The Client
The McClay Library at Queen’s University is home to the university’s main library and research facilities. It is host to a large archive of historical documents, text, manuscripts and photographs, all of which are made available to students for research purposes.
The Problem
The Special Collections & Archives section within the McClay Library aims to preserve and protect the important historical materials held by the university and improve access to its collections for students. As part of its ongoing work, the McClay Library took the decision to digitally capture several of its historical collections.
What We Did
Each collection had a unique set of requirements and to ensure they were successfully captured; Mallon provided Queen’s University Belfast with a range of different Document Capture services. All of the projects were carried out at our –purpose–built data capture facility in Cookstown. Details of all the projects can be seen below.
The Wright Pamphlet Collection
The digital capture of the Wright Pamphlet collection was carried out in 2 separate phases. Phase 1 contained 49 volumes and phase 2, 47 volumes. In total, the entire collection included approximately 5,500 pages.
The volumes were generally A4 in size and were captured and presented in single page format at 400 dpi preservation master TIFF. The books were captured using our bespoke scanner and the resulting images were passed through image fixing software to ensure a fully readable and coherent image. At the request of the customer, a uniform border was applied to all images.
The preservation master images were passed through OCR processing to create a fully searchable PDF–A and Word Document. The PDF–A images provide the university with a more secure file that conforms to archiving standards. The OCR process had an accuracy output exceeding 97%. Derivative JPEF images were also created from the preservation master TIFFs.
On completion of the project, Mallon had captured 5,573 images. The final data was then delivered to the customer on an external hard drive.
The Stephen Gilbert Novel Collection
This collection was made up of 2 novels; one novel had 2 working drafts and other had 3 working drafts. The entire collection contained approximately 1,600 pages.
The novels were generally loose–leaf A4 pages and were captured using our bespoke scanner. The images were presented in single page format at 400dpi preservation master TIFF.
The preservation master images were passed through OCR processing to create a fully searchable PDF–A and Word document. The OCR process had an accuracy output exceeding 97%.
On completion of the project, Mallon had captured 1,575 images. The final data was delivered to the customer on an external hard drive.
History of the General Hospital
This project involved the digital capture of the ‘History of the General Hospital’ book which contained 191 pages in total.
The volume, A4 in size, was captured and presented in single page format at 400dpi preservation master TIFF. The book was captured using our bespoke scanner and the resulting images were passed through image fixing software to ensure a fully readable and coherent image. At the request of the customer, a uniform border was applied to all images.
The preservation master images were passed through OCR processing to create a fully searchable PDF–A and Word document. The OCR process had an accuracy output exceeding 97%. Derivative JPEG images were also created from the preservation master TIFFs.
On completion of the project, Mallon delivered the final data to the customer on an external hard drive
The Jewish Gazette
The project involved the digital capture of the Jewish Gazette, a volume containing 27 pages in total.
The volume, A4 in size, was captured and presented in single page format at 400dpi preservation master TIFF. The book was captured using our bespoke scanner and the resulting images were passed through image fixing software to ensure a fully readable and coherent images. At the request of the customer, a uniform border was applied to all images.
The preservation master images were passed through OCR processing to create a fully searchable PDF–A and Word Document. The OCR process had an accuracy output exceeding 97%. Derivative JPEG images were also created from the preservation master TIFFs.
On completion of the project, Mallon delivered the final data to the customer on an external hard drive.
Historical Map Collection
This project involved the digital capture of a collection of large–format historical maps, containing a total of 15 maps.
The maps ranged in size from A4 to A0. Anything sized A3 and below was captured using our overhead scanner and anything sized A2 and above was captured using our large–format scanner. Images were captured at 400dpi preservation master TIFF. At the request of the customer, a uniform border was applied to all images.
From the preservation master images, derivative JPEG and PDF–A images were also created.
On completion of the project, the final data was then delivered to the customer on an external hard drive.
Various Collections
This project involved the digital capture of ten various volumes.
The volumes varied in size from A5 up to A1. These were captured and presented in single page format at 400dpi preservation master TIFF. At the request of the customer, a uniformed border was applied to all images
The preservation master images were passed through OCR processing to create a fully searchable PDF–A and Word document. The OCR process had an accuracy output exceeding 97%. Derivative JPEG images were also created from the preservation master TIFFs.
On completion of the project, Mallon had captured 602 individual images. The final data was delivered to the customer on an external hard drive
Theses Collection
This project involved the digital capture of a collection of university theses. The collection consisted of 12 theses, with 2 of them made up of 2 volumes. In total there were 14 volumes to capture.
The theses were generally bound A4 pages and were captured using our overhead flatbed scanner. The images were presented in single page format at 300dpi preservation master TIFF.
The preservation master images were passed through OCR processing to create a fully searchable PDF–A and Word document. The OCR process had an accuracy output exceeding 97%.
On completion of the project, Mallon had captured 4,444 individual images. The final data was then delivered to the customer via our secure FTP site.
The Belfast Jewish Record
This project involved the digital capture of the Belfast Jewish Record collection which consisted of 62 separate volumes.
The volumes were A4 in size and were captured and presented in open book format at 400dpi preservation master TIFF. At the request of the customer, a uniform border was applied to all images.
The preservation master images were passed through OCR processing to create a fully searchable PDF–A and Word document. The OCR process had an accuracy output exceeding 97%.
On completion of the project, Mallon had captured 2,907 individual images. The final data was then delivered to the customer via our secure FTP site.
Queens Film Theatre (QFT)
This project involved the digital capture of a collection of QFT printed programmes. The collection was made up of 330 programmes in total.
The programmes were generally A4 in size and were captured and presented in open book format at 400dpi preservation master TIFF.
The preservation master images were passed through OCR processing to create a fully searchable PDF document. The OCR process had accuracy output exceeding 97%. From the preservation master images, derivative JPEGs were also created.
On completion of the project, Mallon had captured 3,447 individual images. These were returned to the customer via our secure FTP site.
The Bunting Manuscript Collection
This project involved the digital capture of a series of manuscripts from the Bunting collection. In total, there were 49 manuscripts to capture.
The manuscripts varied in size but were generally A4 in size. They were captured and presented in single page format at 400dpi preservation master TIFF. From the preservation master images, derivative JPEG and PDF–A images were created.
On completion of the project, Mallon had captured 324 individual images. These were then returned to the customer via our secure FTP site.
The Benefits
- The McClay Library has been able to provide greater access to a large range of their collections for students and for research purposes
- New insights can be gained from research conducted on important historical resources
- Text searches can be carried out for keywords or phrases, enabling relevant information to be found quickly and easily
- The collections will be preserved and protected from further damage caused by excessive handling
- A secure digital backup will ensure the collections always remain accessible, even in worst–case scenarios
- Multiple users can access the information at the same time