Archive Case Studies

Boston, MA/Washington, DC - Fall 2009

Harvard Divinity School, Andover-Harvard Theological Library logo

In the spring of 2006, Andover-Harvard Theological Library at Harvard Divinity School was contacted by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington D.C., with an expressed interest in obtaining copies of the library's records of the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) for use at the museum. Averaging 7,000 scans per day, Crowley digitized and processed a quarter of a million pages that included documents and photographs scanned at 300 dpi, 24 bit, full color TIFF uncompressed images with metadata and JPEG2000 files. Read more

Richmond, VA - July 2009 - Chancery Records Index

The Chancery Records Index (CRI) is a result of archival processing and indexing projects overseen by the Library of Virginia (LVA) and funded, in part, by the Virginia Circuit Court Records Preservation Program (CCRP). Each of Virginia's circuit courts created chancery records that contain considerable historical and genealogical information. Because the records rely so heavily on testimony from witnesses, they offer a unique glimpse into the lives of Virginians from the early 18th century through the First World War.

As part of the project, The Crowley Company is currently converting historical content from the 19 localities in Virginia to include Chancery Cases and related documentation. The material in question dates back to the mid-1800’s. Crowley is scanning to color JPEG2000 file format along with delivery of several derivative file formats. This project utilizes the Zeutschel 10000TT Color Book Scanner. In excess of 3 million images has been scanned to date and the project will continue for several years. Daily scan totals for this project are roughly 8,000 images per shift or 14,000 images per day.

The original court papers are flat-filed, indexed and conserved using a set of standards developed by the LVA. Since the tri-folded records are often in poor condition, special attention is paid to preparing them for digital reformatting. This laborious process is undertaken so that the best quality images can be captured in one effort. The valuable original records are then retired to secure storage.

The reformatted images—whether digital scans or microfilm—can be viewed at the Library of Virginia, at the circuit court clerk's office or, in the case of digital images, from any internet-connected computer. The indexed but-not-yet-reformatted original records in the Library's care can be viewed in the Archives Research Room prior to reformatting. During reformatting, some or all of the original records may be unavailable for viewing; however, the full index will remain available for research purposes. Information is added to the CRI in such instances to alert researchers regarding a collection's availability.

There are over 195,000 cases indexed in the database and nearly 5 million images of chancery causes available online.

SEATTLE, WA – June 29, 2008 – SmallTownPapers, Inc.

“This is an absolutely necessary extension of our newspaper,” said Tim Robinson of Robinson Newspapers in Seattle. Robinson Newspapers is in the process of working with SmallTownPapers to digitize a portion of its archives dating back more than 80 years. “We embraced this concept because it serves a wide audience of interest.”

For Robinson Newspapers, the digitizing project means peace of mind knowing that the bound archives can remain in storage – safe and intact - with few reasons for anyone to handle the delicate, aging pages of the bound books. Instead, newspaper reporters, researchers, genealogists and others needing information about their community’s history will have immediate access to a high-quality, easy-to-search, online version of the newspaper archives.

Publishers, including Robinson Newspapers, appreciate the careful handling of their bound volume archives. For the scanning of such delicate books, SmallTownPapers contracts with Maryland-based Crowley Micrographics, known for its experience, expertise and high quality standards in the “non-destructive” scanning of old and fragile bound books and large format materials such as newspapers. The company uses specialized, high-resolution, overhead scanners created by Zeutschel, a global leader in high performance scan systems.

Seattle-based SmallTownPapers, Inc., working with Crowley, has made millions of small-town newspaper pages online-accessible and searchable for the first time. Crowley has completed the digitization of more than two million pages of historical newspapers from small towns across the country. After set-up of services, the daily scanning volume averages more than 6.000 pages. Phase two of the project is currently underway: an anticipated 20 million pages which will be made online accessible and searchable. The collection is made up primarily of weekly newspapers, dating back as far as the 1800s. “This project would not be where it is today without Crowley,” said SmallTownPapers president Paul Jeffko in NewsWire Today. “They have earned the respect of our publishers who feel confident sending their one-of-a-kind materials to Crowley. “ This project has the potential to include up to 40 million pages over the next several years.