Convert Printed Media Into Searchable Text Formats

In order to share information across multiple platforms, a portable document format is used. It can be classified as a computer application that can also protect the stored information from any kind of hamper or alteration. Such application comes with the ability to convert a document from one file format to other ones, such as PDF. This ability makes this application much more significant that can indeed help a user keep his file secure while making it more useful.

Today, one can convert a PDF file to Word, Excel, or Power Point. In fact, there are many formats, such as InDesign document that can be made out of a format. This is a DTP (Desktop Publishing) program that is helpful for manipulating both text and images to render a creative appearance to the documents. This program is used widely, especially for creating pamphlets, catalogs, advertisement copies, and so on.

Interestingly, this program can also be used for media conversion. Printed media, such as newspapers, or magazines are difficult to convert, as there are not only text, but also images to be converted. However, with the use of this application, tasks, such as designing and formatting can be achieved. These printed media can be converted into PDF files, which can be further converted into structured and searchable files.

When documents are converted into digital formats, they are not only easy to distribute, but are also easy to keep safe and secure. In this way, one can keep important documents for long.

There are many companies out there that can be contacted to get the printed media conversion job done. Just determine your needs and wants and make sure to reach the right stop-shop.

Print Media is Still Very Effective in the Advertising Market

In this tech era, where internet marketing is on the rise, people undermine the significance of the print media. Undoubtedly, the new generation is more inclined to the electronic gadgets, however, somewhere down the line, so called 'conventional' media exists and is doing great.

No matter how advanced and convenient the electronic media gets, the significance of the print media can't be overlooked, especially when it comes to having a long-lasting impact in the advertising market.

Although the electronic media has a lot of advantages of instant conversion and sales, yet all this couldn't replace or even reduce the impact of the print media advertising. Wondering, why? Today also, magazines are picked up by the people in its niche market, which is far better than random surfing, or hitting several web pages.

Newspapers are also a very good example that are indeed keeping the print media alive. People, who are interested in buying will certainly turn to the classified section once they buy a newspaper. On the other hand, the electronic media covers a large circulation worldwide, which is 'useless' if it's not targeting the right audience. With electronic media, chances of reaching the right group of people are quite low. Moreover, in the flood of advertisements over the web, it's very difficult to reach the same advertisement again and again.

Additionally, the print advertising works the best in case of a local event or sales announcement. A small column in the newspaper, or pamphlet is enough to circulate a news about any local event. Even national events are effectively covered by the print media in a long run.

No matter how deep roots the electronic media may have in the advertising market, the print media will not lose its glory and always remain competitive in the same market.

Digitization – The Only Method to Save Paper Documents For the Future

Every individual has several important documents like power of attorney, educational certificates and others. Even big companies and organizations also have some important documents like business licenses, written permissions or any other document. It is important to preserve these documents in paper form because with time it will become difficult to preserve them. These documents are more important than anything else for them. You have noticed the decline in the number of the newspaper and magazine readers. Do you know the reason? The reason is that most of the individuals don't like to read a newspaper in paper form. Is there any solution to stop this decline? Yes, there's a solution, which is digitization.

 

The only way to preserve important documents and putting a full stop on the decline of newspaper and magazine readers is digitization. You would ask how? So to get answer to this question, you first need to know what the process of digitization is. It is nothing, but is the conversion of text, pictures, sound  and  microfilmed documents into digital form. Making use of this technique, you can preserve a document forever. This will be useful for the present and future generations. The ultimate goal of this technique is preserving the original state of the material.

Next you to work in the direction of finding a company or organization offering this service because preserving the complex designs associated with magazines and newspapers is quite difficult. To help you out in this, there are companies that offer media management services. Their services are mainly for media companies such as media monitoring companies, publishing houses, libraries and others who are in dire need of a tool to convert books, newspapers, magazines and other documents into structured text files.

Newspaper Digitization Makes Vast Information Accessible and Searchable

Newspapers are packed with information. However, the vast availability of information contained in them makes it difficult to find and browse at a quick pace. In other words, it’s challenging. Of course, it’s a different story when newspapers are microfilmed, which is usually the case in many libraries. Unfortunately, libraries only hold a few of microfilmed newspaper copies and are often not even available in other libraries. Even with this new kind of access to newspapers, except when they have been indexed, searching for specific information can be tiresome.

Newspapers are top candidates for article conversion because of the wide ranging, hard-to-access, and all-encompassing information they hold. At its best, newspaper digitization makes information easily accessible and searchable to anyone.

Why newspaper digitization?

