Agenda - Council Work Session - 09/21/2004

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and basically opens one page of a document at a time, allowing quick access to lengthy or graphic documents. Providing on-line access to the 'Web Link' add-on of Laser Fiche would allow staff to make lengthy and graphic documents quickly available to web-users. Staff has researched the opportunities to replicate the document delivery/notification service of GovDocs, if Council feels that is a service the City should continue to provide. Staff has reviewed the subscriber lists from GovDocs; the number of subscribers to the various categories and documents varies, ho;vever the largest number of subscribers are in the ~Employment' category. There are several cost-effective on-line services tbr providing the notification service at a cost much less than GovDocs, ranging from $50- $150 per month, h~ 2005 the cost of GovDocs will increase to $915 per month. It should be noted that the on-line notification services do not include the document management service, hence the lesser cost. The document management system wouId be provided within the Laser Fiche system. With these proposed changes, come some challenges. Additional training would be required for existing staff to manage the structure and maintain the website in-house. Staff anticipates that assistance fi'om an outside website consultant' rnay be required in the transition and as we expand the information and services available on-line. As we progress with the in-house management of the website,, we will monitor the time spent on these activities and the level of teclmical expertise required of staff, which may require re-assessing positions associated with the website management. Staff believes the tremendous resources and expandability within Laser Fiche mid the ability to manage our website in-house, provide a much more valuable resource on-tine than. what we are providing today. During this work session discussion, representatives from Crabtree Companies, the local dealers for Laser Fiche that we purchased the Laser Fiche system from, will be on-hand to provide a visual presentation of Laser Fiche, Web-Link and the expandability of this product as we ~'ow as a community and expand teclm~otogy within the organization and to our outside users. Action Statement: Staff is see/zing direction regarding the contract with GovDocs, Council's desire to replicate the document notification service, and progressing with the Laser Fiche system. CCWS: 09/21/2004