Blog
Achieve Measurable Quality Standards for Document Digitization with InoTec
The below has been translated and edited by The Crowley Company from a March 2021 interview with Postmaster Magazine* and re-posted with permission from InoTec GmbH. The Crowley Company has been a distributor of InoTec production-level document scanners since 1998 and has recently worked with the InoTec manufacturing team in Wölfersheim, Germany to achieve Federal Agencies Digital Guidelines Initiative (FADGI) three-star imaging ratings on the InoTec 4×3 and 6×1 scanner models. High-performance scanning systems now meet central standards for image…
Alexander Hamilton: The Man, The Musical, The Microfilm
This Sunday, the 72nd Annual Tony Awards will recognize achievement in Broadway productions during the past season. Although it’s been two years since “Hamilton: An American Musical” stormed the stage, winning 11 of its 16 nominations, the musical continues to dominate live theatre across the world and bring attention to one of America’s well-known adopted sons and most colorful historic figures, Alexander Hamilton. This gives us the perfect chance to promote interest in the digitization and online accessibility of the Library…
Preparing for the Unimaginable: Emergency Planning for Libraries, Museums, and Archives
With the recent containment of the LA wildfires, now begins the challenging process of assessing the damage and restoring what once was. Unfortunately, many historical sites, libraries, archives, and museums in Southern California have been severely impacted, with countless artifacts lost and buildings destroyed or damaged. Sadly, this is a reality that many communities across the country continue to face, as natural disasters—whether wildfires, hurricanes, floods, or other incidents—threaten lives, homes, and irreplaceable cultural heritage. In times like these, communities…
Honoring A Legacy: Celebrating 50 Years of Mekel Technology
You might expect a company in the business of preservation to have an extensive archive of its own history. Surprisingly, that’s not always the case. As Mekel Technology, a Crowley Company, (also known as Mekel Engineering until 1999) celebrates its 50th anniversary, we find ourselves reflecting on a remarkable journey that began with a small team of visionaries and on the importance of preserving the history that brought us together. From its modest beginnings in a garage to becoming leaders…
Preserving Voices: Digitizing Howard University’s Historic Black Newspaper Collection
In a landmark move that bridges the past and present, Howard University, through its Moorland-Spingarn Research Center (MSRC) and in collaboration with Howard’s Center for Journalism and Democracy, has embarked on an ambitious project to digitize its historic Black newspaper collection. This effort, powered by a significant partnership with The Crowley Company (Crowley), represents a monumental stride towards making thousands of Black publications accessible in a global digital repository. It’s a project that not only promises to unlock the vast narratives…
Mount Vernon’s Digital Decade:
10 Years of Scanning Projects with The Crowley Company
Nearly 10 years after The Crowley Company’s (Crowley) original blog on digitizing collections with George Washington’s Mount Vernon, the two institutions continue to share the legacy of George and Martha through digital preservation. Since then, Crowley has assisted in six Mount Vernon scanning projects (producing over 20,000+ digital images). While the materials have changed and the technology has advanced, the process and partnership have remained constant. In honor of the first ever State of the Union address (given by George…
Innovating Tradition: Belmont University’s Special Collections Digitization
Belmont University Scans School and Alumni History using the Zeutschel OS C Book Scanner Established in 1890 in the heart of Nashville, Tennessee, Belmont University began providing women with not just an education but a platform for cultural, intellectual and social development. In doing so, the university set what would become its legacy for innovation and embracing change. The university’s latest step towards technological innovation — the purchase of a Zeutschel OS C overhead book scanner — both advances the…
A Call from the Past: Embracing the History and Future of Aperture Card Scanners
It all started when I received a voice message from Walter (Walt) Spicer, a former records management professional from Napa, California. In his short (but informative) message, he told me the story of his patent for a machine which created aperture cards and asked if The Crowley Company (Crowley) could send an aperture card as a memento of his life’s work to pass along to future generations. This interaction sparked the realization that the motivation of Walt’s request paralleled the…
Overhead Scanners are Irreplaceable for Document Digitization
The following blog was originally posted by Zeutschel GmbH and is reposted with permission. Scanning services providers are currently facing major challenges. More and more projects require the parallel processing of difficult and mixed documents. In addition, there is a clear trend towards the digitization of bound documents. Dokumenten- und Datenservice Wandel GmbH (DD Wandel) shows how these tasks can be successfully mastered with the use of overhead scanners. As part of national cultural funding programs, many municipal archives have…
Meet Kitty Lamberger, Digitization Road Warrior
Crowley’s Onsite Scanning Services Enhance Client Comfort While Providing Valuable Life Experience If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know that this blog typically features individuals who are of historic importance and/or tied to a specific archival collection. In today’s post, we take a short departure (departure being the key word!) to introduce Kitty Lamberger, a vital member of The Crowley Company’s Digitization Services’ onsite scanning team. Kitty has traveled the U.S. from coast to coast, leaving friends and family for…