Digitize your personal library – then distribute it…illegally…

Atiz Innovation, Inc., a company specializing in content digitization, announced the release of BookSnap, the “first consumer book ‘ripper’.” For a mere $1,595, researchers, genealogists and readers have the ability to digitize their collections at a rate of 500 pages per hour. Using OCR (optical character recognition) technology and outputting to PDF format, publications can now be accessed through e-book readers and mobile devices while on the go.

“We designed the BookSnap for people who have always wanted to digitize their personal libraries but haven’t had a viable way to do it – until now,” said Nick Warnock, president, Atiz Innovation. “We sat down and said, ‘Can we innovate reading?’ How do we take what we are doing with our professional products and make a version tailored to the consumer?’ The result gives archival power to everyone, and changes the way people convert and access their books collections.”

The greater-than $1,500 price tag may still be a deterrent for the average consumer, however, we can expect to see distribution of these ‘digital copies’ take off just as we did with the onset of the mp3. In addition, copyright will become a greater issue for publishers as well as those who take it upon themselves to scan and distribute their personal libraries.

Though a consumer-grade book scanner may be the answer for family historians or personal archivists with the intent to preserve and share their microcosmic histories, a device of this kind is bound to cause havoc and we can expect discussions about digital rights management to flourish. The main question that needs to be asked of Nick Warnock, president of Atiz, is “Are you going to take responsibility for illegal content distribution and the lawsuits that follow? Or, are you going to take responsibility for the product you are releasing and become involved in the fight for DRM reform?”

WorldVitalRecords introduces ‘Preservation Package’

WorldVitalRecords has announced that it will “offer a new genealogical service to preserve photos, documents, videos and slides.”

The services offered include scanning documents, converting film-based medium, such as VHS to DVD, as well as digitizing content.

“The idea behind our Preservation Package was to provide a much broader dimension into helping people preserve their family legacy. With thousands of printed photographs and old videos that can become damaged or deteriorate, it only made sense for us to offer a service that allowed people to convert their items to a digital format. It has never been easier nor more cost effective to do that than today,” said Scott Spencer, Call Center Manager, WorldVitalRecords.com. “Customers can experience the piece of mind knowing their precious memories are safe and secure. Best of all, they can share them with family and friends quickly and easily, anywhere, any time, online through FamilyLink.com.”

These services are beginning to become a staple to genealogy research accessibility and community-based projects. However, in the preservation industry, the digital medium is still the subject of heated debate when it comes to preservation standards. Ones and zeros can be lost instantly due to human error, which DVDs are highly susceptible to, not to mention the quality of the actual disk.

Genealogical Society of Utah, National Archives and Footnote.com work to digitize Civil War Era pension files

The Genealogical Society of Utah (GSU) and the National Archives have announced a partnership to “digitize approved pension applications of widows of Civil War Union soldiers…” Operating as FamilySearch.org, the GSU, in conjunction with Footnote.com, intents to work with the National Archives to release more than 1.2 million files.

These records, of great interest to genealogists and others, are currently available only at the National Archives Building in Washington, DC. The widows’ pension application files, a rich source of information about ordinary American citizens of the time, include supporting documents such as affidavits, depositions of witnesses, marriage certificates, birth records, death certificates, and pages from family bibles.

Rare palm-leaf collections microfilmed and digitized

With help from the U.S. Consulate-General, rare palm-leaf collections residing at the United Theological College in Bangalore have been digitized and microfilmed. The project, launched in October 2006, started with a $35,000 grant from the U.S. Department of State, under the Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Presentation.

“Some of the original material available in the library archive was getting old and had become brittle. Theological and secular scholars involved in research in sociology, ethnography and history have been using the library facilities, and digitising will help in providing better access to the materials.”

The collection includes manuscripts that are more than 200 years old, written in several Indian languages. The “first printed Bible in India that dates back to the 18th century” is also included in the collection.

More historical documents to be released online

In the near future, we will see one of the largest historical document collections released on the internet. In August of this year, the Allen County Public Library, located in Fort Wayne, Ind., partnered with Brigham Young University’s Harold B. Lee Library and Salt Lake City’s Family History Library to digitize family history records, city and county information, and historic directories.

When complete, the results will be the most comprehensive collection of city and county histories on the Web and can be accessed free online at www.familyhistoryarchive.byu.edu. The digitized collections will have “every word” search capability that allows users to search the collection by name, location, date or other field. The search results are linked to high-quality digital images of the original publication.

Related Links:

We the People: More historical records available on Internet

The Porterville Recorder to digitize and preserve historic archives

Heritage Microfilm, Inc., a newspaper preservation and digitization company has announced an agreement with the Porterville Recorder to digitize and preserve the publication’s historic archive.

From the press release:

The historic archives of The Porterville Recorder, a Freedom Communications newspaper in Porterville, California, will soon be accessible on microfilm, as well as in a searchable online database, through Heritage Microfilm. The newspaper, which was first published on May 21, 1908, contains a wealth of historical and genealogical information from Southern California.

Boston Library Consortium chooses the Open Content Alliance to digitize content

While many institutions are turning to companies like Google and Microsoft for their digitization and distribution needs, the Boston Library Consortium has chosen a different route. Last week, the consortium, made up of 19 state and institutional libraries announced that the Open Content Alliance (OCA) has been chosen to digitize its collection of books and other print materials currently in the public domain. The project will be based at Boston Public Library, which houses a new scanning facility developed by Internet Archive, a non-profit organization based in San Francisco.

The goal of the project is to release the final product – materials comprised from all of the participating institutions throughout the New England Area – without the constraints of working with a proprietary publisher such as Google. By selecting the OCA, the coalition has ensured that all content will be searchable by any search engine and available to the public.

The BLC’s Executive Director, Barbara G. Preece commented, “The Boston Library Consortium is excited about its partnership with the Open Content Alliance and its members. The Consortium believes that this collaboration is the living articulation of the BLC’s view to expand access to its rich resources held by the membership. The BLC/OCA project will ensure that materials digitized will remain free and open to scholars and the public.”

Press Release:
Boston Library Consortium Partners with Open Content Alliance to Provide Public Access to Digitized Books