Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's)

Please note: TWA (TownsWeb Archiving Ltd) can provide your organisation with any documents referred to within these FAQ's. Simply ask us.

How long will it take TWA to digitise our cemetery records?

Following TownsWeb Archiving's (TWA) Project Plan and Quality Procedures our aim is to complete all imaging within a timeframe set by your organisation. We can typically digitise between 15 and 20 books in just one day.

What experience, skills and/or qualifications do TWA have with this type of work?

Our staff have carried out this type of work for more than 50 UK councils (cemeteries offices), and have a team who are fully trained and highly practiced in producing results to the required quality within specified deadlines. Some operators have in excess of 10 years experience of using imaging equipment and performing data entry.

Our team fully understand the requirements of cemeteries offices in this area of work and are able to provide appropriate help, advice and guidance. Our team also fully understand the needs of burial data transcription/entry, image de-classification and displaying grave register images over the web – therefore ensuring that our imaging service will meet all future requirements.

How will you ensure that our records are not damaged whilst in your care, including during transportation?

We have full quality and control procedures in place that limit any risk of damage whilst the records are in our care. We are also fully insured.

Does your insurance cover the protection of our property whilst it is in your possession? What is the cover limit?

Yes. We have insurance that covers your property whilst in our possession.

Transparencies – Limit £10,000
Documents & Data – Limit £50,000

What transport methods will you use for our property?

Wherever possible - TWA’s own transport and own staff will be used to collect and return your property. TWA have Transportation Quality Procedures in place.

What happens when we need some information from the books whilst they are in your possession?

Our staff are fully conversant with cemetery books and are happy to perform ‘look-up’ searches for your staff whilst in our possession. We are also able to scan and email any pages to your staff whilst they are in our possession.

I feel nervous about letting our registers leave our offices, can you come here and do the digitisation on-site?

Yes we can. Infact, we have performed onsite digitisation many times. The cost is slightly more expensive than doing the digitisation off-site, but you have the peace of mind that your books are safe and accessible by staff. We believe we are the only company offering this service.

What file format will the images be delivered in?

We would normally produce .tiff files as these allow for the highest quality of image to be produced, manipulated (de-classified), viewed and printed.

When we scan your maps - we also provide .jpeg files as these files are compressed and are able to be opened quickly on your computer.

What media do you propose to use? (e.g. DVDs, FTP site, etc.)

We would normally supply all images on DVD - although on request we also supply them on CD-Rom. We can also supply the images on a server and/or an external hard-disk drive.

Is Data Entry/Transcription performed from our original books or from the scanned images?

We perform data entry from the scanned images. The main reasons for this are:

We are able to perform the data entry much quicker (more than 1 typist can type from the same book)
Your original books are away from you for 'minimal' time
We can perform the data capture in batches - e.g. one book or one cemetery at a time

How will you ensure the accuracy of the transcribed data?

TWA follow TWA's own Data Transcription Quality Procedures. This includes keying of data, 2nd keying of data, software validation & 3rd level checking.
Typists are experienced in handling a variety of data including handwritten English text. Software includes automatic validation of name fields through a dynamic data dictionary of UK surnames and forenames.

Unreadable text that cannot be transcribed will be highlighted within the output file and also within a separate anomaly report. You then have the option to review the anomaly report and pass rectified records back to TWA to add to the output files. This assumes that you may be able to cross-reference the records to other books and documents in order to ascertain the correct entry. TWA’s experience shows that a very high level of accuracy can be achieved by fulfilling this anomaly exercise.

What file format will the data be delivered in?

We would normally deliver the work in Microsoft Excel 2000 format. Should you specify then we can also provide .csv files. We will normally supply the data 'linked' to your scanned images via our book viewing software too.

Is it beneficial for us to choose the same supplier to do the scanning/imaging and the data entry/transcription?

Experience has shown us that it is normally preferable for you to choose the same supplier to perform the imaging and the data transcription. The main reason being that should any of the images be identified as being blurred, corrupt or unreadable during the transcription phase – the same supplier can quickly rescan the records and supply them back to the typists. Choosing different suppliers can hamper this process and thus can impact on the ability to meet deadlines and project requirements. Choosing the same supplier for imaging and transcription ensures that one supplier is not blaming the other for invalid/corrupt data. This can lead to ‘bottlenecks’ in the project. Choosing the same supplier means that the ‘buck stops’ with that supplier.

Tell me more about the Book Viewing Software

Many of TWA’s Cemeteries Customers request that their scanned images and transcribed data is integrated into our Book Viewing Software called CDRetrieve. CDRetrieve allows searchable access to their records and images stored on CD-Roms and/or Networked Server.

CDRetrieve can be installed across multiple Cemetery Sites. Additionally it can be installed at Public Access Points (e.g. Libraries, Tourist Information Centres etc.).

We will supply you with a full set of Master CD’s. Each CD contains one book (e.g. Southern Cemetery Burial Register 1902-1922) and the CDRetrieve installation software. The Master CD’s would be installed on your computers for staff use only. CDRetrieve runs on any PC running Windows XP, NT and 2000.

CDRetrieve is ideal for supporting existing or new revenue generation streams involving access to and printing of pages and records. As CDRetrieve resides on each CD, this can facilitate revenue generation through selling duplicate CD’s to service providers (e.g. Funeral Directors) or the public. TWA can provide duplicate CD’s, pricing for which can be provided.

The software allows pages to be printed, faxed and emailed. Standard Windows cut and paste functionality can be used to copy part images (individual records) into other packages (e.g. Word, email etc.)

What experience do you have in displaying our records on the web?

We have successfully carried out online cemeteries data projects for many UK councils. Through experience gained, TWA staff fully understand the needs and requirements of cemeteries offices and are able to provide help, advice and guidance where required. Our fully trained team is highly practiced and has wide experience in all aspects of software development, database design, graphic design and online display of data. Through our experience in this field, we have gained a good understanding of imaging and data transcription, particularly in association with burial records and the need to accurately link transcribed data and scanned images.

Can somebody from TWA look at our books and records and give us a quote?

Yes - we will visit your offices and count the pages within your books and/or count the number of deceased records, owner records and grave records. We can discuss what future aspirations you might have in terms of perhaps making your records available over the internet on a free or pay-per-view basis. We will then provide you with a no obligation quotation. We also guarantee that our prices will be cheaper than anyone else's.

You can request a quote here or give us a call on 08707 558506.