Meet FADGI Requirements with Kodak Alaris
“What is FADGI?” I hear that question a lot. The federal government mandated that all files submitted to the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) for permanent archive must be digital, and the Federal Agencies Digital Guidelines Initiative (FADGI) is a regulatory effort that ensures these digital files meet specific quality standards.
As of July 1, 2024, all materials sent to either NARA or the Library of Congress must meet FADGI guidelines, and the mandate is likely to extend to all federal agencies. Kodak Alaris serves many government agencies and we are helping organizations around the country to update their digital workflows and systems for FADGI compliance.
FADGI Standards
FADGI guidelines were updated in 2023 to make it easier for organizations to understand and produce FADGI-compliant records for permanent archiving. FADGI now outlines two categories, Modern Textual Records (MTR), and a separate set of guidelines for heritage and cultural media.
The vast majority of FADGI submissions (about 95%) fall into the MTR category because the MTR guidelines are optimized for modern text-based documents. MTR compliance covers typed or laser-printed documents, books and journals, photographic prints, and other text documents created on modern office paper, with moderate to high contrast between the text and the paper background. MTR also includes support for grayscale records.
Heritage documents, such as important antique records, are measured on the following four-star rating system for image quality:
- One star: Meets minimal FADGI requirements but may have limitations or deficiencies in quality or accuracy. These images are not suitable for high-quality reproduction projects or OCR projects.
- Two star: Provides satisfactory FADGI compliance suitable for digitization projects but may not meet OCR standards.
- Three star: High-quality images that meet requirements for color accuracy and preservation standards. These images are ideal for demanding digitization projects and are well-suited for OCR. The Modern Textual Records (MTR) standard is similar to this three-star rating but with reduced sampling frequency and tone response requirements.
- Four star: These images exceed FADGI requirements in all areas and are suitable for any use.
Most organizations are only concerned with the MTR guidelines, and the reality is that FADGI scanning isn’t the only document scanning they need to do! The bulk of their document scanning may be routine digitization of business records and archives that aren’t even relevant to FADGI submissions.
In other words, to get the most out of an investment in FADGI-compliant scanners, organizations require flexible solutions that can output FADGI images only as needed. This is another key advantage of our FADGI scanners. The KODAK i5250 and i5850 Scanners are compliant out of the box and provide a simple FADGI mode switch that’s unique to the scanner market. This toggle makes it easy to produce FADGI-compliant images when necessary and turn it off for normal document scanning. This feature alone is saving organizations a lot of money and time.
Now is the best time to acquire and configure document scanners for FADGI compliance. Ready to get started? Reach out to me directly at michael.stone@kodakalaris.com or learn more about our FADGI solutions here.
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