There are many benefits of newspaper digitization. It greatly extends and widens the span of access that can be provided. Newspaper publishing companies, for example, can choose to make their digitized newspapers available to many of their readers, whenever and wherever.


At the same time, the use of a digital copy enables libraries and many companies to preserve their original copies which after many years, can become fragile, making accessibility more difficult. Digitized newspapers on the other hand, have the ability to be keyword searchable which makes information gathering easy and fast.

Why is it better than microfilmed versions?

In preserving newspapers, microfilm is actually an accepted standard process. Some companies that convert newspapers to digital copies film newspapers first, before digitizing them. Microfilming is their priority. As a result, filming and digitizing are processed simultaneously.

In such cases where films are old, it is still best to use the original printed version of a newspaper. In fact, some of the largest projects for newspaper digitization are filming their old papers again because their original microfilm copies are getting dim and hazy.

Although newspaper digitization is commonly processed from films, using print materials has its advantages. Print copies are easier to digitize. Unlike films that get old, blurry, and are sometimes incomplete, digitizing newspapers from printed source is reliable and easy to read because they are clearer.

What’s more, processing print materials produces better results. This in turn, enables high-quality image output and successful character recognition which is key in making text searchable.

This article discusses the digitization of newspapers. It provides brief information about the importance of this process and it’s comparison with microfilmed newspapers. It also explains the advantage of newspaper digitization over microfilmed copies.

Denmark’s Media Track Registers Sustained Growth

Media Track – the Danish media monitoring company still known by many as Newswatch – is continuing its expansion.

Media Track in Singapore is expanding its services from media monitoring of Danish radio, TV and newspapers to offering the same services to Swedish and Norwegian clients. This expansion has come gradual as a natural consequence of the takeover in 2012 by Retriever of a major stake in NewsWatch, the Danish subsidiary of Media Track. Retriever is the largest media monitoring company in Scandinavia with an especially strong position on the Swedish market.

But Media Track is also moving out of this special Scandinavian media monitoring niche and into another niche in the IT business: Converting print articles to XML files.

“There are about ten companies worldwide offering this as a service, but Media Track decided to do their own conversion when the company was established back in 2009 and we believe we are now so good at it, that we are ready to offer it to other companies as well,” says Steffen Egelund.

“Because we come from the media monitoring business side and not the data side, we are definitely better if the client is another media monitoring company,” he adds.

The conversion is a very complex IT process which can only partially be automated. From all the media monitored, Media Track receives their output in a number of different formats. When talking printed news media, it will typically be in pdf format but sometimes all they have to work with are simple images of newspaper pages. These files must be extracted and broken down into individual news items and translated to a unified xml format.

Moved from Jakarta to Philippines

“In the beginning, we moved this work over to Jakarta, where the skilled manpower is not as expensive as in Singapore, but the almost regular annual flooding of Jakarta disrupted our business so we set up a backup operation in Manila in the Philippines,” Steffen Egelund explains.

“It worked so well that we have now basically closed down the operation in Jakarta and moved all this work to two locations in the Philippines, the one in Manila and a new one in Cebu so we are pretty safe in case of natural disasters. In total, we have 140 full time staff employed in the Philippines and 35 part timers,” he says.

“Apart from the low cost of highly skilled IT staff, there are other benefits to placing this in the Philippines. The proficiency of the English language is high and conditions for IT companies are OK and so are the international data transmission connections. It is also an added benefit for us, that we work in the same time zone,” he adds.

Recurring entrepreneur

As an entrepreneur, Steffen Egelund is rather fearless. In 2005 he moved to Singapore and started a Danish PR company there called Corporate Spin together with two other friends. Soon they had offices in KL, Singapore and Shanghai.

NewsWatch in Singapore was set up in January 2009 with the idea to deliver a premium service in media surveillance that the Danish market leader InfoMedia was too complacent to develop.

“When I worked for the Danish Conservative Party years ago, I was not satisfied with the existing media surveillance in Denmark. The articles came in a messy state and they came too late in the morning,” he explains.

NewsWatch started offering relevant clips from all newspapers, radio and TV in summary form each day at 6 in the morning Denmark time and it quickly proved attractive to head of Danish media departments in major organisations in Denmark.

Two years ago, Swedish based Retriever bought shares in Media Track’s Danish operation NewsWatch. This way, NewsWatch in Denmark continues to buy its daily news analysis from Media Track in Singapore, but in addition to that, products are also delivered from Media Track to Retriever in Norway and Sweden.”

