The venerable aperture card used to be the preferred archive format to store industrial and engineering drawings, architectural plans, and other large format documents. While they reportedly could last decades if stored properly, like all physical media they gradually degrade over time.
If your organisation still stores information on aperture cards, it might be time to consider converting these to digital. Still, once you’ve decided to modernise your archives you might be overwhelmed by all the available aperture card and microfiche scanning service providers in the market. Here are a few things to consider when selecting a partner.
A reputable service provider should be happy to let you speak to its past clients as a reference. Past clients can give you an idea of how the aperture card and microfilm scanning service implements projects and an understanding of their overall experience.
A quick scan of a prospective partner’s service offerings should give you an idea of their capabilities. The breadth of the service offerings can give you an indication of what equipment and processes the service provider utilises. This can give you an idea if they will be able to complete your project accurately and efficiently.
A good aperture card scanning service will have high-quality scanning equipment that will capture your archives accurately. The scanning service can then utilise state of the art optical character recognition technology to make your resulting digital archive searchable.
A trustworthy aperture card scanning service should take your security and confidentiality seriously. Your valuable data should be protected at all times. The service provider should ensure that all its personnel sign legally binding confidentiality agreements and receive specific training regarding the handling and processing of sensitive and confidential materials. Of course all the provider’s personnel should undergo criminal record checks.
In case your materials are too sensitive or valuable to let out of your sight, your prospective service provider should be able to adapt. Check if the provider can perform the scanning work onsite at your location. They should be able to provide all the equipment and expertise to perform your aperture card scanning project with minimal disruption to your regular operations.
If you’re ready to convert your aperture cards to digital files, then contact Scan2Archive. With over 35+ years of experience in Government, Medical, Financial, Engineering, Arts, Mining, and Construction sectors, Scan2Archive’s tried and tested scanning service is backed by AS/NZS ISO 9001:2015 Quality Accreditation.
Scan2Archive is an approved vendor for NSW Government Procurement ICT Services SCN0020 Category G20 — Digitisation and is a signatory to Queensland GITC5 for Government purchasing. Contact our team of experts now to learn how we can modernise your aperture card-based archives!