Lab Notebook Scanning Services

Protect valuable research and scientific data with lab notebook scanning services.

Lab notebooks, researchers’ notes and field study files contain a wealth of information.

Workbooks, sketches, working diagrams and notepads are the culmination of many hours of concentrated effort and hard work.

That’s why we consider them as a part of the intellectual property of the organization or institution and must be protected like any business documents or organizational data.

These notebooks may be fragile or old and are difficult to share or retrieve from archives. Digitized copies resolve this problem in a simple and affordable way.

 

 
 
 
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Secure Your Scientific Legacy:
Safeguard and Digitize Your Research Notes & Lab Findings Today!

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Protect & Preserve Research Notes & Lab Findings

Want to digitize your lab notebooks and handwritten research archives? Here’s why it's important to choose an experienced and specialized scanning services provider who understands the nuances of scanning notebooks:

 

Document Prep for Sensitive Records

Are your lab notes and field reports not in prime condition? Our teams handle your precious records with extreme care, with special prepping services and professional handling.

Specialized Scanning Equipment

Odd or oversized lab notes require specialized scanners that accommodate bound books without removing the binding, ensuring the best image quality—while protecting the originals.

Onsite Scanning Service

Don't want your notebooks to leave your premises? Choose our onsite scanning service to scan documents within your premises so they are always within your control.

 
 
 

Priority Scanning Option

Need your notebooks or field records for ongoing work? Use our high-speed, priority scanning service so you receive the original notes back at a super-quick turnaround time.

Image Quality & Enhancement

Even the best scanners can result in a low-quality scan if your original papers are old, yellowed, or illegible. We use image enhancement software to improve the clarity of scanned images.

Guaranteed Data Security

We adhere to the highest security standards, ensuring no data is leaked or lost during scanning. Count on us for scanning high-confidentiality data and stringent data security protocols.

 
 

Control Access to Confidential Research & Lab Data

Research findings and lab notes are sensitive and confidential. Handwritten notebooks and papers stored in folders are not protected.

Scan and digitize these documents so they can be access-controlled using a robust document management system with strictly defined user rights.

Long-term research or large field projects involve collaboration with colleagues, cross-functional teams, and external organizations. Handwritten records or personal notebooks are difficult to share and make available to others.

Lab notebook scanning services provide you with an electronic content repository that researchers can easily share with colleagues. They can be stored on the cloud and integrated with collaboration tools.

While applying for patents, or auditing field reports, you need trackable and auditable documentation. Digitized records are easier to share with the appropriate authorities during audits or reviews.

 

Faster Document Search & Retrieval

Lab research or field projects may continue over long periods.  

As the work progresses, the volume of information generated by researchers or lab workers keeps growing. The workbooks, lab notebooks, diagrams, sketches or preliminary field study findings are often archived and stored as physical documents.

But what happens when you need to retrieve a document that someone filed long ago?

Searching through cabinets filled with paper documents can prove to be a nightmare!

Digitized records, on the other hand, can be searched instantly and easily retrieved when needed.

Accurate indexing of digital documents ensures faster search and retrieval of records if you route the documents to a document management system with a robust search functionality.

Instead of flipping through reams of handwritten notes, researchers can use keywords to locate relevant information within the digital repository quickly.

 

Meet Regulatory Compliance Guidelines

Scanning lab notebooks can help ensure compliance with regulations and best practices in research.

For example, in industries like pharmaceuticals and life sciences, regulatory bodies may require documentation of all experiments and observations. Scanned copies of lab notebooks can serve as a valuable record of this documentation, making it easier to demonstrate compliance.

Our scanning facility adheres to stringent data security protocols to prevent data leaks or unauthorized access to sensitive documents.  

Our scanning bureaus are equipped with 24-hour surveillance, security alarms, smoke detection alert systems, and temperature control.  

We also use a secure chain of custody process, so you know exactly where your documents are from the moment they leave your building until you have them back again (or until they are shredded).  

Moreover, we recognize that you may need access to the records in our custody for some ongoing research or fieldwork. We give you online access to your files in whatever format you request within 30 minutes.

 

Digitization Helps With Disaster Recovery

Paper records are prone to damage due to natural disasters, aging or intentional theft.

