records.
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Acknowledgements
Reprinted from Archive Planning
, Volume 4,
n umber 3, 2000, Archive Builders' analysis
newsletter for document management.
See http:// www.ArchiveBuilders.com
A ll trademarks are the property of their
respective holders.
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Paper 22020v003
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St eveGilheany@ArchiveBuilders.com
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Bio
Steve Gilheany, BA in Computer Science,
M BA, MLS Specialization in Information
Sc ience, CDIA (Certified Document Imaging
S ystem Architect), AIIM Master (MIT), and
AIIM Laureate (LIT), of Information
Tec hnologies, CRM (Certified Records
Manager, ARMA) has eighteen years
exp erience in document imaging and is a Sr.
Systems Engineer at Archive Builders.
Author
St eve Gilheany is a Sr. Systems Engineer at
A rchive Builders. He has worked in digital
doc ument management and document imaging
for nineteen years.
Hi s experience in the application of document
m anagement and document imaging in industry
i ncludes: aerospace, banking, manufacturing,
natural resources, petroleum refining,
t ransportation, energy, federal, state, and local
g overnment, civil engineering, utilities,
e ntertainment, commercial records centers,
a rchives, non-profit development, education,
a nd administrative, engineering, production,
l egal, and medical records management. At the
same time, he has worked in product
m anagement for hypertext, for windows based
u ser interface systems, for computer displays,
f or engineering drawing, letter size, microform,
a nd color scanning, and for xerographic,
p hotographic, newspaper, engineering drawing,
and color printing.
In addition, he has nine years of experience in
data center operations and database and
c omputer communications systems design,
programming, testing, and software
c onfiguration management. He has an MLS
S pecialization in Information Science and an
M BA with a concentration in Computer and
I nformation Systems from UCLA, a California
A dult Education teaching credential, and a BA
in Computer Science from the University of
Wisconsin at Madison. His industry
ce rtifications include: the CDIA (Certified
D ocument Imaging System Architect) and the
A IIM Master (MIT), and AIIM Laureate (LIT),
of Information Technologies (from AIIM
I nternational, the Association of Information
and Image Management, www.AIIM.org), and
th e CRM (Certified Records Manager) (from
th e ICRM, the Institute of Certified Records
M anagers, an affiliate of ARMA International,
the Association of Records Managers and
Administrators, www.ARMA.org).
Contact:
St eveGilheany@ArchiveBuilders.com
T el: +1 310-937-7000 Fax: +1 310-937-7001
F or more information, courses, and papers:
http:// www.ArchiveBuilders.com