The VTDNP: From Microfilm to Keyword-
Searchable Online Newspapers
Tom McMurdo, VTDNP Project Librarian
Microfilm is the basis of any NDNP project.
Why use negatives to make scans of newspapers?
Finding the negatives
Most master negatives of newspapers are “pre-standards.”
Microfilm Evaluation:
Acetate or polyester?Vinegar syndromeScanning quality
Scanning: In-house or vendor?
2 very different approaches: control versus overhead
Most National Digital Newspaper Program state projects outsource scanning.
Scanning RFP
There are several excellent companies working on NDNP state projects.
What are the criteria for evaluating this RFP?
Scanning vendors working in the NDNP
VTDNP Workflows
Title selectionMicrofilm: positives and negatives
Metadata creationScanning, OCR, and XML files
Quality reviewDelivery to LC
Searchable pages online
Title selection
Selections chosen through a rigorous process
Stakeholders
Justifiable process
Microfilm
Positive vs. negative film
Metadata creation:
Frame-by-frame inventory
Scanning, OCR, and XML files
Quality review of scans and files
Files to Library of Congress
Success!
Online searchable Vermont newspapers
Questions?
