Historical documents and images often contain precious information that can easily be lost to time. Paper documents and books simply don’t stand up to physical elements well, but that doesn’t mean that they have to fall to the wayside. Though scanning has provided a way for those documents to be preserved, traditional book and document scanning often damages the delicate papers or book bindings. Instream can provide the technology and the experience needed to make sure that important records are saved.
Planetary scanning is a method of scanning books that causes as little damage as possible. Rather than having the pages pressed to glass and the book binding bent at 180 degrees, cameras orbit around the book to capture the image, and many scanners have cradles that don’t require the book to be all the way open for the pages to be captured. This solution is excellent for books and ledgers. Instream partners with Contex, the world’s largest developer and producer of large format scanning and large format imaging solutions to produce the most high quality image possible. This way, even beyond a book’s normal life span, the information is available for a long time and it is available widely.
Besides books, document scanning can help preserve maps, ledgers, census records, deeds, photos, and any other kind of paper document. Having these documents on hand is extremely helpful for libraries, historical societies, museums, and town or city halls. To use a real example, Instream scanned and digitized 400,000 images for Forest Lawn cemetery in Buffalo, NY., some of which dated back to 1853. These important family archives had been held together with nails and were written on thin paper, and something needed to be done.
Lastly, Instream can digitize your old microfilm or microfiche reels. Though both of these are extremely durable forms of keeping records or photographs, storing them takes up space. They are also not very accessible- they can’t be read with the naked eye, and they also can’t be printed or mailed without manual effort. Where storage is concerned, they need to be delicately handled in order to avoid water, fire, or too much light to prevent fading. When you have them digitized, however, they have an even longer span of use, they don’t take up any physical space, they are resistant to disaster, and they can be accessed on the internet, on a disk, or in computer files.
Historical documents are vital for research, record keeping, and generally, keeping memories safe. No matter the format of your old records, Instream has the perfect solution to both minimize damage to the original, and to make the record itself accessible and safe from physical harm.
To learn more about document preservation, Contact InStream today.
