MORE INFORMATION WAS generated between 1999 and 2003 than otherwise was created since the beginning of mankind, declares IDC of Framingham, Mass., a high-tech research company.

It's anyone's guess how much this equation has changed in the three years since then, but the trend is clear--we're flooded with new information daily. Nearly 4 trillion documents are created yearly in North America alone, and this figure is rising steadily.

The problem for most agencies lies not only in the proliferation of new information per se, but in how successfully it can be managed.

Consequently, despite the growth of new technologies, such as vastly improved computerized storage capability, the use of the Web as a business tool, the rise of e-mail and dozens of other information hardware and software advancements, information management remains a paramount issue in virtually every enterprise.

In many offices, you'll see information workers searching through paper stored in overstuffed file cabinets, stacks of microfiche, electronic data in file servers, email and pages of text in various electronic formats such as Adobe Portable Document Format. Despite the use of old and new storage technologies, the result of many information searches is all too often the same--tedious, rime-consuming and fruitless.

"If you can't find it, you can't use it" is a truism that by now should be etched firmly in the minds of IT managers, who may or may not realize how critical sound information management policies are to them and their agencies.

That said, a host of hardware and soft ware tools exist that, when judiciously combined, can greatly improve your chances of finding, saving and reusing information that may be critical to your business goals.

On the hardware side, digital scanners can render material into graphic or text files for storage in enterprisewide archives or in various document management systems for further manipulation or enhancement.

On the software side, a wide range of document management systems can work hand in hand with scanners to manage the creation, storage, safety and reuse of information critical to the enterprise.

Together, these tools can revolutionize the ways your agency manages the tide of information coming its way.

The skinny on scanners

Scanners can be attached to workstations or personal computers to digitally gather information in the form of text or graphics that can be stored or otherwise used as you see fit. There are several types of scanners available, from relatively low-speed home versions to high-end, ultrafast product models, handheld models or those designed principally to handle photos or transparencies.

For the accompanying product list on Page 22, I chose midrange flatbed scanners with components designed for relatively steady workgroup or departmental service. These scanners boast an average speed of 40 to 60 pages per minute....