Archive for the ‘Digitization Products’ Category
From Gunsight Cameras to Microfilm Scanners to Whatever’s Next: Mekel Technology plays on for nearly 50 years
You’re channel surfing and a movie catches your attention. You’ve missed the beginning but you pick up enough to be thoroughly engaged and end up watching the whole thing. Ever happen? That’s a good analogy for my journey with Mekel Technology (Mekel). I’ve worked at The Crowley Company for over a decade and know a fair amount about our Mekel product line, but I missed the beginning. With the advent of Mekel 2.0, the latest iteration of Mekel Technology scanner…
It’s MayDay: Are Your Archives Safe?
Search “May Day” on the internet and you’ll find descriptions of centuries of Spring celebrations (including a peculiar little outdoor soiree where cattle had to jump over fire to protect their milk from being stolen by fairies), the canonization of Saint Walpurga, the crowning of Queen Mary, the maypole, International Workers’ Day and a myriad of other associations that can lead to a lost hour (or more) of trivia pursuit. Put the words “MayDay” together and in the space…
MIND THE GAP: The MACH Mini Scanner fills a Void in Microfilm Capture
“Please mind the gap.” If you’ve ever been to London and taken the Tube – England’s version of New York’s Subway, Chicago’s “L” or Washington, DC’s and Los Angeles’ Metro – you’ve heard this quintessential phrase. It’s repeated in a (most civilised!) British accent at every stop upon every door open and close. On the surface, it’s a safety warning to mind the space between the train and the platform. Heard repeatedly, it doesn’t take much for one to jump…
Small Changes, Big Impact: Discover the Next Generation zeta Book Scanner
This week, Zeutschel – Crowley’s longtime distribution partner based in Tübingen, Germany – announced the next generation of the zeta walk-up book scanner. While the new zeta remains true to the original’s capture ability and ease-of-use, there are a several hardware and software advancements that will have a major impact on operation. In this week’s blog, we’ll give you the skinny on the zeta scanner enhancements, features and how to upgrade your existing unit (or buy a new one if you’ve been…
The Gift of Digitization
With Thanksgiving under my belt (in more ways than one), I’m jumping into the holiday season with two feet. For myself and others across the globe, the next few weeks will be spent combing through aisles of products and relentlessly searching online for the perfect holiday gifts. During my exhaustive search for presents that are both practical and meaningful, I was reminded of a few Crowley clients that gave the thoughtful and useful gift of digitization in the forms of…
Celebrating American Archives
October is officially American Archives month and we’ve been so busy with the day-to-day of digitizing collections, pairing scanners to end-users and attending trade shows that we find the month quickly escaping. So we’re going to stop, take a breath and celebrate just a few of the American archives and their owners and industries that we’ve had the pleasure to work with over the past twelve months. From a First Lady (Typefaces, Animal Rights and the “It” Girl) to Pro…
Celebrating Alastair
Wicks and Wilson Purchasing Manager Retires with 35 Years Alastair Fitzroy Blair has worked for Wicks and Wilson since January 31, 1983. This Friday, on July 27th, he will wrap up 35 years with one company and a total of 47 years in purchasing for industrial firms in the Basingstoke, UK area. His is a story of many which often goes untold; a quiet hero who does his job well, day in and day out, serving with loyalty, for the…
Digitized Court Records Increase Efficiency and Access
Court trials have long been a topic of public fascination in America starting with the first recorded murder trial on U.S. soil in 1800 and, more recently, in true crime documentaries like Making a Murderer and The Staircase (my most recent Netflix binge watch). While internally debating the guilt or innocence of Michael Peterson, it reminded me that digitized court records such as licenses, dockets, deeds, wills, laws, case dispositions, subpoenas and other information are crucial in accurately creating a usable record of history…
What the FADGI %*#&!? Part Three: Selecting Equipment to Achieve FADGI Compliance
Part One (Understanding Basics) and Part Two (Is FADGI for Everyone?) of our FADGI blog series have laid the groundwork for this final piece of the puzzle – understanding the equipment needs for capturing images that achieve FADGI standards. I know you’ve been waiting with bated breath for Part Three, so here we are at last. To aid in my own understanding, I recruited the expertise of Crowley’s in-house technical guru on all things FADGI, Corin van de Griek. Corin…
What the FADGI %*#&!? Part Two: Is FADGI for Everyone?
Lesson from my parents: Just because it’s cool doesn’t make it right. As a teen, this advice was definitely not well-received. A few decades removed, I can more appreciate the sentiment (and also the fact that it was more likely budget-driven than about taking the moral high road). It might be a bit of a stretch, but FADGI is cool…and it also isn’t (yet) for everyone. Recap: What is FADGI? In Part One of this series, we identified FADGI as a…