Scanning

Some people think scanning and digitizing are the same thing.  In reality, scanning (or photographing) is only the first step of the digitization process — but it is a very important step.  Controlled lighting and well-calibrated equipment make for preservation-quality imaging.  We provide archival-quality image capture, upholding preservation standards.

We provide:

    • High quality digital scans for preservation purposes
    • Formats built for quick web access and usability
    • Off site scanning, at our headquarters in Connecticut.
    • On site scanning, done by an experienced technician
    • Tools and guidance, if you choose to do it yourself.

The integrity of a digital document and the experience of using it depend upon an excellent image — however you use your documents afterwards, you can be assured that Iota Imaging will deliver a high-quality initial image.

 

 

Metadata

Information is only as good as your ability to find it.  We structure your digital data, so material is easily found with search, and is readily connected to related resources.

We provide:

    • Metadata migration from spreadsheets or catalogs to appropriate digital formats
    • Descriptive metadata in industry-standard formats such as EAD, MARC, METS, and ALTO.
    • Technical metadata that describes the digital resource, and traces its history.

 

 

Optical Character Recognition:

OCR, or Optical Character Recognition is the method of deriving text data from a page image. At Iota Imaging, our OCR capacity allows conversion of large volumes of documents efficiently.  Our preprocessing techniques allow us to derive clear text from damaged, marked or faded historical documents.

We provide:

    • Fully searchable texts, generated with the most reliable OCR software
    • Digital enhancement to improve the output of OCR – turning previously unreadable images into a high quality digital text.
    • Multi-lingual OCR.  We can recognize text in diverse scripts, including Asian fonts and early typefaces.
    • Machine translation of OCR text to facilitate search through keywording and indexing.

 

 

Database creation:

Availability alone does not promote access. Appropriate database and search structures allow users to easily navigate to the resources they want, and to find connections to related materials.

We provide:

    • Custom-built databases, up to the best standards of reliability, search, and access.
    • Document repositories that facilitate search and storage of heterogenous materials
    • Indexing and search
    • Emphasis on open source solutions for flexibility and economy.

or

    • Data formatted to fit the needs of your existing database schema.