NEWS
DIGITISATION & ARCHIVING SERVICES
We regularly update our news section to show some of our tenders and important updates ot the industry.
September 2011 MicroFormat completes unique iMuseum project in partnership with Olive Software
iMuseum, Douglas, Isle of Man
Since officially opening on 4 July this year, iMuseum has achieved its strap-line in becoming the ‘Home of Manx Memories’ for users.Explore Newspapers
Explore Newspapers is a paradigm for best practice in how to use digital innovation to revolutionise access to a rich historic archive. Before Explore Newspapers researchers had to manually scroll through reels of microfilm hoping to find the headline or article they were interested in. This could take several hours. Now, twenty-seven Manx newspaper titles, from the earliest extant copy in the collection of 1792 to 1960, totalling over 400,000 pages of newsprint have been individually repaired, microfilmed, scanned and OCR’d to create an unrivalled resource for searching at the click of a button nearly two centuries worth of Isle of Man news.Explore Newspapers is delivered using specialist software created by Olive Software (www.olivesoftware.com). The Olive system is capable of dissecting a scanned newspaper into its individual articles, advertisements and pictures, accounting even for articles that run over several pages. Once dissected, each ‘virtual clipping’ is subject to sophisticated OCR coping with faded text, historic fonts and applying ‘fuzzy logic’ search technology to compensate for text inaccuracies according to error probability in each word-pattern. In partnership with MicroFormat, who had the critical task of producing clean digital scans from the new microfilm (in line with the benchmark British Standard ISO 4087), Olive achieved more than the contracted 80% OCR success rate on all the newspapers. Provision was also made of a digital surrogate helping secure long term preservation of the newspaper archive.
Explore Newspapers is in every regard a sustainable product. The software is fully-embedded within the Isle of Man Government IT network. Manx National Heritage (MNH) has access to a manual indexing tool (ActivePaper Librarian) for tagging articles; an iFrame is in place for MNH to update the homepage in-house; and there is the option to add further printed content to the system.
Since opening the iMuseum the public response to Explore Newspapers has been fantastic. In just a few seconds people are finding articles about their ancestors and many other subjects, sometimes rediscovering long-lost family stories which create rich memories for the next generation.
But the real proof of our achievement with Explore Newspapers is illustrated by what our users say:
“I have been researching shipwrecks since 1987. One wreck which I have known about from the start is that of a ship’s paddle wheel which is located about 4 miles east of Douglas harbour. It has always been a mystery to everyone as to how it got there. Despite 24 years of research at both MNH and many other resources (UK National Archives, Guildhall Library, National Maritime Museum etc) I have not come across a single clue as to the origin of the paddle wheel. Last week when I visited the iMuseum I decided to search through the newspapers to see if I could find anything. Within one minute I found an article from the Mona’s Herald describing the loss of a paddle wheel from the Isle of Man Steam Packet paddle steamer Mona’s Queen (II) in June 1889. All the facts from the article corresponded to the wreck of the paddle wheel off Douglas. Shortly afterwards I found more information relating to the incident in the Isle of Man Times. Mystery solved and job done in less than a minute! Therefore, it is a great example of the power and capability of the iMuseum.
What could take years of painstaking searching through newspapers with no guarantee of spotting the desired information can now be achieved in seconds.”
Adrian Corkill“The new Explore Newspapers feature in the iMuseum is perhaps one of the most important innovations to appear on the Isle of Man in recent years. By typing in a name or reference you're interested in, some four hundred thousand pages of Manx newsprint, dating back to the end of the 18th century, are searched within moments, giving you a list of all relevant items. Using the amazing software associated with the system you can then browse any of the pages on screen as high quality digital images. This new facility will transform research on the Island, but it also provides an easily accessible database for the general public who just want to find out more about the aspects of Manx life that interest them. The whole system is user-friendly and has been designed and executed to an extremely high standard placing Manx National Heritage in the forefront of national museums.”
Charles Guard, Manx Heritage FoundationManx National Heritage, Isle of Man
20/09/2011
June 2011 MicroFormat to exhibit at the Kent & London Business show
Another year has passed and MicroFormat (UK) Limited continues to present new services for document management solutions.