“Our analysts are working here in Singapore out of this office and we have also analysts placed in some other cities in South East Asia,” Steffen Egelund explains.

Top clients

“Our premium account clients are for instance large corporate clients like Carlsberg and DA – Danish Employers Federation and the five administrative regions in Denmark and other government clients.”

“The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs is also one of our clients,” Steffen adds.

“That way when the Danish Embassy here in Singapore or elsewhere in Asia is alerted to some news in the Danish press, it actually comes from us here in Singapore doing first the conversion, then the analysis and finally the delivery of the news to the Ministry in Copenhagen – from where they then alert local embassies in case the news affects them as well.”

The product goes beyond simple media monitoring of a brand to include the public discussion.

“Take for instance the Minister of Employment. She needs to know what people talk about related to the ministry and the areas handled by the ministry or even other subjects what could possible involve her ministry. That is a rather complex task to analyze and cannot be handle by a computer program. That is why we we are constantly on the lookout for clever people who can analyze the data we extract from our media monitoring.”

In the example of the minister, she monitors our service on an iPad from NewsWatch where an app is running that brings her not just the raw text but also a picture of the clipping crisp and clear and then most importantly the comments of the analyst.

“Being part of Retriever, we now offer our premium service in Norway and Sweden too, but the markets there are not as mature as in Denmark and most clients are still prepared to settle with the basic monitoring service. It is also a question of what you are prepared to pay.”

Magazine Digitization is Seen to Save the Fading Industry

Admittedly, old magazines are fading away. Like the tabloids and broadsheets that once crowded living rooms, waiting lounges, lobbies, etc., printed magazines are disappearing. There’s no need to be too nostalgic about this matter. Let’s face the fact that the magazine industry started to decline even before this decade began and that magazine digitization is the only way seen to save the industry. Not everyone favors digitization, given the challenge associated with change. Let’s take a look at some institutions that are faced with the difficult process of digitization.

ACRL (Association of College & Research Libraries – the largest division of American Library Association or ALA), C and FUSE (Canadian magazines focusing on arts, culture and politics), and Long Beach Public Library, all agree, in separate occasions and time, that digitization is one of the many solutions to easily share print media across institutions. To them, it builds the past for the present and future generations. The goal really is to preserve the current state of their materials, magazines and newspaper collections to be exact, and get it organized. Now the challenge is finding a digitization expert that can handle the complex designs associated usually with magazines and newspapers digitization.

To newspapers and magazines, technology is needed for digitization to progress. To clear the hurdles, there are companies that offer technologically-advanced services for media companies (including media monitoring companies, libraries, publications, and other related institutions) who need to convert books, magazines, and newspapers into structured and searchable text files without the need to invest in manpower, technology and architecture.

The comparison of magazine digitization to human evolution is fitting at the moment. We humans evolved to survive the worst situation and disasters the world has to offer. Now, if digitization is the only way for magazines not to go extinct, then we'll just have to go with the flow. Well, that’s progress and it’s inevitable.

Sneak Peak: How are Newspapers and Magazines Digitized ?

In our previous articles, we learned why magazines and newspapers are digitized as well as its advantages. The big question remains: How is it really processed?

The demand on newspaper and magazine digitization have grown since the entry of the Information Era; hence the growth of companies who offer such services.

Digitization is the process of converting information into a digital format by capturing the image. A newspaper is either scanned, its picture captured or saved in a microfilm. After which it will be converted into text. Tagged accordingly which makes it searchable once it is indexed into an archive. A digitization service may differ depending on the company that is offering it.

Newspaper digitization, magazine digitization and article digitization are often outsourced to gain the end product without the need to invest in manpower, technology and architecture. Most companies offering such service have an in house technical team who builds their own solution in accordance to how they planned it. They consistently maintain and upgrade it, as it is the heart of their business.

In general, procedures are as follows:

1. Receiving of files

Once a written agreement has been made, the client will send the file to the outsourcing company to be processed. It may arrive in either soft or hard copy. In most cases, the contents arrive as a soft copy provided by or in accordance to agreements with Media Monitoring Companies, Publishing Houses or Libraries.

Documents may also arrive in hard copy such as physical papers or microfilmed documents. Scanning the physical paper or capturing the image of the microfilmed document is optional. Clients may do it themselves if the documents are prohibited to leave their facility.

2. Screening of irrelevant pages

Pages containing images, ads, such as pictures will be removed as it is no longer needed.

3. Conversion into text files

Files will be converted once it runs through the system as the solution is built to convert files.

