Project Demonstrates Versatility of Document Scanning Solutions

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Since human beings first began to set pen to paper, we have been making records of important documents. Of course, huge swathes of them were lost, burnt, destroyed through deterioration or otherwise disposed of – for instance, we have very little from our ancestors in the Middle Ages and before.

However, recording things for posterity seems to have increased after that period and libraries all over the world have paper documents dating back to the 15th and 16th centuries. There is even more from the 17th to 20th centuries, when legal documents, court records and eventually photographs were saved by diligent people.

Today, these are important documents in terms of social history and they are also great to look at for those researching family history – genealogy truly comes alive when researchers can touch something their ancestors actually wrote.

Although historical organisations are no doubt proud to have such documents in their libraries and archives, they do present certain problems. For one thing, there's space – we are adding to our records all the time and many buildings are no longer big enough to house them.

But there's also the issue of the papers becoming more and more fragile as the years go on. Libraries often take precautions such as asking people to wear cotton gloves when handling things, but this won't stop them from getting worn in the long run. Even photos and microfilm can be put at risk if they are regularly being taken in and out of folders or boxes.

Fortunately, there is one solution – document scanning and digitisation. Most people are aware of this in the form of using a flatbed scanner to capture and copy a few pieces of paper, but the industry has now evolved to become much more useful. For instance, did you know specialist services like Storetec are able to capture millions of papers, photos and even microfilm and maps to store digitally?

A project being carried out in the US has demonstrated how vital document scanning solutions can be for retaining historical paperwork, although similar initiatives are taking place all over the UK too as people come to realise the benefits.

The Vanderburgh County area of Indiana was founded in 1818 and the earliest government officials there wrote deeds, mortgages, and veterans' records on paper using quill pens.

These were duly stored at the Vanderburgh County Recorder's office – but they have been yellowing and fading. In some cases, documents crumble and fall to pieces when they are picked up, so the office decided to carry out a project to digitize them, the Evansville Courier and Press reports.

Project manager Barbara Kenny said: "Just opening the old record books damages the pages. The floor of the makeshift scanning room is littered with small pieces of the old papers."

A specialist organisation has been called in and by the time it has finished scanning everything – including the old papers, microfilms and other assorted items – around 1.5 million pages of records will exist in digital form.

They will then be put into a searchable database so that visitors can look at them there, rather than having to handle original documents.

It's a really interesting project and shows that even the most delicate of items can still be turned into a permanent record for future generations.

Have you got lots of old papers or even boxes of microfilm? If yes, this could apply to you. Microfiche and microfilm were once the preferred way of keeping hold of past newspapers, but the system is becoming less relevant and sometimes completely obsolete because of the leaps and bounds made in digital technology progress.

Microfilm is also vulnerable to damage from water, humidity, sunlight and theft, so there's always a risk that the records held on them could be lost forever.

Paper documents are even more endangered, as the case study above proved – old maps and other bulk documents are no doubt being lost every day when they eventually get too battered to read.

If you have any ideas for a document scanning project of any shape or size, just give Storetec a call and we can discuss a bespoke solution with you. Don't let your records be lost in the mists of time!

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Project Demonstrates Versatility of Document Scanning Solutions’. Aug 22, 2012. Storetec.