It's been a long time since I have posted to this blog. Life has changed in several ways, and I found myself with nothing I felt needed saying for a long while. I will probably not be posting a lot, but I will try to be a little more present than I have been for a long while.
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| Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=38072749 |
Today, I came across an article about how different technologies and techniques are being used to help preserve and digitize old newsprint. Newspapers present a particular challenge because the paper they are printed on is thin, very low quality and acidic, which makes it age and become brittle relatively rapidly. Add to that poor storage conditions, and you have a very difficult proposition for digital storage and preservation.
The article can be found here:
http://petapixel.com/2017/01/05/using-humidification-electrostatic-force-digitizing-old-newspapers/
There are a couple of time-lapse videos of the processes used to remove wrinkles and hold the papers flat for better image quality. They also deal with broken papers which can result in a jigsaw puzzle of pieces to hold in place. There are also a couple of before and after images to show the improvements gained by using these techniques. Unfortunately, they're out of reach for the average home genealogist, but hopefully they will improve the legibility of online sources so we can all benefit from them in the future.
This and all other articles on this blog are © copyright 2017 by Daniel G. Dillman
