nextScan Facilitates Microfilm Conversion for National Newspaper Digitization Program in Australia

nextScan Facilitates Microfilm Conversion for National Newspaper Digitization Program in Australia

Boise, ID – May 20, 2008

Boise, ID – May 20, 2008 – nextScan, the provider of the next generation in film and fiche scanning technology, today announced its participation in the Australian Newspapers Digitization Program (ANDP). The ANDP is a National Library of Australia (NLA) collaborative program to collect and preserve every newspaper ever published in Australia. Over a period of four years, the National Library is working closely with the Australian state and territory libraries to digitize and make available approximately 3.5 million pages of newspaper content. The scope of the ANDP is to work with the Australian state and territory libraries to source selected microfilm for out-of-copyright newspapers for the period 1803 (the date of the first newspaper published in Australia) to 1954. The initial focus is on one major title from each Australian state, including The Sydney Gazette, The Argus and The Courier Mail. The ultimate goal of the Program is to vastly improve access for all Australians to the rich source of Australian documentary history that newspapers provide. The NLA chose W & F Pascoe Ltd., a specialist in the preservation microfilming and conversion of many Australian newspapers, periodicals and manuscripts, to perform the conversion of the newspaper source microfilm. Employing nextScan Eclipse and FlexScan scanners, combined with nextScan’s unique and innovative NextStar software and the expertise of W & F Pascoe Ltd, source microfilm is quickly and efficiently scanned for the ANDP in Pascoe’s Sydney office, with the scanned images then being transported to the National Library in Canberra.

“We required high image resolution plus a robust output speed from any scanner that we included as part of the microfilm conversion solution. We also needed to capture everything in grayscale, be able to split frames as necessary in the post-processing environment, and ensure that absolutely no images get lost in the scanning process. All of these factors have a huge impact on the outcome of the digitization. W & F Pascoe Ltd. employs nextScan scanners and software, which fulfill all of these requirements with ease. Because of this, it helps to diminish time spent on QA of scanned images, and it provides us the best image quality for OCR, to enable full text search of the newspaper images,” stated Rose Holley, ANDP Manager.

Stated Michael Pascoe, Managing Director of W & F Pascoe Ltd., “W & F Pascoe Ltd has found nextScan scanners to be robust, durable and easy to use and clean. They have a great scan speed and the NextStar processing software that works in tandem with the nextScan scanners is frequently being developed and enhanced, unlike many other software packages on the market today. NextStar, because of its unique Ribbon Scanning approach, enables the user to capture a whole roll of film as one image. This addresses another concern– that there are no scanning bottlenecks, frame jumping issues or lost images. The Audit and QA feature of the software is very user friendly, and can be employed at various remote workstations.”

“We are proud to provide the technology that facilitates such a historical project,” said Ernesto Pinal, Vice President Sales and Marketing for nextScan. “Because of the NLA’s choice to use nextScan scanners and software, W & F Pascoe has scanned close to one million newspaper images to date for the National Library, and should easily reach its goal to covert approximately 3.5 million pages of content over the next four years. Now Australians and the rest of the world can easily access online these valuable documents. We look forward to being a part of the Program in the future, when it expands to include regional and community newspaper titles as well.”

About the National Library of Australia
The National Library of Australia is the country’s largest reference library. The role of the Library is to ensure that documentary resources of national significance relating to Australia and the Australian people, as well as significant non-Australian library materials, are collected, preserved and made accessible either through the Library itself or through collaborative arrangements with other libraries and information providers.
By offering a strong national focus and cooperating with others who share common goals, the Library contributes to the continuing vitality of Australia’s culture and heritage. www.nla.gov.au
About W & F Pascoe Ltd

Founded in 1957, W & F Pascoe Pty Ltd of Sydney began as a specialist in the preservation microfilming of Australian newspapers, periodicals and manuscripts. Initially working with a few newspapers and libraries, W & F Pascoe’s Ltd now works with the majority of major libraries and newspapers in the country. www.pascoe.com.au

About nextScan
nextScan is a developer of leading edge technology for the micrographics conversion and document management industry. nextScan’s innovative products are designed and built with a simplicity and functionality that aim to increase user production and lower overall cost for scanning film and fiche. nextScan is privately held and headquartered in Eagle, ID.
www.thrivetest7.com/nextscan

Media Contact:

Erin Dempsey
nextScan, Inc.
+1(910) 483-0638

 
nextScan Facilitates Microfilm Conversion for National Newspaper Digitization Program in Australia

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