Substitution Scanning

An increasing number of government institutions are transitioning to digital operations. Once you fully embrace digital workflows, archiving documents in digital form becomes a logical next step. Substitution scanning offers a solution for moving away from paper archives. This process ensures that physical documents are replaced with reliable digital copies, making the archive more efficient and future-proof.

Replace Paper Documents with Digital Reproductions

With substitution scanning, you can replace paper documents with digital copies that hold the same legal status as the original archived documents. According to the Dutch Archives Act, a digital version must accurately and fully represent the data of the original document. Archive-IT offers substitution scanning that meets the required legal standards, ensuring your paper archive is reliably and legally stored in a digital format.

Benefits of Substitution Scanning:

Reduced Physical Storage Space: Digitising paper documents frees up space.
Improved Efficiency: Managing and searching for documents becomes easier and faster.
Better Accessibility: Digital documents can be quickly found and shared.
Compliance with the Archives Act: Digital reproductions hold the same legal status as original documents.
Increased Security: Digital backups reduce the risk of loss or damage to documents.

Replacement Manual

Before you begin scanning documents, it's essential to create a Replacement Manual. This manual justifies the decision to replace documents and demonstrates that you are handling your authority responsibly. Creating this manual requires you to follow these steps:

Preparation: Determine the factors involved in substitution and ensure the replacement is justified.
Image Quality: Establish the required image quality for the digital copies.
Technical Infrastructure: Set up the necessary technical infrastructure.
Process Setup: Organise the document reproduction process.
Quality Procedures: Define procedures to ensure the quality of the digital documents.
Replacement Decision: Officially document the decision to replace the documents.
Implementation: Scan and replace the documents.
Management: Manage and maintain the replacement process.

The Substitution Process

While you are responsible for creating the Replacement Manual, Archive-IT provides the necessary guidance and ensures that document scanning complies with your guidelines and applicable laws and regulations. After scanning, your organisation will conduct the verification process, while Archive-IT can supply all necessary documentation and audit points. At the end of the process, you will be able to demonstrate compliance with the guidelines, and if desired, Archive-IT can confidentially destroy the original paper documents.