This year we will be exhibiting at the Kent & London Business Show at the Bexleyheath Marriott Hotel on Friday July 8th, Stand 86, directly opposite the entrance.
The exhibition is open from 10am - 3pm, and there will be a prize draw sponsored by our partners at Kodak, with the chance to win a fantastic new digital camera.
We will be introducing several new service solutions and partnerships such as EDM, Scan on Demand, Preservation scanning, On Line services, dedicated NHS Scanning services and more.
http://www.b2bkent.com/MAY 2011 MicroFormat appoints Stammers as new UK MD
MicroFormat has appointed Simon Stammers to be its new UK Managing Director, with a remit to extend the company’s footprint further in the British public and private sector markets. MicroFormat, a Dutch domiciled corporation, is now considered the UK's leading provider of specialist document preservation and conversion services to museums, libraries and rare and historical archives. The company also has a growing business in complex document archiving and retrieval services in areas such as medicine, pharmaceuticals, capital markets, insurance, and more.
Simon takes over the reins of the UK business from Dave Chapman, who retires having lead the company’s development in the UK since 1998. Dave was instrumental developing MicroFormat’s UK strategy, establishing the company’s document scanning services, and building partnerships with key technology suppliers in historical preservation, health, as well as central and local government.
Simon comes to lead the company in the UK with a wealth of experience in leadership roles at organisations such as Kodak, Dicom, Anacomp and Formscan. Simon will be developing MicroFormat’s service range and customer base, with a continued focus on an increasing range of applications where complex document archiving, security, management and online access are of paramount importance. Simon has successfully developed businesses across a wide range of sectors, including health and medicine, manufacturing, financial services, government, utilities, retail, historical collections and the public services.
Jaap Baars, MicroFormat CEO, comments, “At the one time we are wishing Dave a very happy retirement, and welcoming Simon who is looking to build on Dave’s considerable achievements. MicroFormat is embarking on a new phase of development in the UK, and Simon’s knowledge of digital imaging technology, leadership, commercial and client management skills are exactly the combination needed to take the company on that journey. Our established and emerging markets can expect to hear a great deal more of our activities in the coming months as we build our base of happy clients on the solid foundations put in place over the last few years.”
For further press information, please contact….
Karen Coupland
MicroFormat UK Limited
Image House
344 High Street
Rochester
Kent
ME1 1JE
Office: 01634 813751Karen.coupland@microformat.co.uk
www.microformat.co.uk
FEB 2011 MicroFormat (UK) Limited wins Royal Wolverhampton Hospital’s scanning contract
MicroFormat are pleased to announce that they were awarded the contract for the scanning of almost 500,000 accident and emergency records for The Royal Wolverhampton Hospitals NHS Trust, with the entire contract having to be completed by the end of March 2011.
JAN 2011 MicroFormat (UK) Limited launches new website
MicroFormat, one of the oldest and largest document conversion bureaus in the UK, has re-launched its website and this now features new content and information about the key services and offerings the company provides to its many hundreds of UK commercial and preservation clients.
Jamie Hall, Head of sales commented “We wanted to make not only a statement with the look and feel of the new site, but the most important aspect for us as a company was to demonstrate that we offer a whole lot more than our previous site conveyed. We are possibly the oldest document conversion and management service provider in the UK, with a combined total of more than 200 years of accumulated experience in the management of all types of commercial documentation and materials that date back centuries, it was important that we communicated this effectively to existing and prospective clients”.
JAN 2011 Isle of Man Government, Manx National Heritage Newspapers project reaches a conclusion.
MicroFormat UK were selected to work with world leading software specialist Olive Software Inc. on a major project for the Isle of Man Government to microfilm and digitise the historic newspaper collection housed at the Manx National Heritage Library and Archives in Douglas.
The collection underwent comprehensive preparation at our premises in Rochester, Kent, before being microfilmed to preservation standards. Digital images were created from the microfilm which were then enhanced by Olive with their internationally renowned retrieval software to provide an archive for web use. Our extensive experience in working with historic newspapers, especially with material that is fragile and in an advanced state of deterioration, stood us in good stead as we undertook the sometimes unique features of the project right through from the preparatory work, the filming and to the finishing, using capture equipment and techniques that we have developed over many years.
