The digital preservation of special archives is not only limited to those in library & archival science. Many industries like music, law enforcement, and museums have tons of material that doesn’t come in your standard letter-sized paper. Special archives materials like parchment paper, scrapbooks, microfilm & microfiche, and even audio & video files must be carefully managed and securely stored in order to avoid any unwanted modification to the original file, so as to be ready for distribution in digital formats. Legacy formats require special material handling to preserve original pieces safely and without damage for when these are ready to be accessed and shared by the mass public.
Many organizations are pushing for the digital preservation of special archive collections & outdated legacy formats, so much so that grants are being given to companies in nearly any industry. For example, since 2015, the Council of Library and Information Resources (CLIR) has awarded roughly $4 million/year to institutions holding collections of high value for research, teaching, and learning through their Digitizing Hidden Special Collections and Archives grant. Organizations like CLIR focus on digitizing rare and unique content in collecting institutions, like universities, museums, and many more, with the ultimate goal of being readily
Our digitization offerings range from quick, secure document scanning to sweeping information governance policies and everything in between. For the unique formats that film & media are usually found in, we use a straight transfer technology that allows us to digitize film frame-by-frame and, in some cases, even recover damaged original footage. A mix of powerful scanning technology and our well-trained special archive preservation experts will retain or improve on the same quality and consistency of any old tape or film format into its new digital housing.