Code of Maine Rules › 29 - DEPARTMENT OF THE SECRETARY OF STATE › 255 - MAINE STATE ARCHIVES › Chapter 3 - IMAGING STATE RECORDS › Section 255-3-10 - QUALITY ASSURANCE

Current through 2024-29, July 17, 2024
A. Quality
				assurance procedures must be in place to ensure the creation of accurate and
				authentic images and accurate metadata (index terms) that follow these
				guidelines, as well as ensuring that the specific requirements of the state
				agency are met. Quality assurance must be conducted before the destruction of
				any original documents. Each image of every page of all digitized documents
				must be visually inspected, not verified by a machine, to ensure clarity,
				readability, and accurate representation of the original record. Similarly,
				each indexing field must be checked against the original or imaged record.
B. If producing access copies
				and/or thumbnails of the images, conduct quality assurance for these as well.
C. Digitizing must capture each
				digital image with the same level of clarity as each document page so that
				every legible line and character on the original document appears and is
				legible in the image.
A person or persons other than those digitizing or indexing a
				  particular record must perform the final quality control procedures outlined
				  within this document. In most situations, quality assurance is performed in a
				  two-step process: the scanner or digital camera operator will perform an
				  initial quality check during the imaging process, and then a different
				  individual will perform a second review in a separate process. If a vendor is
				  conducting the imaging, either the government agency using the services of a
				  vendor or a third party must conduct the quality assurance.
The quality control process must be documented and maintained
				  throughout the digitization conversion process. Information to document
				  includes problem resolution procedures and reporting requirements for each step
				  of a conversion project.
Quality control steps for digitized images must verify the
				  following items:
Correct image file naming convention, as agreed
					 upon
										Correct file format (including verification of
					 compliance with the PDF/A format for purported PDF/A files)
										Quality of image is the same as in the
					 original
										Correct size and resolution
										Image digitized at appropriate ppi for each image
					 type
										Proper reading orientation (landscape or
					 portrait)
										Image is not skewed
										Image is neither too light nor too dark
										Curvature of the page does not obscure or distort the
					 text
										Appropriate contrast within the image
										No distortion of the image
										No extraneous materials (attachednotes, fasteners,
					 etc.) obscure the image
										No additional information added to the image that is
					 not part of the original document
										Appropriate indexing terms associated with the
					 digitized image
										Appropriate indexing terms associated with the
					 digitized image
For acceptable correction of digitized images refer to FADGI
				  Guidelines.
D. Upon
				inspection, any image deemed of unacceptable quality must be redigitized
				followed by a re-inspection of the new image.
E.
Index Accuracy
: The index
				data, not including OCR'd text used to search against, must be verified with
				the goal of achieving 100% accuracy. Acceptable methods include verification of
				data by another individual other than the person performing the initial data
				entry; dual data entry where two operators independently index the same
				document and the results are compared to find any discrepancies (this is also
				known as double-blind indexing); or any other means as appropriate to ensure
				100% index accuracy.