20 Jul Career Scoop: Meeting the Digital Demand

Matt Gloster, Senior Director of Career Solutions

Goodwill’s Document Archiving Program was started in response the growing need of businesses to quickly and securely store and retrieve the information in paper documents. The business expense associated with paper documents, both in terms of space and time, has led to a real demand for support services that can safely and securely archive company business information assets.

While technology has advanced, the need for people who possess the skills to do this work has not kept pace.  The basic knowledge and understanding of proper workflow, preparation, and indexing of the documents is essential in today’s workforce.

Goodwill has been helping people by providing relevant and timely job skills training and placement assistance for over 50 years and the addition of the document archiving program is a key step in marrying the business community’s needs with skilled employees.

The Goodwill document archiving program focuses on:

• Overview of document management and workflow
• Confidentiality and security procedures
• Computer software to scan and index
• Document and file preparation
• Creation and printing of barcodes
• Scanning and inspection of images
• Correcting or appending image files
• Repackaging  files and documents

Participants in the document archiving program first learn the basics of document management with an emphasis on document scanning. They also learn best practices that allow for a smooth workflow.

Due to the sensitivity of many documents, our trainees are instructed in confidentiality procedures and sign a confidentiality agreement. Trainees are also instructed on security methods concerning all files.

The training includes use of document imaging software package for scanning and indexing. Trainees learn all facets of the software pertaining to these areas.

One of the most important aspects of the process is document preparation. This responsibility demands attention to detail. All staples and paper clips must be removed to avoid damaging the scanner and expediting the scanning process. Pages are also aligned and participants learn proper indexing and how to create appropriate file organizational structure, which is critical to a quality outcome.  We train participants how to create barcode cover sheets to allow for batch scanning and indexing. Trainees learn the fundamentals of the barcode coversheet program and print unique barcode coversheets for each file.

Trainees learn to scan documents on our high speed scanner. Documents are scanned and thoroughly inspected to ensure discrepancies are noted, reviewed and repaired in a subsequent inspection process. It’s during this process that pages are appended or deleted as necessary.

In the final step, the trainees return the scanned documents to a designated area to await their final disposition.  Trainees are assigned to various areas as needed to ensure that files move in an efficient manner. The trainee learns and executes all facets of the process.

Goodwill’s document archiving program allows the trainees to learn the necessary elements of back file conversions. Computer skills are learned and enhanced. Quality is emphasized in every phase. Trainees work in every station and share the responsibility of completing the task with co-workers in the department.

For more information about our program or information about any of our trainees, visit Goodwill Career Solutions or contact us.