Library Briefings

Digitizing rare books

New Kirtas scanner preserves fragile documents

When a scholar using the Library’s online catalog recently located a rare manuscript score of ballet music by French composer Darius Milhaud (1892-1974), the original seemed too fragile to risk extensive handling. But thanks to the Library’s new robotic, page-turning Kirtas book-scanner, the score could be digitally scanned, enabling a commercial binder to produce two high-quality color facsimiles. One will be sent to the researcher, allowing detailed study of the manuscript without risking further deterioration of the original.

“On-site availability of the Kirtas book-scanning technology opens options for reformatting material that might not otherwise be preserved for future generations,” says Roxanne Sellberg, assistant University librarian for Technical Services. The Preservation Department is currently prioritizing materials and collections for digitization and expects to make extensive use of the scanner in the coming year.

The Kirtas APT 1200 scanner can digitize up to 1,200 pages per hour. Books are secured on a cradle that uses laser technology to maintain focus during digitizing. A 16-megapixel camera captures high-resolution page images in color, and these images can then be stored and rendered in color, grayscale, or as bi-tonal images.

The Kirtas scanner gently turns book pages with an adjustable-pressure vacuum head, using “fluffers” to deliver puffs of air that help to lift and separate pages. The page-turner can be stopped at any time so the operator can turn pages that require special handling. After the camera captures the page images, they are transferred directly from the camera to computer. The digital files are then sent to the Library’s commercial binder to be printed on alkaline paper, bound, and returned to the Library with its regular weekly binding shipment.

Sellberg notes that, besides extending the physical life of a book or document, digitization has the potential to expand its usership. “In the future,” she says, “we hope it can also be used to provide online access to both rare and heavily used works from the Library's collections. The possibilities are very exciting.”