The Digital Scholarship and Initiatives (DSI) department at University Libraries is excited to announce the acquisition of a brand new professional planetary scanner, the Zeutschel OS C2! This workhorse of German ingenuity is allowing staff and student workers to digitize fragile, bound, and oversize materials.
Digitizing historical materials with care...
Differing from flatbed scanners which capture an image from the bottom and require full contact with the object, planetary scanners such as this scan from overhead. Affixed at the top lies a high-resolution camera which captures a snapshot of the item underneath it, while a removable cradle allows book scanning without putting stress on the spine of the book. This is ideal for historic materials that must be handled with care, such as the rare books found in the Special Collections Research Center (SCRC). Since the scanning bed measures 25x18”, it can also accommodate larger materials such as maps or scrapbooks. The aim of digitizing cultural heritage materials is to capture as much detail as possible while preparing the digital surrogate for long term preservation. To achieve this, DSI adheres to professional archival standards for digitization, such as those outlined by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) and the Federal Agencies Digital Guidelines Initiative (FADGI).
The Zeutschel has already aided in fascinating projects such as digitizing a few of the Medieval manuscript leaves from SCRC. These are by far some of the oldest items digitized by the DSI team.
12th century manuscript leaf with text from the life of St. Taurin, courtesy of the Special Collections Research Center
Currently, student workers are using the Zeutschel to scan issues of the Blue Ridge Sun, a newspaper created in 1979 that documented events in Alleghany and Ashe counties.
Front page of the Blue Ridge Sun, July 6, 1988, courtesy of the Special Collections Research Center
DSI student employee Madison Northup at the Zeutschel scanner
Through combining cutting edge technology with professional preservation standards, the Zeutschel overhead scanner can help DSI and the Special Collections Research Center make these important materials accessible to wider audiences. Stay tuned for upcoming projects, and feel free to browse a sample of SCRC's digital collections.
Image of student employee Madison Northup seated at book scanner.
