Posts Tagged ‘Crowley’
Million Reel Inventory Complete: Microfilm Collections Assessed
In February, we blogged about the start of a massive microfilm assessment project undertaken by Crowley Imaging. Just six months later, on Friday, September 1st, the project has been successfully completed ahead of schedule and within budget. Here’s the story of the microfilm conversion. Crunching numbers Working as a subcontractor, Crowley Imaging employed seven staff under the direction of on-site project manager Larry DeMarchi to inventory more than 1.4 million reels of microfilm. The inventory included the contents of 126…
Raising the Dead (or) Lost in Translation: The Microfilm Brouhaha
With the recent FamilySearch announcement that it will discontinue its microfilm distribution service has come confusion about the availability and necessity of microfilm. Three days after the announcement, we received this email (edited for space) from a family history librarian and archivist: “…I’m not sure how familiar you are with the family history community, but it was recently announced that FamilySearch is discontinuing its microfilm services. Additionally, a reputable family history blog claims that this development is because FamilySearch ‘cannot buy…
Happy Hanksgiving, Part Four
What a difference four years makes! When we first followed Hank, the beloved English bulldog of Crowley’s technical support administrator, Cassie Hahn, around the halls of Crowley three years ago he was a small ball of pudge waddling past adoring employees and modeling atop patron book scanners. Since then, Hank and Crowley have come together each “Hanksgiving” to reflect on the many things for which we at Crowley are thankful (and this year we’ve added Hank’s thanks as well). We…
Staying Power: A Conversation with The Crowley’s
The following blog post is an article published last month in IDMi Magazine. When one considers the changes in technology in the analog and digital imaging industries over the past four decades, it seems nearly impossible that a small firm has been able to survive – and thrive – while remaining an independent entity in a very narrow, niche market. Yet for 36 years, The Crowley Company has been a staple in the worlds of archival preservation, digitization and records…
Scanner Replacements: When Is The Time?
With many items, it’s easy to tell when it’s time to upgrade. Car, dryer, hot water heater…each has its own death knell “clunk” that results in a cash register “ching.” Other items, particularly those steeped in technology – phone, computer, cable services – lead to a war of want vs. need. Do we want the latest or do we need the latest? This same dilemma faces owners of front end capture systems that may still be serviceable, but which are…
Microfilm Theology
Every once in a while life hands you an easy button. In this case, the button is one of the easiest blogs I’ve never had to write. Last week, Crowley’s West Coast hardware representative, Ed Berkowitz, shared an article written by Ernie Smith, editor of Tedium. Titled “The Strange History of Microfilm, Which Will Be With Us for Centuries,” the writing is entertaining, educational and brings home the message we oft repeat here: microfilm lasts. Preach, Brother Smith! From Dancer…
Expanding Our Vision: The Crowley MACHCAM 71MP Hits the Road
What am I doing at the AIA Vision Show in Boston in a booth without a scanner? Short answer: I’m helping to launch Crowley’s brand new imaging and machine vision camera, the MACHCAM 71MP. Longer answer? I’m learning. A lot. This is a vertical with which we’ve had much in common, but always from the client side. Today, we’re vendors of – from what I have seen – one of the most exciting new products on the floor (well, in…
Out of the Shop and Into The Office
It was 2014 when I first walked through The Crowley Company’s doors. I had a feeling then that this place would become an important one for me, but I couldn’t have predicted the impact it would have on my understanding of myself and the world. As I leave the Technical Service Department to join the marketing team I look back on my initiation into the world of preservation and my subsequent evolution. I began as an intern in the marketing…
Reference Archives Have a New Search-and-Scan Solution
Crowley’s MACH7380 reference archive scanner was officially released to market this past December and has already found applications worldwide, including facets of finance (banking/insurance) and government/transportation (ie: motor vehicle administrations). “Reference archive” refers to the concept that the images are considered to be legally-recognized duplicates of originals that may no longer exist. Reference archives also provide copies of records to validate transactions and meet regulatory requirements. These duplicates usually reside on 16mm blipped (or image-marked) microfilm. A reference archive scanner,…
Medical Minutes Survive the Years with Digitization
Last October, in recognition of American Archives Month, Crowley Imaging collaborated with the Delaware Historical Society (DHS) to digitize “Minutes of the Medical Society of Delaware from May 12, 1789 to December 15, 1847.” Now 227 years old, this medical book was donated to DHS in 1888 by Dr. John P. Wales, a Delaware doctor who, according to DHS Chief Curator Dr. Constance Cooper, “practiced medicine in the Wilmington area for 60 years.” The son of a Senator, he was…