4. Identify the number of articles

Most times 1 page contains more than 1 article. Identifying the number of articles will help hasten the process of the work load.

5. Tagging of different article elements

The article will be segmented into different parts and will be tagged accordingly based on the requirements of the client

The following is the list of XML Tags where clients may choose from:

XML Tags include:

Language	Pre-introduction
Name	Introduction
ID	Story
Doc Date	Blurp
Physical Position	Quote
Logical Position	Factbox
Headline	Teaser
Sub-headline	Byline
	Image

6. Auto correction

The system is equipped with auto correction features which can pinpoint potential problems, after which will be manually checked. The final product will be automatically saved in a XML format.

7. Quality control

A senior specialist will double check the quality of the product and assure that it is 100% correct. If not it will be processed again.

8. Submission of the finished product

The finished product will be submitted to the client.

With this, universities or public libraries can provide online services to the public for free or for a price. Students, professors or archivists can now search through history conveniently. Not to mention, Media Monitoring companies can conduct a search in their archive conveniently whenever a search is needed. It’s fast, easy & efficient way to monitor media.

Partner only with a Trusted Resource in Article Digitization

Change is inevitable and most of the time, necessary. Many potential clients want to digitize content, convert their materials to digitized versions, or get involved in an article digitization process, but are afraid of change. For them, it is time consuming and frustrating. On the contrary, it is the perfect way to learn about possible options on how to expand any business. At the same time, it offers a way in order for companies to make themselves digitally available.

Moreover, three of the most important benefits of working with an experienced, full-service media conversion partner are: (1) they are an expert in their field,  (2) they can offer honed, high-tech processes, and (3) they can offer a high level of quality products and customer service. A media conversion partner with advanced technological process, have the experience and expertise to convert print media. They are committed to provide high-quality services, which in turn can lessen the hassle that are perceived when change is necessary for any business.

Finding the Right Article Digitization Partner

Ultimately, prospective clients will look for a partner that can help them in their media conversion needs. To help in the decision-making process, consider these suggestions for finding the right article digitization partner:

Article Digitization

• Always ask for a reference on current and previous clients and projects. It’s important what others have to say. The right article digitization partner will not hesitate to provide references if they have positive work relationships with their clients and if they produce high quality work. In other words, quality partners have a healthy client base and strong reputation.

• Assess their level of expertise. Ask questions such as: do they present and recommend value added services aside from article digitization before they start to work on a project? Do they have subject matter experts available to analyze print media for digitization and freely discuss concerns and questions with their prospective clients? Are they flexible in adjusting to clients’ needs in terms of their service?

• Learn more about article digitization by doing self-research before outsourcing its process. There is a wealth of reference, education, and resources available online on article digitization, including blogs, websites, and other industry publications that offer abundant insights on the advancements in article digitization. Vendor websites are also great sources of valuable information. They typically include online resource centers containing videos, white papers, webinars, surveys, case studies, and more that offer detailed descriptions of their work. 

Not all media conversion companies can be a good match for every organization. However, the right one can be a trusted business partner and resource – one that will help companies discover new opportunities amidst today’s rapidly evolving marketplace.

Media Conversion Services to Suit Your Conversion Needs

What happens when a document is scanned? All the captured graphics and text on each page of a document are displayed as though they are all one big graphic image. There’s no problem with this except that it cannot be edited or searched because as far as PDF (Portable Document Format) or document readers are concerned, a scanned document is nothing but a graphic file.  

This is where PDF and digital converter tools enter the scene. They can be used to convert PDF files into searchable text files. However, many of them have limitations in the number of pages that can be processed at the same time. This poses as a roadblock, most especially, if factors like volume and time are important.  

As both start-up and established publishing houses or libraries intensify their venture into digital platforms, the technology looks like it could still be a limiting factor. According to the Innovation Center for Graphic Communication (VIGC) from Belgium, conversion tools are producing inconsistent results. As a result, it is hampering media conversion processes.   

 

The popularity of digital format is increasing. This trend makes publishing houses and libraries face the big challenge of converting their current and back issues or old books on their own, using unreliable media converters. Even eager digital publishers want to move beyond basic conversion processes. They all want to explore enhanced media conversion available in the market today.  

Do-it-yourself converters are proving to be more of a nuisance than a solution, partnering with a media conversion company can help publishers immensely. Such companies are expected to offer not only media conversion, but also media management and media analysis services. Moreover, they also employ the first-rate media analysts to sort, select and process files relevant to the demands of their clients. They use top of the line tools and the latest technology to provide clients with quality services.