Coding

Coding is the process of entering data about a document into a database for the purpose of searching for the document at a later time.

The coding process can be dispatched by looking at the paper documents (coding from paper) or from scanned images or digital copies (coding from image). Typically, we capture bibliographical information relating to the document such as author, recipient, copyee, title and date. However, other information may be captured during this process such as key words or issues.

As an additional option, the documents may be OCR’d (Optical Character Recognition) which allows us to capture the text or body of the document and place the text into the database for searching purposes. Coding a document collection can produce awesome searching capability. For example, if you wanted to find all documents in your collection that have the words “Environmental” and “Runoff” in the title, you would need to look through each document in the collection. If the collection consists of 10,000 or even 100,000 documents, this seemingly simple task could take many hours or even days. However, if the title of every document in the collection is coded and placed in a database, you could search the title field and find all the relevant documents in a matter of seconds. This process is more accurate, more cost-effective, and much more efficient.

As with all projects, Innovative Discovery assigns a Project Manager to each coding project to manage the project from beginning to end. The Project Managers are highly trained and experienced in coding projects and assist the client in creating project specifications that will promote an excellent database. A coding manual will be completed so that the full range of options are discussed and settled upon with the client. The Project Manager is also responsible for monitoring the project to make sure that the project is completed on time and without error. A coding operator will present coding questions to the Project Manager to either make a decision or further discuss with the client. This process ensures that the project is coded specifically to the clients’ expectations.