UpFront with NGS: Scanners

23 April 2014

Do-it-yourself book scanner preserving Pittstown PA history one page at a time!

It’s amazing what one or two or a small group of people can do when a passion of theirs will benefit many.

A recent example of this that I read about, Book scanner preserves volumes of history (thetimes-tribune.com) caught my eye since it’s based on one person working with the local historical society and the city to use a “do-it-yourself” version of a scanning apparatus to digitize that cities history.

He opens whichever book he is working on that day to the proper page, places it in a cradle, and lowers a V-shaped plastic panel to keep the page in place. He pushes his foot against a black pedal, and two Canon digital cameras fire simultaneously, recording the yellowing, faded page in a digital image.

Digitization efforts are most often stymied by a lack of funds which can be compounded by a lack of personnel to carry out such. In this case, a cost-effective process (this particular apparatus was built pro bono though it was based on a do-it-yourself idea), combined with a dedicated volunteer and a cooperating historical society and city government “are” preserving Pittston’s history. Over 30 books out of 150 have already been digitized.

Unfortunately, as we often hear about and learn, some of our history is disappearing even as I write this.

The left wall of City Hall's archive room is empty - Mr. Hines said water damage from a leaky ceiling once destroyed volumes of records, turning them to "black dust."

Might this be an option in your community? Has your community participated in a similar effort?

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23 January 2013

Scanners and resolution -- what is a genealogist to do?

Google Images Result

As we convert photos, letters, bible pages and much more into digital formats both to share with others and to help preserve them for the future, there is some technical know how that goes into the process.

The Signal: Digital Preservation Blog for Library of Congress (LOC) did a neat post in December titled What Resolution Should I Use? Part 1

What is resolution?

What resolution should I look for when I buy a scanner?

What resolution should I use when using my scanner?

These are questions we hear frequently when speaking to people about their digital conversion projects. Unfortunately, the questions are hard to answer. The material can get very technical and can be difficult to apply. So I’ll try to answer the first question now and the second two questions in a follow-up blog post later on. As always, feel free to ask questions or make comments.

Do read the full post.

And recently, What Resolution Should I Use? Part Two was published!

If you are interested to learn more about resolution and scanning consider checking out:

Best Portable Scanners of 2012; Best Photo Scanners of 2012 (both from Squidoo)
PC Magazine – Reviews -- Scanners

Basically, if you search on scanner + best + 2012 in your internet browser no lack of other websites will come up!

And, there are two scanners that over the last couple of years gotten a lot of press in the genealogical community. I will admit to having the first one and having never yet used it (when I can get photocopies for $.10 per page or photograph items with my camera in real-color, I just haven’t yet found an urgent need for a portable scanner).

Vupoint (wand scanner) – Most recent Dick Eastman review
Flip-pal mobile scanner – Review by RootsFinders Genealogy Research

Again, if you search on the above-named scanner + review in your internet browser, many informative pages, videos and more will show up in the search results.

Do you know of any other great resources to help those considering the purchase of a scanner for their genealogy research?

Editor’s note: I have always been told to use a resolution of at least 300 dpi, though, keeping in mind that what I “see” is limited by my technology! And, images to be used in “print” often require a higher quality or they become too pixilated when printed. I personally use an all-in-one printer/scanner/fax and have for years with excellent results..

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Think your friends, colleagues, or fellow genealogy researchers would find this blog post interesting? If so, please let them know that anyone can read past UpFront with NGS posts or subscribe!

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Suggestions for topics for future UpFront with NGS posts are always welcome. Please send any suggested topics to UpfrontNGS@mosaicrpm.com