CD Review: Imaging Professional.

TITLE: Imaging Professional, Volume 1, Number i

PUBLISHER: Imaging Professional, LLC 

PUBLICATION DATE: 2000

ISBN: 1528-5871

PRICE: $181 via ARMA International (price is to members and non-members)

(Note: Annual subscriptions, which include two issues, are also available through the publisher: individual user $495/yr; multi-user $795/yr.)

SOURCE: ARMA International Bookstore at www.arma.org or 888-241-0598

More and more we find ourselves using electronic resources while reference materials in a bookcase gather dust. Surfing the Internet, however, can gobble up more time than most have to spare. Information resources that have already been compiled and arranged for retrieval in an electronic format can be both useful and time efficient.

The Imaging Professional is a CD-ROM publication providing professional-level research on imaging technology. Technical information, educational articles, software demonstrations, and other facets of interest to those involved in imaging are packaged together in this resource.

Published on CD for Intranet use, this publication provides links to additional Internet resources. An online version of the publication is also available to subscribers. Published two times per year, each issue includes the compilation of content from the previous issues as well as new articles, software demonstrations, and other resources.

Using the CD is easy. It requires Adobe Acrobat Reader (version 3.0 or later), which is included on the CD and is easy to install if necessary. While the CD can be used without going online, the user should be online when using this product to take advantage of the external Internet links included.

Upon launching the CD, the user arrives at the table of contents page, which contains instructions for navigating through the CD in addition to listing the CD's contents. For the most part, navigating the CD-ROM is straightforward with links to the table of contents and specific sections of the publication available on each page. Navigating back and forth between some sections was a bit clumsy, though.

The Volume 1, number 1 CD reviewed consists of four primary sections: Imaging Departments, Featured Articles and Articles Library, Glossary of Imaging Technology, and a Special Interest Section. Each volume of Imaging Professional focuses on several of the imaging departments. Volume 1 highlights data capture, data entry, and micrographics. Other departments covered to a lesser extent include image processing, optical character recognition, forms processing, bar coding, output and display devices, storage management, media and data conversion technologies, data repository and research technologies, image databases, Web-enabled technologies, and workflow software.

The Articles Library corresponds to the Imaging Departments so that the user will find one or two articles on each of the following subjects: data capture, data entry, storage management, micrographics, imaging business management, and workflow software.

Each volume includes featured articles on topics that correspond to the Imaging Departments. Volume 1, for example, includes "Imaging and Engineering Drawing" (David Wilson), "Image Scanning of Litigation Files" (Ronald Rust), "Essential Considerations for Document Imaging Conversions" (Bill Krautter), and "Considerations for Color and Multibit Image Capture Work" (Michael Kennedy).

The Article Library page contains additional subject categories that hint at the topics that future volumes may cover, including image processing, optical character recognition, forms processing, bar coding, handwriting recognition, media/data conversion, and future technologies.

The Glossary of Imaging Technology, with more than 130 terms, will be very useful. It is well thought out both in how the information is presented and the ease with which one can access and search it. Terms are each color-coded to one of three imaging technology events: data acquisition, pre-processing, and post-processing. Some terms include a depiction so that there is not only a definition but, with a single click, a detailed drawing and identification of components, as well.

The Directory of Special Interest Sections is a resource that provides links to a variety of useful and informative sites, including those that feature commercial software demonstrations, imaging service providers, and industry associations. Future volumes will include content on technologies of the future.

Imaging Professional has the potential to be a fine reference resource. It will be particularly beneficial to those organizations and professionals involved in high-volume document imaging. As the content grows in subsequent editions, so will the value to the reader.

Barbara Cross, CRM, is Manager, Records & Information Management, Sony Pictures Entertainment. She can be contacted at [e-mail]