950-year-old Diocese of Chichester goes digital with a scanning and OCR solution from Document Options
It may be a contradiction in terms for an institution that is almost 1,000 years old embarking on a modernisation journey. But that is precisely what the Diocese of Chichester has done with the help of a Document Options digitisation solution.
In 681 St Wilfred founded the Diocese of Selsey which then became the modern-day Diocese of Chichester which itself is 950 years old. The current Bishop Martin is the 77th Bishop of Chichester and 103rd Bishop of the diocese.
Modernisation Journey
Despite its deep and rich history, the diocese is on a modernisation journey that involves digitising systems and traditions dating back hundreds of years. A key part of this process is reducing paper wherever possible. With 60 staff, the diocese manages a vast collection of current and historical records, covering everything from property and building information to committee reports, education materials, and finance and HR documents.
By law, the diocese must retain many of its records, and as part of its modernisation strategy it sought a partner to digitise them. Under the direction of its Governance and Information Manager, the diocese ran a competitive tender, which was won by Document Options.
Good Value For Money
The Governance and Information Manager said, “Document Options provided the diocese with a competitive quote that offered good value for money, which as a charity is important. Document Options also had a professional, attentive and responsive approach and a good understanding of our needs.”
The project involved scanning and digitising more than 300,000 A4 mono and colour documents and 2000 large-format plans. Sensitive material was scanned on-site, while the remainder was collected by Document Options and processed at its document scanning facility in Crawley, West Sussex.
Because of the complexities of some diocese operations, original paper documents related to a function or project were collated into folders. Each physical folder was coded so that Document Options could create a digital equivalent containing digital copies of the folder content with the same code. Rather than just digitising the documents, the process also included OCR capability so that every document and its content can be searched. OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology converts images of text into machine-readable text.
Although most documents that needed scanning were A4 and large format building plans, the diocese has some odd-sized documents that also had to be scanned. “We get things in all sorts of strange shapes and sizes,” said a representitve. For example, under Church of England law when two parishes merge this needs to be sanctioned by The Privy Council. A compliment slip-sized notice – issued by the Council – is attached to the reorganisation folder which contains plans of both parishes, legal papers and other documents associated with the merger.
Better Working Environment
“The Document Options solution has improved access to information, making documents easier to locate and search. Staff no longer have to sift through paper files to find what they need, and digital records can now be accessed from multiple locations. Given that the diocese spans the whole of Sussex and much of the work is mobile, being able to retrieve information away from the office is especially valuable.
Previously, staff working in the community would have to call or email someone at Church House, the diocesan headquarters in Hove, to request a document or piece of information — a process that was both time-consuming and inconvenient.
An additional benefit has been a less cluttered, paper-filled office, creating more space to work and store other essential materials.
“The success of the Document Options project is an important step in our modernisation strategy. It has helped create a modern workspace and enabled everything that comes with it, such as flexible working. More importantly, it provides tangible evidence that the diocese is delivering a better working environment for its staff,” said the Governance and Information Manager.”
