Cobb County

Archival and Distribution Advantages

Since Cobb County's documents are now easily available as small DjVu files, the County is looking forward to easily archiving its cache of records. Legal and public documents dating back to the Civil War have been captured and are available in DjVu format at extremely small file sizes and at stunning levels of visual clarity. "We have converted much of our original microfilm documents into DjVu format because we have found the DjVu image to be much cleaner and crisper than any other product, especially at high zoom levels," said Jay C. Stephenson, Cobb County Superior Court Clerk.

The State Bar of Georgia was astounded at how Cobb County now allows instant access to thousands of stacks of legal and public tax assessor's documents online. "A senior member downloaded a deed and carried it around for weeks showing people what you can print out from our Web site," said Stephenson. "Everyone is amazed at how our legal information in the DjVu format is not only very clear and accessible anytime, but also is better than the original."

Reinventing Business Processes

Cobb County is a perfect example of how public and private agencies are incorporating next-generation technologies like DjVu to reinvent how to do business. Since implementation in December 1999, there has been over two million hits on the Cobb County Web site from professionals viewing these public records remotely. This easy accessibility has led to a remarkable savings for the County. "Our initial cost savings estimates for our staff alone are around $60,000 per year since we do not have to serve nearly as many people in person," says Jay C. Stephenson, Cobb County Superior Court Clerk. "Not only does this save our staff time, but now people can do all of their research without coming into our office, a big savings for lawyers, real estate agents, developers, reporters and other professionals. Now thanks to DjVu, we now have our documents verified, scanned and placed on the Internet as official records in 90 minutes vs. 46 days with our older processes."

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