What are the disadvantages of manual indexing?

Did you ever try to find something in a thick file folder stuffed with over 20 years of a patient's records?

In my case, the rare times I see a doctor, it's the same office that I've been going to for about 50 years!

The disadvantages of manual indexing are:

1. Time-consuming: Manual indexing involves the manual process of organizing and categorizing information, which can be a time-consuming task. It requires human effort and can be slow, especially when dealing with a large volume of data.

2. Human error: Manual indexing is prone to human error. It is possible for indexers to make mistakes while categorizing or assigning metadata tags to documents, resulting in inaccuracies in the indexing process.

3. Inconsistency: Since manual indexing relies on human judgment, there can be inconsistencies in how different indexers categorize or label information. This inconsistency can make it challenging to retrieve or search for specific documents or information accurately.

4. Lack of scalability: Manual indexing may become impractical when there is a need to handle a large amount of data. As the volume of information grows, manually indexing all the data becomes a cumbersome task and may not be feasible.

5. Limited retrieval capabilities: Manual indexing may not provide sophisticated search and retrieval capabilities. With manual indexing, you may have limitations in searching for specific keywords or filtering information based on complex criteria.

To minimize these disadvantages, organizations often turn to automated indexing solutions, which utilize algorithms and AI technologies to efficiently and accurately organize and categorize information.