US Department of Agriculture Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health

The long term goal is nothing less than the elimination of paper at the prestigious Centers for Epidemiology and Animal Health, a Fort Collins, CO-based unit of the US Department of Agriculture's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) division. The immediate target is a pilot project to publish 30,000 reports, articles, analyses and related mathematical models on international agricultural trade to a password-protected intranet site, using Laserfiche WebLink.

"It's all getting started in our one small work group, which happens to be focused on international trade," explains Ken Forsythe, an agricultural economist. "We draw on enormous amounts of information from all over the world in order to develop current analyses of conditions and trends. Our analyses then become part of the decision-making process that leads to planning agendas, policy changes and budgets.

"Currently, I often have more than a hundred different files piled up in my office when working on a single analysis. As we start using Laserfiche and WebLink, it's going to be much easier to find what I need quickly. It will also be much easier to share our research with colleagues here, with colleagues in other USDA offices and, at times, with external associates such as university-based researchers and economists."

"We are very definitely a pilot project that our managers plan to extend to other departments. Our long-term goal is to get rid of the paper and the filing cabinets."

John Harris, the computer specialist in Forsythe's group, says that reasons for choosing Laserfiche WebLink for the project include its strong price/performance ratings and the ease with which it can be integrated with other operating systems.

Steve Menscher of Secure Files, Inc., an Aspen, CO-based Laserfiche reseller, is providing advisory and installation services.