Waaaaay OT, sorry.
Gary Kline
kline at tao.thought.org
Tue Nov 29 18:02:50 GMT 2005
On Tue, Nov 29, 2005 at 08:35:10AM -0800, Micah wrote:
> Gary Kline wrote:
> >On Mon, Nov 28, 2005 at 10:15:06PM -0800, Vizion wrote:
> >
> >>On Monday 28 November 2005 22:05, the author Gary Kline contributed to
> >>the dialogue on-
> >>Waaaaay OT, sorry.:
> >>
> >>
> >>> Folks,
> >>>
> >>> This is one of my more obscure questions and involves scanning
> >>> not paper but something they used to store books, magazines,
> >>> and newspapers--before the computer age. It is called a
> >>> microfiche (or fiche). A friend got a copy of a rare
> >>> out-of-print, not-for-sale book on microfiche. We're looking
> >>> for some means of scanning this film into a scanner with
> >>> OCR. So far, he has tried a camera with 8G memory. No joy,
> >>> the scanner sees garbage. Anybody out there ever have anything
> >>> like this prob? The book is from 1913 so it is well in the
> >>> public domain. I've already written Google; zero response.
> >>>
> >>> I want to get this book up on my site, fully HTML it so that
> >>> everybody has the opportunity to ready it ... .
> >>>
> >>> thanks for any insights,
> >>>
> >>> gary
> >>
> >>Its a long time since I have handled microfiche but my guess is you will
> >>need to mount your camera onto a microfiche reader or a microscope. The
> >>resolution of a microfiche image is really high - far higher than the
> >>camera you are using so I think you may need something to enlarge the
> >>image for you to photograph.
> >>
> >>my two pennorth
> >>
> >>david
> >>
> >
> >
> > Microscope; that never cross my mind. I think my pal took stuff
> > to the main library one night and tried capturing the data from
> > the reader. Not very successful; I don't know the details.
> > (We are around 1200 miles apart.) Any ballpark SWAG what power
> > lens might work here? I only touched m'fiche one time ever, so
> > have no idea. Money is an issue since there are 400+ pages.
> >
> >
> > gary
> >
> >
>
> Here's several ideas:
>
> My sister has used a microfiche viewer and a digital camera to reproduce
> genealogical records in the past. Doesn't turn out half bad. Many
> libraries have microfiche readers. Some have the ability to print, but
> that may cost you on a per page basis.
>
> The place I used to work for subcontracted to get microfiche scanned for
> our clients. You should look into how much that costs before ruling it
> out completely.
>
> Lastly, if the book has any historical or literary significance, you
> might try talking to a few of the larger libraries in your area. You
> /may/ be able to get them to do the scanning for you in exchange for
> allowing them to shelve a copy or two.
>
Thanks for everyone's input. I'll keep trying--or, more
accurately, will keep encouraging my friend to keep checking
into things. He is at a major university with a huge library
complex and all the latest technology, &c... . Cost is an
issue--every which way you turn. The university has some
kind of saving-old-books program, I think, but this book
isn't on the list. There have been steep cuts in staff
and programs in the past couple years, so the thinking may
be: What's the deal with trying to revive a 1913 Ethics
text where it's already on fiche?!
There is history here with the author (who was blacklisted
in 1920); with the anti-Progressive ideas among the
superrich. The book itself is outstanding, IMHO as an
admitted geek, but otherwise I believe.
I'll keep on truckin'. Maybe in a year or two it'll
be back ... after 80, 90 years.
gary
--
Gary Kline kline at thought.org www.thought.org Public service Unix
More information about the freebsd-questions
mailing list