Posts Tagged ‘Microfilm’
Mekel Scanner Production
is Right on Time
First the bad news. “Remember how you couldn’t get toilet paper a year ago? It is the same with microchips right now.” Now the good news. “Our production for this year is on track and we’re still working on standard delivery time – in some cases, one day.” Both quotes are attributed to Crowley’s U.S. director of manufacturing, electrical engineer Jeff Helm, as he responds to questions about the worldwide shortage of manufacturing parts and its effect on Crowley’s Mekel…
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…
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…
Digitizing The Reporter: Archives of Akron’s Only African American Newspaper Online
Each February, Crowley highlights a digitization project that has bearing on Black History Month. Today we feature the newspaper digitization of The Reporter, which has been documenting the African American community in Akron, Ohio since 1969. Past posts discuss an 1841 edition of the Morning Star, a Freewill Baptist publication that advocated for abolition, the digitized records of The Central Lunatic Asylum for Colored Insane and the research of tax assessment and slave records of Cecil County, Maryland. Each project, including…
It’s Been Quite A Week: Scanners, Trade Shows, Giveaways, Authors and Features
This has been one of those weeks where Monday felt like Thursday and today feels like…well…next week. It’s been a whirlwind. May I share what we’ve been up to so that you can enjoy the journey with us? Along the way you’ll find some terrific purchasing opportunities and a great read. Scanners UScan+ Universal Film Scanner Line Updated The popular UScan+ line of microfilm reader printers, winner of a 2018 Modern Library Award, has been updated with new models and…
National Parks Preservation (the Digital Version)
October is American Archives Month, a celebration of America’s history and the archivists, organizations and physical buildings that keep them safe and available to the world at large. Each week this month we’ll highlight a facet of how The Crowley Company partners with archivists and historians to help preserve and share American archives. Last March my husband and I ran away. We flew into Miami, I sweet-talked (badgered?) him into renting a convertible and we followed the sunshine over some of America’s most stunning waterways,…
DAR, Darling: Digitizing Revolutionary Ladies
October is American Archives Month, a celebration of America’s history and the archivists, organizations and physical buildings that keep them safe and available to the world at large. Each week this month we’ll highlight a facet of how The Crowley Company partners with archivists and historians to help preserve and share American archives. In a previous blog, we detailed the factions of the National Society Daughters of the Revolution (NSDAR) and the many ways in which The Crowley Company has partnered to preserve…
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…