Libraries Are Helping Patrons Digitize!
We all hear how
important it is to digitize items as a means of preservation and sharing and
yet, we can be challenged to make that happen.
In the past, one had to purchase equipment to digitize items or drop off
(or mail off) to pay services to get something converted. Many years ago, I mailed (with tracking)
slides and 8mm films to get them converted to print negatives and VHS tapes,
respectively. Obviously, I now need to
convert those formats to digitized format to better ensure future access.
With that in mind, it’s
been wonderful to read about some library initiatives where digitization
equipment is made available to the public for FREE.
For example, the D.C.
Public Library now has a Memory Lab -- The
DC Public Library’s New “Memory Lab” Lets You Digitize Old Photos and Videos.
At the Memory Lab … anyone with a DC Public Library
card can digitize their personal archives for free. Previously
inaccessible VHS
tapes, floppy discs, audio cassettes, and photo negatives can now be
viewed on a computer screen and shared on a thumb drive, giving new life
to things that seemed lost to time and changing technologies.
The Public Library of
Cincinnati and Hamilton County has Makerspace.
This space has many types of equipment available including VHS to digital
conversion, VHS to DVD conversion, cassette tape to digital conversion, slide
and image scanner, and more.
The Brooklyn Library in
its Info
Commons space has scanners and equipment “to convert analog media (VHS
videocassettes, audiocassettes and vinyl records) to digital files.
How about the Kalamazoo
(MI) Public Library and its Digital Lab, The
Hingham (MA) Public Library and its collection of “conversion
equipment,” the Lexington (KY) Public Library collection of Digital Studio
Equipment, or the Bucks
County (PA) Library System where you can convert photos and videos to
digital formats! The list truly goes on …
just search on library digital conversion
equipment and many public and university libraries with such are revealed.
Both smaller and larger
library systems seem to be embracing making digitization equipment available to
the community! This is wonderful news
for genealogists and family historians.
Now, instead of purchasing your own equipment or using pay services, all
you need is a bit of time, an appointment, and to be armed with all that you
want to convert!
It’s exciting to see on
the internet how many public libraries are now making digitization equipment
available to patrons.
I just need my local library to jump on the bandwagon.
Does a library near you have digitization equipment that
patrons can use? Give a shout out to it!
What personal photos, videos, audio tapes, documents, etc.,
have you had digitized via a library or pay service?
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