Original historical documents are valuable and usually irreplaceable. Ancient handwritten texts, old printed or photostat copies, records preserved on microfilm and even engineering or architectural drawings in city, county, state, and business archives must be preserved. These documents provide invaluable insight into the people, places, and events of that time.

What is historical document digitization?

Precious texts must be preserved and protected, making it challenging to allow them to circulate and enable researchers, students, or other interested institutions to access a vast amount of historical information and knowledge. Damage to any historical documentation, or rare texts, can mean the loss of valuable information. So how do we make this information accessible to those who can use it to better our present?

Digitization of historical documents is the best method of preserving books and other paper documents that are fragile or aging. Scanning and converting paper documents into digital formats is the key to the digital preservation of valuable information.

The need for digitization of historical documents

Government agencies maintain old records, such as birth records, death certificates, marriage documents, land records, maps, and other archival material. National archives are well-preserved in long-term storage areas, but access to these documents is difficult and often not feasible.

Hard copy newspapers, microfilm & other physical records wear down with every use, year after year. Digitizing archives makes online research possible. Accessing digitized versions of old papers for research is more efficient. It also helps further preserve the source material from deteriorating over time with use, as the original reels and documents are now only to be handled by your staff.

Revolution Data Systems provides digital imaging or document scanning services to transform paper records into digital files that can be preserved and easily accessed by staff members, citizens, students and researchers.

The benefits of the digitization of historical records

A digitization project is a significant investment for any institution. But its benefits far outweigh the costs. 

Let's look at some of these benefits: 

Save time

Searching through digital documents using keyword searches allows library or government office staff to find archived information within seconds. Imagine the time needed to thumb through old newspapers, page by page or scroll through rolls of microfilm to search out information! Scanning documents into image files and indexing them to create a searchable repository saves precious time and allows researchers, students and government staff to get work done faster and more efficiently.

RDS offers high-resolution bulk scanning services ideal for libraries, government agencies, historical societies, medical institutions or any other entity that holds archives of old records.

Improve accuracy of research or record verification

Computer searches help you find people, places, or events that could have taken you hours of endless research newspapers or physical records, page by page. Without a searchable archive, locating a name, an event, or anything else of significance, is not an easy task. You first need to know the date of the document, find the right filing cabinet or drawer, and finally, the file or microfilm reel containing the information you were looking for. Scrolling through microfilms or pouring over multiple pages to find information is tedious and time-consuming. Digitization gives historical documents a new lease on life, converting them into a fully-searchable digital archive and providing the community with a way to access historical information and knowledge.

Enhance the quality of digitally preserved records

Historical records are often not in perfect shape. For example, some documents, such as old manuscripts, may have yellowed, or the ink may have faded. When you digitize these records, you can use image enhancement services to improve the quality of the scanned images. Image enhancement services help preserve historical information more accurately, thus maximizing the value of the information in legacy document archives.

Learn more about how RDS has helped hundreds of government offices and other institutions preserve knowledge and cultural legacies with our document scanning and image enhancement services.

Preserve original documents on papers and microfilm

Hard copy newspaper, microfilm, and papers wear down with every year and every use. Online research is a more efficient way of searching, and it also helps further preserve physical records from deteriorating over time with use. In addition, once digitized, the original reels and documents will be handled only by your staff, extending the life of these original microfilms. All other users can access the digitized copies. 

RDS offers world-class document preservation services to safeguard legacy records for the future and prevent a potential loss of valuable information. Our proven preservation techniques can reverse the damage already done to old paper documents and stabilize them to arrest future deterioration.

Enable remote access to documents

During the pandemic, public and private sector organizations were forced to work remotely and needed online access to documents and records to function. As a result, digitization is now considered unavoidable. A lack of digitization now might mean a complete halt in business and research when unexpected shutdowns occur. Digitization has also dramatically broadened the number of people who can conduct historical information reviews and has revolutionized the way students, researchers and historians do research.

OpenText AppEnhancer is a powerful document management system that empowers employees and users with integrated document capture, storage, retrieval and retention. It provides secure access to critical documents from a central repository directly within any business process or application.

The process of digitization of historical documents

We provide customized and tailored document scanning services specific to your requirements. 

Our scanning process is highly secure and efficient. The basic steps of this process are: 

1. Gathering project requirements and objectives

2. Pickup and safe transportation to our scanning bureau or setting up scanners and operators at your site

3. Prepping documents for scanning

4. Repairing any damaged documents

5. Scanning and image enhancement

6. OCR/ICR for indexing and classification

7. Formatting data to your output specifications

RDS: Your partner for the digitization of historical documents

RDS is your ideal digitization partner; we have secure scanning facilities to transform your historical records into digitally searchable archives. 

Our services include high-speed bulk scanning of paper documents, microfilm scanning, advanced data capture and OCR tools, redaction services, workflow automation, and business process optimization services.

Contact RDS for document scanning, document preservation, and document management solutions for public or private sector organizations.