MarinGenSoc-L Archives

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Subject: [MarinGenSoc] SLC library's new toy
Date: Fri, 13 Apr 2001 09:23:49 EDT

This came in my email this morning - pretty cool!
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This month as I went to the FHL, another surprise was
waiting for me. Imagine being able to scan a microfilm and
burn that image onto a CD-ROM. Think I am teasing you
with the future? The future is now.

Outside the Copy Center on the second floor, the US and
Canada floor, where the change machines used to be is a
desk. On that desk there is a microfilm scanner, much like
those in the Copy Center. However, instead of a printer,
this scanner has a desktop computer and monitor attached.
The desktop computer has a CD burner.

In order to create a CD-ROM, you must first sign up for a
30-minute time slot. As you can imagine these slots fill
quickly. You also need to purchase a CD-ROM disk from
the Copy Center attendants. The cost of the CD-ROM is
$1.75. When you consider the number of images that you
can put on a single disk, the cost is reasonable, though it is
more expensive than the bulk CD-ROMs that you may be
able to pick up at your local computer store.

The software used for the scanning is easy to understand.
The directions found by the side of the unit are easy to
follow. You put your disk in the disk drive. You put your
microfilm on the reader. Then you use the mouse to select
the Scan option on screen. If you do not like the image that
appears, you have the option to rescan, making changes in
the brightness and other options first.

Once you have scanned the microfilms you want, you can
either eject the CD-ROM to add to later, or you can create
the CD so that it is viewable on any other system. This is
an important step. If you do not create the CD-ROM, you
will not be able to view it when you get home.

While the scanner does require multiple scans to get a census
page, the technology and the ability to digitize images on
the spot, as opposed to making copies which I will then take
home and scan, is a nice addition to the Family History
Library.

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