Category Archives for Search

To Folder or Not to Folder(In SharePoint). That is the question.

Should I use folders in SharePoint?

I am always in search of opinions on the use of folders within SharePoint.

Arguments For Folders in SharePoint:

  • End users are comfortable with them.  The transition to any new technology is always easier, and adoption rates higher the more end users can apply “old school” ways to any new interface.
  • Folders, although merely logical in SharePoint, provide a hierarchical structure, and some standardization.
  • For the power user, you can get rid of the infantile folders, and create a custom view that eliminates them.
  • There is always the 2,000 (or is it 3,000? or maybe 4,000?) object limit within any view.  My understanding is that folders in SharePoint can break up you library into segments so you dont need to worry about these limits in rendering a list.
  • Logical structure can help down the line for any reorganization, export or migration of data and files.
  • For scanning to SharePoint, most advanced capture technologies provide custom foldering as a migration method to SharePoint.  Why not use it if it is there?
Arguments Against Folders in SharePoint Libraries:
  • Folders are “old school”, and have no place within SharePoint libraries, especially in SharePoint 2010.  Customized views, content types and document sets should be utilized for organization and viewing.
  • SharePoint should not be used like a file system, it is a database, and the search interface should be used to find what you are looking for in the content databases versus the folder “Hunt and Peck” method.
  • Encouraging end users to create folders within a SharePoint Library will only lead to the end users “gone wild” scenario that happened to our file share system.
Did I miss anything?  Any enhancement of this post would be greatly appreciated.

Scanning to SharePoint: Capture Drives Search

So what is the most important part of any SharePoint scanning and capture implementation?

In any ECM system, Capture drives search.

I cannot emphasize this point enough, and time spent in assessing the front end process of any organization will pay huge dividends over time.   Below are 3 key focus areas to examine during the planning phase of any SharePoint ECM / Scanning and Capture implementation:

  1. Standardization is key. Define your site, library, folder and column structure on day one.  Use a capture technology that can create a repeatable, standardized capture process regardless of the user or device.  Ensure that the technology you utilize has the ability to create dynamic library, folder name and file name structures.  Don’t settle for hard-coded folder and file naming structures where you have no control.  This is absolutely critical to “findability” for all users.
  2. Automation creates repeatable processes. The less human intervention, the better.  Technologies like Advanced Data Extraction (ADE) provide automated column population, field validation and exception processing.  Automating the whole collection process drives correct search criteria, and allows for the utmost in efficiency.
  3. Create PDF Image with Hidden text through OCR.  Column based search is great for most of our needs, but to provide the most powerful search repository, adding Optical Character Recognition (OCR) to any process is critical.  Choose a technology that provides multiple OCR engine options.  Why?  Not all OCR engines are optimized for all operations.  Some are built for speed, some built for accuracy, others are just built.

Document Capture Planning for Search Results

Taking up the chore of scanning paper documents into SharePoint is not as simple as it may seem. I had a call with a prospect the other day that oversimplified the task, and had the mindset “we buy a scanner and click go”. I would argue that the most important piece of capturing documents and sending them to SharePoint is planning how you will search for them. So, in your planning, ask the following:

  • What columns are necessary and how will I gather the index data from documents?
  • Is full text OCR possible?
  • What fields can be gleaned during the capture process and which can be populated later?

In the planning process, it is absolutely imperative to plan for  the utmost in search flexibility, and I almost always encourage OCR to a searchable PDF.  Why?  Full-text search is the insurance policy.  Say you have an audit or a legal issue, and you are looking for that needle in a haystack, which doesn’t happen to be a column.  Take the planning process seriously, as once the capture process begins, it is almost impossible to change all your existing documents.

SharePoint 2010 and Scanned Documents: How are we going to setup columns and metadata?

The more I read about SharePoint 2010, the more I see its absolute power when it comes to metadata, views and search. I am going to put together some thoughts on how this can all fit with a SharePoint Scanning strategy. Below are some great articles on this subject:

SharePoint 2010 Metadata and Taxonomy for Navigation and Browsing

SharePoint 2010 Metadata and Taxonomy Overview