The newspaper is a great way of gaining a vast amount of information and the latest method of accessing news from around the world. Newspapers are storehouses of valuable knowledge and historical events among other momentous information. It is best that these are preserved for the coming generations, and to facilitate research. Thankfully, many libraries, museums and other organizations around the world are aggressively digitizing their newspaper and other paper assets. For this purpose, they depend on data conversion services to a large extent.
Why Digitize Newspaper?
Digitizing newspapers can potentially increase the breadth of access and they can be made available to multiple users at the same time. Converting newspaper archives into digital format helps in carrying out research related to past events. Here are some of the advantages of digitizing newspapers:
- Much safer and reliable storage of newspapers
- Preservation of important information
- Ability to easily search the text of newspaper issues
- East access to newspapers from any computer or smartphone via the internet
- Ability to integrate newspaper issues into your company website
- Less storage requirements
Digitization at the Catholic Research Resources Alliance
In Washington DC, the Catholic Research Resources Alliance (CRRA) has undertaken a massive project of digitizing about a dozen of United State’s top Catholic newspapers of regional and national importance.
Newspapers gradually become brittle and fragile with time and are difficult to maintain. So Catholic Research Resources Alliance is digitizing nearly a dozen of United States’ top Catholic newspapers. A newspaper archive and digital aggregation of Catholic newspapers help scholars and researchers to know more about the past events. The process of digitizing Catholic newspapers began in 2011 and the committee came up with more than 800 Catholic publications from US alone and more than 200 from Canada. The process of digitization began with 11 newspapers which represent some of the largest dioceses in the nation including Catholic New York of the Archdiocese of New York, Catholic San Francisco, the St. Louis Review, the Pittsburgh Catholic and so on. A 12th paper was recently added – Catholic Worker.
According to Tim Meagher, an associate professor of History at The Catholic University of America and an activist who runs the Centre for American Catholic History, US’s largest dailies like New York Times, Washington Post and Chicago Tribune have also been digitized. A grant from the US Conference of Catholic Bishops Catholic Communication Campaign has helped CRRA to convert its newspaper archives from 1920 to 1952 into digital format. The challenge for them is to digitize newspapers that are prior to 1923. The digitized material will be made freely available to the public through the Catholic News Archive. The project leaders believe that even if the paper exists in print, its use will be less if it is not digitized.
Newspapers can be digitized successfully with the support of data entry outsourcing companies. A good outsourcing service provider will provide the best imaging services to ensure the best results in terms of clarity and accuracy.
