The Digital Conversion Facility

The Yale University Library Digital Conversion Facility (DCF) is a staff imaging laboratory in Room 5 (basement) of Sterling Memorial Library.

Library staff undertaking conversion projects can use the scanners and software in the Digital Conversion Facility. The facility is open by appointment.

The Digital Conversion Facility can also archive completed high quality scans. If you are planning a project, the DCF can help you with backup storage questions/needs.

We also provide software for creating derivatives appropriate for use on the web, good quality printing capabilities, and a CD writer. The DCF is fully networked, so librarians can easily move files between terminals and around the library.

The DCF currently contains:

• Minolta PS7000 Open Book Scanner [picture]
• Epson Flatbed Scanner (can scan slides and other transparent material as well)
• HP Photo Printer
• Canon digital camera for 3-D items

Scanning:

• At the DCF, items are generally scanned at 600 DPI at 100% and saved in TIFF format, uncompressed. We use 24-bit color for color items, 8-bit greyscale for black and white photos and illustrations. The Minolta book scanner scans bitonal black and white, so is only appropriate for those items, and in general, we scan text at 600 dpi as well. Slides are scanned at 1200 dpi.
• CD backups are made of the material scanned at the DCF.
• Derivatives in any format can be made using a variety of image editing software, either in the DCF or on a librarian's own computer.

Some projects that were created in the Digital Conversion Facility

• Manuscripts and Archives's scanning on request for patrons (contact for information: Stephen Yearl)
• Manuscripts and Archives's Find Yale Images database (available at MSSA or contact Stephen Yearl)
• Music Library Digital Collection (in progress, contact Jennifer Weintraub)
• Arts of the Book Ephermera database (in progress, contact Jennifer Weintraub)
• Scanning for large-scale preservation photocopying (contact David Walls)
• one-off scanning requests from various departments

Available software includes:

• Photoshop
• Debabelizer
• ProScanBook
• Imaging
• TextBridge (for OCR)
• PanaVue Image Assembler (for stitching images together)
• LunaPro
• MrSID Encoder (for creating MrSID images)

Other information:

Links to information about scanning and digitization projects: outside links, tutorials, budget information, research

Yale Digital Projects:
July 2001 Report to the Digital Library Federation
October 2000 Report to the Digital Library Federation

If you would like to use the Digital Conversion Facility, contact a member of the steering committee for more information.
The DCF was initiated by contributions by Manuscripts and Archives, Preservation, and Electronic Collections.

Matthew Beacom
Raman Prasad
Stephen Yearl
David Walls
Jennifer Weintraub

© 2003 Yale University Library
http://www.library.yale.edu/dcf
This file last modified: Friday, 19-Dec-2003 15:25:10 EST