Newspaper publishers are finding Discover America’s Story a great way to generate new revenue – money they can use to finally digitize and put their historic archives online for everyone to search and explore. We’re finding that many people have some misconceptions about digitizing their archives. Below is a repost from our scanning division, ArchiveInABox, which is helpful for anyone moving forward with digitizing newspaper archives. Publishers interested in working with Discover America’s Story and having their archive available on the program’s website, can get started by contacting us today.
(Originally posted by www.archiveinabox.com/news)
It’s amazing what you might hear from a scanning provider who wants to earn your business — here are the top “fascinating falsehoods” regularly pitched to publishers:
- Bound book archives must be cut apart to scan and digitize. FALSE
No, your books do not have to be cut. We scan all material intact including delicate materials like aging newspapers, whether loose or in bound volumes. - Printed archives have to be microfilmed before digitizing. FALSE
Scanning can be done directly from printed material such as bound volumes, and will yield a superior image quality over that of microfilm. This means photos and illustrations will be clear and sharp. Scanning from microfilm should be done only if you don’t have the original newspapers. - If you scan from the original printed page, there will be bleedthrough from the other side. FALSE
Our scans do not pick up bleedthrough – the pages are clean and easy to read.
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You should always scan to PDF file format. FALSEPDF file format is great for searching and accessing individual editions, but limits what can be done in the online environment. Always insist that your digital copies are produced in the high resolution TIFF file format — from here you can save to any format, including PDF. ArchiveInABox uses non-proprietary, open source file formats in its hosting program which are far superior to PDF for online searching.
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You have to pay a hosting fee to put the digital archive online. FALSE
ArchiveInABox provides online hosting for those wanting it — without an additional charge. - You have to license software and pay every year. FALSE
With ArchiveInABox, there are no software licensing fees. Our program is all inclusive for a one-time price. - You have to ship your entire archive to our scan center. FALSE
When you select ArchiveInABox to produce your digital copies, you receive the benefit of our proven and repeatable production and logistics process, including the use of our heavy duty shipping containers. You ship small amounts of your archive at any given time.
ArchiveInABox specializes in scanning full size loose and bound printed newspaper archives. We work with hundreds of newspaper publishers and historical stakeholders, such as libraries and historical societies, nationwide.
