How it works
From source material to useful information.
Every project follows the same lifecycle — from understanding what you have, through capture and transformation, to delivering and managing information in the place it needs to be.
Start at the point that fits. Use only the steps you need.
The lifecycle
Not every project needs every step.
Customers can enter the lifecycle at different points. Physical archives usually start at the beginning; existing digital files can join much later. Each project is scoped around where your information is and where it needs to go.
Plan
01
Understand
We learn what information you have, how it is used today and what it needs to become.
Entry pointA problem to solve
02
Scope
Together we define the outcome, the steps required, the standards to meet and where the project should stop.
Entry pointA defined specification
Capture
03
Prepare
Material is received, logged and made ready for capture, with fragile items handled appropriately.
Entry pointPhysical material
04
Capture
Physical material is digitised using the method suited to its format, condition and purpose.
05
Quality
Output is checked against the agreed standard before anything moves on.
Transform
06
Process
Images and files are processed: text recognition, indexing, classification and metadata.
Entry pointExisting digital files and PDFs
07
Transform
Information is extracted, structured and connected so it can be searched, analysed and used.
Deliver
08
Deliver
Information is delivered into the environment you choose — hosted, integrated or handed over.
09
Manage
Where needed, information continues to be hosted, maintained and managed over its lifecycle.
Typical entry points. Every project is scoped individually.
The information lifecycle
Illustration of the information lifecycle. Information exists in many forms — paper, books, photographs, film, media, PDFs and existing digital files — and customers can also start with a problem or a specification. Each enters the lifecycle at a different point: a problem or specification at scope, physical material at capture, PDFs at read and existing digital files at structure. A document is then captured as an image, read as text, structured into fields and connected to related records, until it is ready to use. From there it can support search, analysis, AI, databases, document management, APIs, workflows, automation, customer systems and hosting. It is integrated and managed, and feeds back into the lifecycle so it can be processed, connected and used again.
Digital is only the beginning.
You give us your information. We turn it into something useful.
Delivery models
The work happens where it makes sense.
The physical side of a project can be arranged around the material, the environment and your requirements. No model is better by default — the right one depends on the project.
At our facility
Physical material comes to Archives International.
At your facility
Our team can work onsite when the material, environment or project requirements make that appropriate.
Your team, our equipment
Where appropriate, your staff can carry out physical preparation and capture using our equipment and process.
Hybrid
Combine approaches according to the project.
Starting points
You don’t have to know exactly what you need before you call us.
Customers come to us with very different starting points. All of them work.
- 01Physical material
- 02Existing digital files
- 03Legacy PDFs
- 04A fully defined specification
- 05Or simply a problem that needs solving
“I know exactly what I need.”
“I know something needs to change, but I’m not sure what the solution is.”
Wherever you are starting from.
Tell us about your information and what you need from it. We will help shape the steps — no more than the project needs.