Glossary

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

AIIM:
Association for Information and Image Management

Algorithm:
Mathematical expression of a computational procedure.

Analog:
A continuous function, variable measurement, or output of a physical function or quantity such as electrical current, voltage, temperature, or a sound wave.

Archival Quality:
The degree to which processed microfilm will retain its characteristics during a period of use and storage. Life expectancy for microfilm with proper processing and storage is over 500 years.

ARMA:
Association for Records Managers and Administrators

ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange):
Standard digital code for alphanumeric text characters

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Bar Code:
Alphanumeric characters represented by a series of bars and gaps between the bars.

Bit:
Smallest unit of digital information: values are 0 or 1.

Bit-Map:
Image data bits or pixels are acquired, stored or “mapped” into computer memory and/or displayed in the exact position as in the original view, document, or scene. A raster scan yields a bit-mapped image.

Bus:
Common electrical path for transfer of digital data.

Byte:
Group of 8 binary data bits. Basic unit of data transfer and computation in a digital computer.

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CAD:
Computer Aided Design

CCITT (Consulting Committee for International Telephony and Telegraphy):
CCITT Groups 1,2,3, and 4 are industrial standards for FAX scanned information communication and data compression. Groups 3 and 4 are the standard compression algorithms used in digital imaging systems.

Computer Output Microfilm (COM):
Computer generated data and reports that are printed to microfilm media.

Cropping:
Image enhancement function that cuts off excess or undesired areas of an image.

Densitometer:
A device used to measure the optical density of an image or base by measuring the amount of incident light reflected or transmitted.

Diazo duplicate:
Print film that is sensitized by means of diazonium salts, which subsequent to exposure to light strong in the blue to ultraviolet spectrum and development forms an image. Ammonia is utilized as part of the duplicating process. Diazo material generally produce same polarity images. Working microfilm copies are typically diazo while archival microfilm is silver film.

Digital Data:
Information in the form of binary data bits.

Digitize:
Conversion of analog information to digital data

Dithering:
The simulation of intermediate shades of grey. Geometric pixel patterns of various sizes are created according to brightness of the image area.

DPI:
Dots per inch for scanned or printed resolution.

Drop-Out Color:
Certain colors such as yellow and blue that are ‘blind’ to scanners and not reproducible.

Duplex:
The capture of both the front and backside of a document on a single pass

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Ektimate cartridge (ANSI cartridge, E-cartridge):
A plastic horseshoe type encasing that is mounted around 16mm microfilm rolls to enable automated loading of the microfilm roll.

Emulsion:
A single or multi-layer coating of gelatinous material on a transparent base carrying radiant energy reactive chemicals that create a latent image upon exposure. Processing techniques produce a final, visible, usable image.

Ethernet:
A standard LAN protocol that transmits at 10MB per second utilizing a protocol called carrier sense multiple access with collision detection. Under this protocol, nodes listen for traffic and if they detect silence, will begin to communicate.

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File Formats:
Each imaging system utilizes formats to images. Common image file formats are TIFF, PDF, and JPEG.

Film:
Any sheet or strip of transparent plastic coated with a light-sensitive emulsion.

Frame:
The area of photographic film exposed to light in a camera during one exposure regardless of whether or not this area is filled by the document.

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Generation:
A measure of the remoteness of a particular copy from the original material. The imaged captured from the original document is the first generation. The duplicate made from the first generation is now the second generation duplicate.

Grey-scale:
A method of differentiating and encoding intermediate shades

Hardcopy:
A paper copy.

HSM (Hierarchical Storage Management):
High-level, storage management software that automatically moves data through a defined hierarchy of storage devices and servers, based upon pre-defined criteria, such as the time of day, overall data storage volumes, or frequency of data usage.

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ICR (Intelligent Character Recognition):
Term sometimes used synonymously with OCR and sometimes to differentiate from OCR to indicate extra processes utilizing rule-based logic, dictionaries, and other techniques to identify and convert image data to ASCII text.

Index/Indexing:
Alphanumeric system of identifying or tagging and locating each document or image. Indexing can be entered manually or automated through the use of OCR and barcodes.

Interface:
Hardware, including device driver software, that connects scanners and other peripheral devices to the host CPU or platform.

Jackets (or Microfiche Jackets):
Transparent sheets with the most common approximate physical size of 4” X 6” with microfilm roll images inserted into its channels.

