Digitalization
To digitize cultural assets,
in order to make them more easily accessible to a broader public and to research, we have been thinking since the company was founded as an integral part of conservation strategies. Initially with a focus on individual restoration projects, the digital volume processing of archive and library holdings has meanwhile grown into an independent area of PAL, which of course also benefits from our conservation expertise: from professional packaging and transport to the sensitive handling of extremely fragile objects during the digitization process .
Besides our experience
In terms of inventory, we offer reception spaces that meet European and American digitization standards. We mostly digitize according to the recommendations of the German Research Foundation (DFG). However, our camera system can also easily be calibrated according to the guidelines of the Netherlands' national program for the preservation of paper heritage (Metamorfoze) and the Federal Agencies Digital Guidlines Initiative (FADGI). This is how we guarantee the highest possible color and image fidelity.
Our semi-automatic book cradles are pressure compensated. The load acting on an object is thus precisely limited - depending on the individual material properties. In this way, we minimize the risk of mechanical overloading of the material during the digitization process. In addition, we use vacuum tables as well as assemblies that limit the opening angle, which allow recordings without applying force to book blocks or sensitive objects.
With the volume digitization of an inventory
data volumes in the terabyte range can arise. These are processed automatically and checked for correctness. Our experts adapt the data sets individually for each customer so that they can be seamlessly integrated into their IT system. A digitized version cannot be used without the relevant information such as the title or signature of the template - i.e. the metadata. That's why our job doesn't stop with photographing the original. We create associated metadata catalogs in accordance with the recommended formats of the German Research Foundation (DFG), which as a quasi-standard guarantee broad usability.
In addition to high-quality recordings and tailor-made IT solutions, we are also able to achieve very good OCR recognition rates for Gothic fonts from almost any desired era. For this we use, among other things, an artificial neural network that has been trained a million times, through which excellent accuracy can be achieved in text recognition. We deliver the result data, for example, in the formats ALTO-XML or hOCR, in which the recognized text is assigned to the digitized material. This enables the documents to be searched by machine - for research or research purposes, for example.
Our digitization workplaces
are connected to powerful NAS and DAS storage solutions via 10Gbit fiber optic LAN. In this way, in addition to a high volume, we also achieve maximum data processing speeds. We carry out backups on LTO-7 magnetic tape storage media with proven readability of 30 years.
If necessary, we also advise our customers on the choice of future-proof file formats and storage systems on site. But for us, an order is only over when the originals are safely back on the customer's shelf.
Let us advise you!