Crowley Introduces IMAGEhost for Online Microfilm Collection Hosting and Sharing

FREDERICK, Maryland  – Patrick Crowley, vice president of The Crowley Company, announced today that IMAGEhost, The Crowley Company’s new microfilm image hosting, viewing and sharing platform, is released to market.

Crowley
IMAGEhost viewers can scroll through microfilm collections in their original format from any desktop, tablet or phone by simply logging in with a password

The platform allows viewers to sign in to a secure portal to view an organization’s microfilm collection in its original format. “This is a multi-solution offering,” explains Crowley. “It is ideal for both large and small organizations such as libraries, circuit courts, museums and historical societies – any group that has microfilm collections they’d like to share electronically in-house or with the public.”

Viewers can quickly search the microfilm by name or file number. Using the OCR option, operators can easily find specific images and files, edit to adjust for film quality or redaction purposes and save, print or email. View video here.

Three Options Deliver Client Flexibility

Crowley continues, “Many collections languish in vaults and other storage because the investment in archival preservation scanning or building a hosting infrastructure is cost-prohibitive. With IMAGEhost, there are three options. The first is for Crowley Imaging, our service bureau, to scan and host the microfilm online – a cost-effective method of digitization that still allows end-users to easily search and save images. A second option is for owners of Crowley’s Mekel Technology MACH 5, 10 or 12 microfilm scanners to scan their own microfilm collections and then utilize IMAGEhost’s hosting services. The third is for organizations that prefer to host their microfilm collections on their own server. They simply purchase the software and either scan the microfilm themselves if they’re MACH-series owners or utilize Crowley Imaging’s digitization services.”

Cost Benefits

IMAGEhost offers savings in several primary areas:

  • Initial scanning. Because IMAGEhost calls for microfilm capture only, it eliminates the post-processing steps necessary for typical archive-quality images. This speeds up the digitization process and significantly reduces costs. End-users retain the option to copy and save images and organizations can choose the process of archival preservation (the more traditional output of single images which been through post-processing) at a later date or as budget permits using the original film scans.
  • Hosting. Clients without a current hosting solution save the cost of building a complicated in-house infrastructure, which typically includes intensive IT development labor, the system, software coding and online storage fees.
  • Microfilm wear and tear. As the original microfilm is no longer subject to constant handling, the reduced wear and tear can help ensure the film’s long-term structural integrity.

Film scanningA Level Playing Field

“What most excites me about this offering,” says Crowley, “is that it levels the playing field between those with larger and those with smaller collections. The commonality, in many cases, is that they each have funding and technology challenges related to digitization and sharing platforms. While IMAGEhost may be most cost-effective for large volumes of microfilm, it is still a very affordable option for those with smaller collections.”

He continues, “From newspapers to land deeds to birth and financial records, there are archived remnants of the past that can shed light on genealogy, history, geography, culture and more. IMAGEhost can help to shake the dust off of some of these reels by getting them online for reach to a far wider community.”

For information on pricing or additional product details, call (240) 215-0224.

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About The Crowley Company

The Crowley Company is a world-leader in digital and analog imaging technologies and conversion services. The company manufactures, distributes and services high-resolution cameras, high-speed microfilm, microfiche, aperture card, book and document scanners, microfilm duplicators, film processors and micrographics equipment and offers a full range of digitization imaging services.

 

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