Jukebox:
A device that stores numerous CD’s or Optical Disks for retrieval with one or more drives. Some jukeboxes will also provide additional functions such as writing and labeling of the disk.

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LAN (Local Area Network):
Consists of protocols and software to drive networks. Protocol standards are token passing (Token Ring, Arcnet) and contention controlled (Ethernet). Software is provided by various manufacturers.

Mass Storage Device:
Typically a jukebox that stores large volumes of data.

Microfiche:
Microform with the approximate physical size of 4” X 6” contain framed Images. COM output to sheets, its duplicate and duplicates from jackets are commonly referred to as microfiche.

Microfilm:
A fine-grain, high resolution film containing an image greatly reduced in size from the original information.

Microfilm rolls:
Microform in the 16mm or 35mm roll format.

Microform:
A generic term for any of the microfilm formats.

Micrographics:
That which has to do with the creation and use of microimages.

Microimages:
A unit of information, such as a page of text or a drawing, too small to be read without magnification.

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Negative image:
An image with a dark background and white lettering. Typically it is the reverse polarity of the original information. The vast majority of information microfilmed is a negative image.

Nodes:
A node is typically a PC or intelligent device which can initiate or receive transmissions on a network.

OCR (Optical Character Recognition):
A process that converts the textual information from a scanned documents into alphanumeric characters and symbols. OCR output is generally ASCII code.

Optical Disk:
Disks that can store large amounts of data by recording at high density utilizing a laser beam. Optical disks can be CD-ROM, WORM, and Erasable Disks.

Original:
The source from which duplicates are produced.

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Pixel:
Smallest picture element of an image. Pixels are written from left to right and down in lines from top to bottom.

Positive image:
An image with a light background with dark lettering. Typically it is the same polarity of the original information.

Processing:
The treatment of exposed photographic matter to make the latent image visible. Silver emulsion films are processed through a series of steps consisting of developing, fixing, washing, and drying.

RAID (Redundant Array of Independent Disks):
A storage system consisting of large numbers of magnetic disks that can be configured according to six levels of organization and performance.

Raster:
Normal mode of scanning a page from right to left and from top to bottom. Image pixels are normally displayed in raster format.

Reader (Viewer):
A projection device with no printing capabilities for viewing microforms.

Reader-Printer:
A projection device with printing capabilities for viewing microforms.

Reduction:
A measure of the number of times a given linear dimension of an object is reduced when photographed. Source document reductions are typically 24X, 32X, 40X, and 50X. COM reductions are typically 42X and 48X.

Resolution (Digital):
The measure of the capture system’s ability to render visible the fine detail of the information scanned. The measure of detail is expressed in DPI. DPI defines the number of dots or pixels that can be resolved or read separately in a square inch grid. Scanning resolution is typically 200 DPI. The higher the DPI the finer the detail.

Resolution (Microfilm):
The measure of the capture system’s ability to render visible fine detail of the information microfilmed. The measure of sharpness is expressed in lines per millimeter. The higher the line pairs the better.

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Scanner:
A generic term used to denote digital imaging scanners, bar code scanners, and other devices that convert analog signals to digital data.

Scanning/Imaging:
The process of converting analog information on a document to an image composed of digital data bits.

Silver film:
A film which is coated with a silver halide emulsion. Typically, this will be the master microform.

Silver Halide:
A compound of silver and one of the following elements known as halogens: chlorine, bromine, iodine, and fluorine.

Skew:
The angular misalignment of a document being scanned.

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TIFF (Tagged Image File Format):
A common image file format

Token Passing:
A protocol based upon passing a packet of information from one node to the next. A node which currently has the token is the one which is authorized to transmit data. Other nodes listen to see if the transmitted packet is directed at them. Token passing networks typically run slower than Ethernet, but can provide better performance as there are no collisions to detect and overcome.

Vector data:
A type of data file format usually associated with technical drawings, maps, etc. Formatted data describes spatial locations and geometric relationships of image objects, symbols, and features. Used in automated design systems such as CAD.

Vesicular film:
Film which has the light sensitive element suspended in a plastic layer and which upon exposure creates strains in a plastic layer in the form of a latent image. The strains are released and the latent image made visual by heating the plastic layer in the formation of minute bubbles or vesicles. The images become permanent when the layer cools.

WORM (Write Once Read Many):
Type of optical disk that allows you to write and retrieve data, but can not be rewritten.

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Please feel free to e-mail any additions or recommended amendments to this glossary to techsupport@SoftFile.com