Datacatch Makes Removable Media Searchable

September 11th, 2006: Vaulting your data no longer means taking it out of the loop according to Datacatch Inc.

The company has released its Datacatch Librarian, an application that it says makes searching removable media as easy as scanning your local hard drive. As the amount of important data stored digitally increases, so is the need for effective methods of organisation, search and retrieval.

Datacatch says that Librarian provides the tools necessary to search, retrieve, and manage a collection of removable media including removable hard drives, USB keys, photo memory cards, and optical discs such as CDs, DVDs including newer Blu-ray and HD-DVD formats.

The software recognises whenever removable media is inserted or connected, it then takes a snapshot and organises details about the media and the files it contains, including file and folder details and thumbnail images so that data can be indexed and search without the media actually being connected.

“Datacatch Librarian introduces a new dimension to the search arena,” says Lindsay Lyon, CEO of Datacatch. “It's not just about backing up or archiving information; it is knowing where to find it when you need it.

"Smaller companies and home users tend to keep critical items like financial accounts or a favourite photo archived on removable media. Having Datacatch Librarian keep track of exactly where you put it is like having your own personal library assistant to keep you organised. If you have it, the Datacatch Librarian will find it."

Datacatch says that its’ software integrates tightly with Windows Explorer, providing an overview of archives, backups, and other data stored on removable media. Specific files can be located by browsing folders stored on the removable media as normal, or by using standard Windows search.

When the correct file is found, detailed information on where it has been archived is provided to make tracking down the correct disc a simple process, provided the correct location data is entered in the first place. When archiving discs for example, the location where each CD or DVD is stored, right down to the storage unit and slot/position can be entered. This has a run on advantage of enabling the capacity for each storage unit to be entered and tracked to monitor remaining storage space. Librarian also provides the ability to automatically print labels for optical discs and their covers.

Datacatch Librarian supports storage solutions from many different manufacturers, including Belkin, Case Logic, Fellows, Discgear, Avec, and HIPCE. It is compatible with Microsoft Windows XP and is available for around A$79 as a direct download from Datacatch's website.

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