Microfilm and Electronic Images as Documentary Evidence

1.1        This standard provides rules and guidelines for organizations to establish and operate a credible image management program with the ability to demonstrate that the resulting captured images are accurate reproductions of source records.

1.2        This standard provides guidelines for the capture of images of business source records and the secure storage of those images. In order to maximize the probability of admissibility and weight given to business records as evidence, this standard recommends that they be stored in secure storage. Because computer output to microfilm (COM) is considered by many to be a source record, many of the certification requirements will not be necessary. When microform systems are used which allow images to be erased, special procedures and/or affidavits that are not described in this standard may be necessary to safeguard the system's  integrity and the admissibility and credibility of its records. In these circumstances, specific legal advice should be obtained.

1.3                    This standard does not describe the processing methods and the technical requirements necessary to apply the rules and quality control guidelines specified in this standard. For that purpose, the publications referred to in Part I, Section 2 should be used. These publications deal with such methods and technical requirements as document indexes, capture resolutions, preparation of source records for capture, capture procedures, image compression, image enhancement, and index data verification.