For over ten years, Digital Preservation has been providing special collections and brittle paper digitization services to Libraries, Universities and various Archives throughout the Mid-West. We wish to thank those individuals and organizations that have supported our mission to capture history for the future, one page at a time! Thank you!

            Some of the past year’s highlights and acknowledgements are:

            Summer, 2008, Digital Preservation spent several weeks digitizing over 1400 pages of the Times of Skinker – DeBaliviere Newpaper,1970-1990 editions,11”X17”. We wish to thank Jo Ann Vatacha and Marj Weir for the opportunity to assist with their goal of on-line accessibility.

            Also, we were called upon by the Missouri State Archives to digitize the original watercolor plat of St. Louis’ Tower Grove Park, 83.5” X 27”. The plat had been mounted, at some point during its life, so to accommodate, we spent the day at the Park. The original has been safely stored away, leaving a facsimile, we printed, in it’s place. Assorted sized prints are available through the Park.

            Our next adventure took us to the Champaign / Urbana, Illinois area. We spent two weeks digitizing Land Records/Plats of Champaign County, Illinois. All 3896 plats were done on-site, with the files saved to an external hard drive, providing Barbara Frasca, Champaign County Recorder of Deeds, instant access to the County’s brittle paper land plats.

            The next project involved the digitization of the 3300 working architectural renderings, 37” X 24”, of The Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. The project,
for the National Park Service, was coordinated by, Dan Worth, of Bahr Vermeer Haecker Architects, Lincoln, Nebraska. Working with Dan and Al O’Bright, Historical Architect, National Park Service, we determined the appropriate file specs and derivatives required for all the anticipated uses. I wish to thank David Straight, Washington University’s West Campus Librarian, and Washington University for hosting this three-month digitization initiative.

            Concurrently, we digitized four dozen, 40”X 60”, architectural submissions from the 1940’s, Jefferson National Expansion Memorial Competition. The files were utilized in an exhibit at Washington University’s Sam Fox School of Design & Visual Arts Center. We want to thank Jennifer Clark, Archivist, National Park Service and to acknowledge she was correct, moving 6’ X 4’ boxes, each packed with six to eight, 40”X 60” boards was crazy! Especially from the second floor of the Old Courthouse, without an elevator! Then back up again. Oh, what we do for history!

            We, also, had the pleasure to work with Eric Newman again, digitizing counterfeit early American coins and currency for display in the Newman Coin Museum, at Washington University.
           
            After the Holidays, we embarked on a digital quest, to digitize 4000 images on film and print. The Atlanta History Center, Atlanta, Georgia is developing an
e-commerce web-site, the Atlanta History Center Album, offering digital images, for a fee, to publishers, news outlets and researchers. To date, working with Paul Crater, Director, Kenan Research Center, we have digitized over 13,000 photographic images, which will be available on-line soon.

            Thanks to Carole Prietto, Provincial Archivist, Daughters of Charity, we had the opportunity to see the Daughters community involvement during World War I. The digitization of 110 glass plate negatives allows us all to see the now positive scene unfolding before the photographer, at that moment in history.

            When digitizing negative images, I’m never sure of what I am really seeing. Sometimes it’s a face, but whose? The magic occurs when you invert it to a positive! Suddenly it’s Roosevelt, Truman or McArthur! And you never know who may be next.

            In March, 2009, Digital Preservation, working with the Saint Louis Public Library, established a St. Louis City presence. Digital Preservation has on-site digitization available in Room #309, Central Branch, Saint Louis Public Library, 1301 Olive Street. Last year, Digital Preservation, was awarded the Library’s Digital Imaging Contract and, this year, an annual service agreement through February, 2010. I would like to thank Waller McGuire, Executive Director, for his dedication to this amazing institution, understanding that digitization is a new workflow for libraries and hosting digital initiatives under his roof. We are pleased to have the opportunity, with the cooperation of Barb Knotts, Jean Gosebrink and Joe Winkler, to illuminate many of the Library’s hidden treasures!

We were privileged to digitize St. Joseph Asylum Child Registers, 1835 – 1904, for Audrey Newcomer, Director, Archdiocese of St. Louis Archives. About 50-75 of the early pages are fading, with much of the handwriting illegible. One form of digital magic, is the ability to recover disappearing information. The manipulation of the light spectrum can allow for the recovery of lost history!

Other projects included, the Times of Skinker – DeBaliviere, 1990 to 2002, 800 pages, Washington Historical Society glass plate negatives, and 821 plats for the Crawford County, Kansas Register of Deeds.

            So this past year, we have digitally recovered lost history, learned how to build an Arch, helped Atlanta put their past on-line and can now recognize a negative image of Bess Truman. What’s more important are institutions are learning that digitization is a new workflow and that collections can generate a revenue stream, even in a troubled economy.

            Whether you wish to provide on-line access to material, produce facsimile prints for exhibit or sale, have negatives without names or fading information, Digital Preservation can help.

We were grateful to have had the opportunity to see many of you, at the MAC meeting, this past Spring. Please contact us to discuss our Summer service discount and how we can help you with your digital projects. Thank you!

Bob Lyner
Owner
lyner@sbcglobal.net
www.digpreservation.com
314 378-8054