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Glossary of Useful Terms

As with any manual or informative documentation, it is always nice to know what specific words and terms mean, especially when there can be confusion regarding the intention of the meaning, which can create different responses in a variety of situations. Therefore, the writers of this manual felt it imperative to convey a few of these terms to help in the application of document scanning.

Archival -applies to records maintained in electronic form, means that point at which a document is no longer subject to modification and is maintained to ensure reasonably its preservation according to the appropriate record retention schedule as found in Administrative Rule 7.

Auditing -a system for verifying that standards have been met.

“CCITT” -means the Consultative Committee on International Telegraphy and Telephony. Specific standards appear both by number and by name. If a standard is updated or superseded, the most current one applies to those records preserved after its effective date.

Closed Case -refers to a case in which a final judgment has been issued and for which no additional pleadings or court actions occur. Such cases are maintained in accordance with Administrative Rule 7 and its appropriate retention schedule.

Conversion -transforming hard copy documents into digital or microfilm formats.

Court Records -include active case files (including new filings, documents found in active cases files, re-docketed case files); closed case files; and permanent court records, like the CCS and RJO. Scanning policies and procedures differ for each of these three broad categories.

Database -is an organized collection of information stored on a computer. The database is structured to facilitate the search and retrieval of information contained in the database.

Database fields -are placeholders for discrete bits of information in a database. For example, your last name would be typed in to a field defined for that purpose. The grouped contents of several fields together form an electronic record.

DPI -dots per inch; is used as a measure of the number of dots recorded in either a vertical or horizontal plane for each inch. It is used to measure scanning resolution.

Density -a measure of the placement of dots per square inch resulting in a lighter or darker image.

Digital Duplicate -any copy of digital images used for reference or communication.

Digital Image -an electronic file consisting of digital data, when reconstructed on a display screen, the hard copy print appears as the original document.

Digital Imaging -the process by which a document or photograph is scanned by a computer and converted from analog format to a computer-readable digital format.

Digital Imaging File Format -the program used to store Digital Masters of Digital Images.

 Digital Master -the record copy of an electronic record transferred directly from a computer onto an electronic storage medium.

Digital Media -the physical method for storing digital records and images. There are two types: magnetic and optical. Examples of the former are magnetic disks, tape, and Digital Audio Tape (DAT). Examples of optical media include Compact Disk (C-D, CD-ROM), Write-Once, Read-Many (WORM) disk, Erasable Optical Disk (EO), and Digital Versatile Disk (DVD).

Document imaging -is the process by which print and film documents are fed into a scanner and converted into electronic documents. During the scanning process documents can be OCR’d and indexed to insure quick retrieval at a later date.

Documentation -a paper trail to prove adherence to standards.

Hybrid Imaging System -is a system that produces both micrographic and digital images, either simultaneously or from one to the other.

Image Enhancement -the process of manipulating a scanned image with software, to lighten or darken the image, to increase sharpness, alter contrast, or to filter out data elements appearing on the document.

Index -descriptive locator information attached to a digital image that enables a requestor to identify the file and retrieve it from the electronic storage medium.

Index -serves as a locator tool for finding case numbers, persons and judicial actions, and refers to the information contained in an electronic document that enables one to retrieve a document or file from a database. The index can include physical location information (e.g., where the document is stored) and document identification information (e.g., date archived, creator, and contents).

In Electronic Form -any information in a court record in a form that is readable through the use of an electronic device, regardless of the manner in which it was created.

Legibility -a measure of density and resolution to aid in meeting film standards and to assure that permanent records will be able to be viewed in the future.

Metadata -a standardized structure format and control vocabulary which allows for the precise description of record content, location, and value.

Microfilm -a photographic film containing an image greatly reduced in size from the original, or the process of generating microphotographs on film.

Microform -any form, usually film, which contains microphotographs.

Migration -the process of upgrading electronic systems to new technologies while preserving accessibility to existing records. It includes transferring one electronic data format to another when a new computer or data management system is incompatible with its existing system. It also means the process of moving electronic data from one storage device or medium to another.

New Case -is defined as one filed with the court for the first time. It is assigned a new case number and initiates creation of the CCS.

 OCR (Optical Character Recognition) -refers to the process by which scanned images are electronically "read" to convert them into editable text. This conversion is performed after scanning, and may output formatted text or text-only files (flat ASCII files). Text generated by OCR is often input into text search databases, allowing retrieval of the original scanned image based upon its content.

Open System Standard -a published and commonly available interface specification that describes services provided by a software product. Such specifications are available to anyone and have evolved through consensus and are open to the entire industry.

Pending Case -refers to a case that has previously been assigned a case number. It contains existing pleadings and/or court actions to which new pleadings or court actions will be assigned. (No judgment closing the case has been issued.)

Permanency -means lasting or without change.

Record -in Information Technology a record is defined as a group of related data fields. In Document Management, a record is defined as a collection of documents related by subject.

Record Retention Series -a series of documents governing, on a continuing basis, the retention and disposal of records of a Court, Clerk, or Court Agency.

Records Series -a group of related documents, either as to form or content, which are arranged under a single filing system; are kept together as a unit because they consist of the same form, relate to the same subject, result from the same activity; or which have certain similar physical characteristics such as computer magnetic tapes or disks, or as microforms.

Re-docketed Case -refers to a case in which a judgment closing the case has been made, taking the case “off docket”, and then a new filing or court action occurs after closure that re-opens the case. Typical re-docketed cases involve dissolution and criminal post conviction filings.

Refreshing -the copying of an image or of a whole storage medium for the purpose of preserving or enhancing the quality of a digital image.

Reproduction -the process of making an exact copy from an existing document in the same or a different medium.

Re-scanning -this term applies to replacing originally scanned documents for correction due to lack of completeness or readability. Re-scanning occurs in the proofing or verification process but before the scanned image is validated. A document can never be re-scanned once it has been validated.

Resolution -refers to the 'image-sharpness' of a document, usually measured in dots (or pixels) per inch (dpi). Documents can be scanned at various resolutions depending on your particular needs. The higher the resolution of a document, the greater the image-sharpness, and the larger the file size will be. Resolution also refers to the image-sharpness that printers and monitors are capable of reproducing.

Retention period -is the length of time documents must be stored and maintained to satisfy business and/or legal requirements.

Specifications -a set of requirements to be satisfied, and whenever appropriate, the procedure by which it may be determined whether the given requirements are satisfied.

 Standards -a uniformly accepted set of compliances to a predefined norm. “ANSI/AIIM” means the American National Standards Institute and the Association for Information and Imaging Management.

Target -any document or chart containing identification information, coding or test criteria used in conjunction with microfilming. A target is an aid to technical or bibliographical control, which is photographed on the film preceding or following a document or series of documents.

Threshold -the level at which data elements are removed from the scanned document

TIFF (Tagged Image File Format) -refers to an industry standard file format developed for the purpose of storing high-resolution bit-mapped, gray-scale, and color images.

Validated -once a document has been verified, it is stored in the imaging system and becomes the official record of the court. It is never changed or replaced and replacement version may be added but with an audit trail of who replaced the document and when. The original, validated document, along with any replacement versions, will always be available to provide evidentiary documentation.

Vendor -a vendor is any individual or business not defined as a “court agency.” This includes county- level data processing departments, central microfilm/scanning offices under the control of the county executive, the Indiana Commission on Public Records, or any private business.

Worm drive -is an optical disk drive which employs a Write Once, Read Many technology. It is very similar to the Optical drive described above with the exception of the write once restriction.

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