Decades old records get digital look

KXAN (AUSTIN) - Paper records and documents in Travis County , some of which have been preserved for more than a century, are now being forever immortalized in a digital format.

“Everyone is trying to get away from paper,” said records services manager Shawn Malone. “It is expensive, slower and less powerful than digital information.”

But for information that has been recorded on paper for decades, it means millions of documents a year will be scanned and recorded digitally.

A projected 4.75 million papers will be sent through a scanner and placed in a computer file in 2011.

Sitting in nearly 150,000 boxes in the Travis County records department are county documents -- ranging from tax books so delicate they can only be handled with gloves -- to a land deed signed by Sam Houston.

Workers at the facility make sure each document is scanned correctly and filed away.

“Digital imaging saves taxpayers money and it works faster for departments,” said Malone.

“Ordinarily things you would have on a shelf in a warehouse are now on a computer screen.”

All files are backed up in multiple places, including DVD copies, to ensure a computer crash or virus does not jeopardize records.

Most documents will be destroyed after they are digitally filed, however, historically significant documents will continue to be preserved in a history archive.