Hi Stephanie. My suggestion would be to find a reputable place that does large-format scanning and write them into the grant. In Massachusetts, we are lucky enough to have a situation where the Boston Public Library will take documents and books from state local history and municipal organizations and scan them using state-of-the-art equipment (they are collaborating with Archive.org), so long as the items are inventoried and willing to be put up online on the Digital Commonwealth site. The program is free, though we needed grant hours to inventory and pack our boxes of items going off to be scanned. Maybe check around to see if Colorado has some similar program. But if not, is there an outfit that could handle the work, and build travel transport costs into the grant? Good luck. Let us know what you end up doing. best, --Kathie Kathie Gow Curator, Hatfield Historical Museum hatfieldhistory at weebly Oral History Producer words pictures stories On Wed, Sep 26, 2018 at 7:41 PM Stephanie Gilmore <[log in to unmask]> wrote: > Dear Museum Colleagues, > > > > I am about to apply for a grant to purchase digitization equipment, > specifically for digitizing large (over 36” wide) fragile maps and > engineering drawings. My museum is very limited in space; I know that’s a > common issue for us all. Ideally, in my experience archival documents > should be shot using high resolution TIFF images, with a camera whilst laid > flat with a neutral background, photo scale, and color scale. They > shouldn’t be passed through a roller scanner, and from what I know, > scanners don’t seem to scan beyond 600dpi. But, the flat shoot scenario > requires a tremendous amount of space that we don’t really have. The only > space I can think of has several issues for such a setup: > > 1) It’s our board’s meeting room, and essentially the only staff > meeting room on site. > > 2) It’s not secure from the public, custodial staff, or volunteers. > > 3) It’s very bright with lots of windows that would need to be > covered. > > 4) There are many longtime volunteers and board members who would > take personal offense at repurposing that space, and covering the windows, > no matter how good the cause may be for digitizing. > > > > The alternative is to purchase a scanner that has rollers which documents > would pass through. Although still a large piece of equipment, this would > fit in an available basement workspace where it’s a little more secure > (away from public and custodial staff, and only trained volunteers can > use). We could create a Mylar sleeve to protect documents from catching as > they pass through the scanner, but I realize that this will still squeeze > the documents and cause potential damage. > > > > My question to you all is whether we should write the grant to purchase > the “ideal” setup for digitizing, and squeeze it into the board room, > potentially an insecure and politically troublesome move, or if we should > make do and go for a roller scanner due to our limited space. > > > > My initial thought is we should do the best we can with what we’ve got, > and in the absence of adequate space to create a full photo-shoot > digitization laboratory, we probably have to settle for a station with a > roller scanner. > > > > The end goal is to get these documents digitized to make them > electronically available and to protect the originals, which either > scenario would allow. > > > > Thoughts appreciated! > > > > Stephanie Gilmore > > Curator of Collections > > Colorado Railroad Museum > > ------------------------------ > > To unsubscribe from the MUSEUM-L list, click the following link: > http://home.ease.lsoft.com/scripts/wa-HOME.exe?SUBED1=MUSEUM-L&A=1 > ========================================================= Important Subscriber Information: The Museum-L FAQ file is located at http://www.finalchapter.com/museum-l-faq/ . You may obtain detailed information about the listserv commands by sending a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "help" (without the quotes). If you decide to leave Museum-L, please send a one line e-mail message to [log in to unmask] . The body of the message should read "Signoff Museum-L" (without the quotes).