Blog
What the Crowley and PFU America Partnership Means for Document Capture Workflows
We’re pleased to see our recent certification as a PaperStream® Capture Pro Reseller Partner with PFU America, Inc. featured in The National Law review. Read The National Law full review here. While the article highlights the partnership, the broader story is what this means for organizations looking to modernize document capture, workflow automation, and digital transformation initiatives. Expanding Intelligent PFU America, Inc. Ricoh Document Capture Solutions For decades, The Crowley Company has focused on delivering the right capture technology for each…
The Benefits of Choosing Preservation-Grade Hardware
Preservation-grade is more than just a marketing phrase. Not all scanners are equal. For cultural heritage, government records, or institutional archives, “good enough” isn’t enough. Preservation-grade is a term that often appears in archival conservation, but it also can apply to digital preservation. The word preservation means keeping something safe from harm and in its original state. In conservation, preservation-grade materials and techniques do this by protecting, storing, or displaying items for long-term stability and minimal deterioration. Digital preservation aids…
Metadata in Digitization Projects: Types, Standards, and Best Practices
Metadata in digitization projects is a critical element that most people overlook. Without well-structured metadata, digitized collections quickly become difficult to manage, search, and reuse. Metadata enables organizations to locate files, understand how they were created, and maintain the integrity of digital assets over time. For archives, libraries, museums, and corporate records departments, consistent metadata ensures that digital collections remain searchable, organized, and usable long after the original digitization project is complete. Understanding Metadata in Digitization Projects At a high…
Preserving Nitrate Film Archives with End-to-End Digitization
Motion picture film has documented some of the most important cultural, scientific and historical moments of the past century. But many of the earliest films, and countless photographic negatives, were created on a medium that presents preservation challenges: nitrate film. Used widely from the late 19th century through the early 1950s, nitrate film offered excellent image quality but came with a major drawback. It is chemically unstable and highly flammable. Over time, nitrate film can deteriorate to the point where images…
Preservation vs. Access: Understanding the Difference
In conversations about digitization, two words surface again and again: preservation and access. They are two sides of the same coin, and understanding the distinction is essential for any organization responsible for safeguarding information, history, or institutional memory. Whether you are responsible for archival collections, government records, academic libraries, or corporate documents, long-term success depends on finding the right balance between the two. Preservation ensures that materials will be available for future generations, while access allows people to use and…
Upgrade vs. Replace: An Equipment Decision Guide
Utilize this information as a guide to help you determine if you should upgrade vs. replace your equipment. How to Evaluate Existing Systems for Evolving Digitization Needs As digitization needs change, many organizations find themselves asking a familiar question: should we upgrade our current equipment, or is it time to consider a full replacement? There is no single answer that fits every situation. The age of your equipment is only part of the story, and it is understandable to hesitate…
What Is Digital Preservation?
An Introduction to Long-Term Access, Authenticity, and Sustainability in Digitization Projects
Many people use the terms digital preservation and digitization as if they mean the same thing, but they are quite different. Scanning a document or converting film to a digital file is just the beginning. True digital preservation is what keeps that file accurate, accessible, and usable for years—sometimes decades—into the future. For organizations that care for records, archives, or cultural heritage collections, digital preservation is essential. It is the foundation that protects the investment in digitization and ensures that…
The Zeutschel OS C-Series Continues, Stronger Than Ever
The following The Zeutschel OS C-Series Continues, Stronger Than Ever blog from February 2026 has been edited by The Crowley Company and re-posted with permission from Crowley’s longtime partner, Zeutschel GmbH in Tubingen, Germany. The Crowley Company has been a distributor of Zeutschel GmbH large format, book, cultural heritage and camera system scanners for over 25 years. With the sale of the very last unit, the first generation of the Zeutschel OS C-Series scanner has officially come to an end….
The Gift of Speed: C400 Aperture Card Digitization
Cohen Anderson, nuclear records specialist for Southern Nuclear, in front of their C400 aperture card scanner. Technology is a universal hot ticket item for the holidays. For those in the digitization world, it is more than popular, it is necessary. With ever-evolving technology, collection custodians are faced with the task of finding the best scanners with the latest features and image quality while staying within their budget. Last December, Southern Nuclear, a nuclear energy facility based in Birmingham, AL, found…
A Very “OK” Newspaper
Scanning Project
Oklahoma Historical Society Makes Historic Microfilmed Newspapers Accessible Online Six years ago, in the heartland of America, where rugged landscapes meet resilient people, the diverse stories of Oklahoma are now made accessible through digital newspapers. The Oklahoma Historical Society (OHS) is taking enthusiastic steps to digitize over 4,000 newspaper titles which have been distributed in the Sooner State as far back as the 1840s (well before Oklahoma became an official state). Sarah Biller, the OHS Newspaper Department Supervisor gave The…