It's time to secure your valuable scientific research papers and notebooks by digitizing them and storing them in a secure, cloud-based document management system.

Let RDS convert your sensitive quality and lab files into digital images. Digital documents are easy to access from anywhere or any device, but they are also more secure as they are controlled by stringent access control rules and protocols.

Digital records stored on a cloud-based document management system can be backed up easily and affordably, so you eliminate the risk of losing information due to natural disasters such as floods or fire—even if paper archives suffer damage in a natural calamity, you will always have an electronic backup copy available on the cloud.

 

 
 

10 Questions to Ask Your Prospective Scanning Provider

Documents that power your business hold invaluable information. You want to make sure they are always in the right hands.

So, it's critical to choose a document scanning provider you can trust. But how do you find the right partner for your scanning project?

Introducing the Ultimate Checklist for choosing your document scanning provider.

Answer 10 simple questions to pick the right vendor. And say goodbye to endless hours spent evaluating tons of scanning providers!

Download the checklist now and make the right choice for your scanning project!

 

Protect Valuable Research and Scientific Data
with Lab Notebook Scanning Services

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Scanning Projects FAQs

  • Description text goes hereScanning lab notebooks or handwritten research notes requires skilled technicians and specialized scanning equipment, which may not be available to you within your office premises. An office scanner cannot scan bound notebooks and old, fragile or discolored papers.

    Sensitive documents require careful prep before scanning. It's best to use a professional, experienced scanning services provider like RDS to prep and digitize your lab notebooks.

    We remove staples, tape, and paperclips, unfold corners, smooth out wrinkles, remove Post-it notes, repair rips etc. If you do prep and scanning in-house, you might miss that tiny butterfly clip or a chunk of leftover spiral bind—which might damage your office scanner and result in a poor-quality scanned image.

    A scanning services provider also provides automated data capture, indexing and document management—you may not have this expertise or software in-house.

  • Generally, scanning in black and white results in a smaller file size and is ideal for all-text documents which don't have any color. Color scanning takes a little longer and costs a little more.

    For example, a bitonal or two-tone scan is often used for printed or text documents. But when it comes to handwritten notes, the subtle changes in shades can be a bit harder to pick up in a bitonal scan, even if the writing is not in color.

    On the other hand, grayscale scanning uses a palette of up to 256 gray tones that works great for documents where you need to pick up more detail—for example, black and white photographs or handwritten notes. Grayscale is also a great choice for older records where paper may be discolored.

    Full-color scanning uses a palette ranging from 256 to thousands of colors. Ideal for colored photographs and documents where color must remain visible.

    If your research notes or lab notebooks contain colored legends, handwritten markings in colored ink or illustrations, you will need full-color scanning to capture all the information accurately and in its original context.

  • You can choose to save your scanned files in PDF or TIFF formats.

    TIFF: TIFF can be grayscale or color. TIFF files are smaller than PDF, so they take up less virtual storage space, and you can view them faster because they're quicker to index. Adding signature forms, new pages, amendments, and more is easier on a single-page TIFF compared to a PDF. Consider TIFF as your go-to format if you plan to edit digital images in a working storage format.

    PDF: PDF is a preferred file format for scanned documents thanks to its compatibility with many different applications. It also meets legal requirements for signature compliance. Lastly, PDFs are viewable on any type of operating system (OS).

  • Our secure document scanning facility is located in Abita Springs, Louisiana.

    However, we execute document scanning projects for clients from in and around Louisiana and surrounding areas in the US.

    We have a secure pickup and transportation service, so you can rely on us to pick up and drop off your documents. We follow a secure chain of custody, and you can track every box of papers during your scanning project. We can also send you any document you require within 30 minutes in electronic form if you need it before the scanning project is through.

    If you'd like to know us better, visit our scanning bureau at Abita Springs.

    Our office is just a short drive across the Causeway from New Orleans.

    Here's our address:

    Revolution Data Systems

    70161 Highway 59, Suite G

    Abita Springs, LA 70420

    (985) 888-0091

    info@revolutiondatasystems.com

    Need directions?

    From Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge, we are less than an hour's drive down I-12. On the way, you'll pass through Denham Springs, Hammond, Covington, and Mandeville.