Kim, This question has been coming up a lot lately!
I've been working with the University of North Texas a lot on the Texas Digital Newspaper Program (http://tdnp.unt.edu), which is a spin-off from the NEH and Library of Congress National Digital Newspaper Program and meets all of their standards. So far, the cheapest way to scan newspapers has been to work from the microfilm (specifically, first generation negative copies from the master). If the newspaper has not been microfilmed, the Texas State Library can do it for a very low cost, and you get a preservation copy of the microfilm as a bonus. The costs for the UNT newspaper project are higher than some other vendors, partly because the quality of the result is much higher. Heritage Microfilm will digitize newspapers (including both images and full-text OCR, hosted at newspaperarchive.com) for essentially the cost of the microfilm, and a number of libraries are working with them. There are a number of other vendors doing the same thing. The difficulty with scanning newspapers is typically their size. Some communities have smaller-format papers, 11x17 or so, that would fit in a flatbed scanner. The Epson 10000XL is a good choice, for around $3,000, and is also a very good scanner for photos and other materials. If your paper is larger than that, you need a high-resolution camera in what's called a "planetary scanner." The film camera version of this is what is used to produce the microfilm. A digital camera with enough resolution to capture the newspaper will cost upwards of $15,000, plus the cost of the stand. The software to do OCR for full-text searching ranges from a few thousand to several thousand dollars, depending on how industrial-strength your needs are. A number of folks recently have also asked about funding for newspaper digitization. The NEH/LC project has funding, but the papers must meet certain criteria established annually by LC. An advisory board, of which I have been a member, reviews titles nominated by the UT Center for American History for suitability. The Tocker Foundation is helping smaller communities to join the Texas Digital Newspaper Project; they funded the digitization of the Tulia newspaper this year, and I hope that they will be able to work with more communities in the future. Several libraries have applied for grants from the state library; UNT and the Center for American History were awarded a TexTreasures grant to digitize some of the state's oldest papers, and there is a possible cooperation grant pending to digitize another paper, which the state library Commission is reviewing. The next opening for applications for grants from the state library will be in the spring. Loan Star money can also be used, and some systems are taking an interest in newspaper digitization. There is little other national money for newspaper digitization, but there are many state and local foundations who will consider awards for this purpose. Other states have been successful in encouraging communities to take ownership of their newspapers through digitization; newspaper digitization seems to be a project that businesses and community groups are willing to support financially. A last word: there are copyright issues for papers more recent than 1923. Many publishers in small communities have been willing to give permission to the library to digitize more recent material. If you want to go this route, I'd be happy to help you get the paperwork to make sure that there won't be any issues later on. Hope this helps! -- Danielle Cunniff Plumer, Coordinator Texas Heritage Digitization Initiative Texas State Library and Archives Commission 512.463.5852 (phone) / 512.936.2306 (fax) [EMAIL PROTECTED] -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Kim Kroll Sent: Fri 9/5/2008 9:29 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [ctls-l] Newspaper Scanners Does anyone have a scanner for newspapers? If yes, what kind? Kim Adele Kroll Director Lena Armstrong Public Library P.O. Box 120 Belton, Texas 76513