DEC 2010 International Centre for Drug Policy goes live
In early 2010 MicroFormat (UK) Limited were commissioned to carry out the document conversion of more than 3 million documents making up approximately 200,000 drug addict patient records dating back to some fifty years. These valuable records were required to be, not only preserved for long term archival preservation, but also digitised to allow Microformat, the ICDP and our software partners the ability to crucially index them to such an extent that the completed index could be merged with the ICDP's existing main frame database.
Once completed, the solution provided by MicroFormat and Impreza Computer Services provided the ICDP with a new and unique database that allows for critical research into drug related deaths dating back to the early 1960's.
The project itself was carried out over the course of 9 months, with the patient records being microfilmed for archival permanence, and the resulting microfilm was then film-scanned to produce digitised images that authorised researchers can view through the newly structured and developed database.
We are absolutely delighted with not only being commissioned to carry out the project, but the continuing work that is involved will provide the ICDP, Home Office and many other world wide government agencies vital statistical information relating to drug related deaths and addiction material for research purposes for many years to come.
Jamie Hall, Head of Sales commented “This project was unique in so many ways, not only when starting out with the actual preservation, preparation and repair of many records, but in then providing a detailed index that related to each record that could be merged and developed into the ICDP's existing database, that was then in turn redeveloped with a web based interface with strict access rights and permissions for research fellows and government agencies to search and access when required.
“The critical factor in this project, is that it is still on-going with further records now being located and added to the newly developed database, which itself is continually having further development taking place to create greater search and retrieval functionality by our key partners on this project Impreza Computer Services”
The project was completed to the agreed time scale and further work is ongoing, a full and formal release will be made available in the summer of 2011.NOV 2010 MicroFormat (UK) Limited completes Thanet District Council contract
A major project to scan in details of almost 150,000 burials and cremations in Thanet, dating back more than 150 years has been completed by Kent company MicroFormat (UK) Ltd.
The details were originally held in a series of almost 200 bound volumes that documented 86,000 burials in St. John’s cemetery in Margate and the combined Ramsgate & St. Lawrence cemeteries dating back to 1856. They also contained details of all 60,000 cremations since 1966, when the area’s Crematorium first opened.
During the project further original reels of microfilm were located that were previously thought to have been destroyed during World War II so these were also digitised.
As the bound volumes contained the only surviving copies of this information, along with maps of where all the graves are located, there were fears that these details could be lost forever if anything happened to the bound volumes, which are all located at the Crematorium.
The specialist preservation and digitisation of the volumes has ensured that critical information has been preserved for archival permanence, with the benefit that staff now have significantly quicker access to this valuable material from their desktop computers whilst avoiding further damage to the historical volumes.
When work commenced in autumn 2009, the volumes were initially digitised onto microfilm for archival permanence (this lasts for 500 years) and the microfilm was then digitally scanned, and indexed providing each bound volume as a multi-page .pdf image.
Cllr. Martin Wise, Cabinet Member for Environmental Services at Thanet explained: “This has been a huge undertaking, but it’s also been a vital piece of work for the council. Until recently, those volumes were the only record of the area’s history dating back to the 19th century. If anything had happened to them, we would have lost not only details of all cremations and thousands of burials, but perhaps just as importantly, we would have lost records of where the graves in our area are located. Now, with this work completed, we know that we have backups in place and the information is secure for many generations to come.”
Jamie Hall from MicroFormat explained ‘Many of the volumes were different in their type and specification and all had their own unique requirements, so it was a tough challenge, especially as the volumes we're in constant use by the staff. We couldn’t have the volumes for long, as obviously the team needed them, to help anyone who had enquiries - so a strict delivery and turnaround schedule had to be adhered to.’
Jamie went on to add “It’s been a truly exciting project from start to finish, most notably working with the Council's team on how we ought to go about not only ensuring the volumes long term preservation for generations to come by way of microfilming, but utilising unique microfilm scanning techniques to produce digital copies for instant availability and use by the staff, leaving the microfilm as the Council's long term archival copy.
“It was very much a team effort with the Thanet staff involved from the planning stage of every aspect of the project, from what the digital images should be in the finished product to book marking all the index volumes, ensuring ease and speed of access through the finished product, after all, as well as creating a digital library, we wanted to create a faster and more accurate way of working.’
OCT 2010 MicroFormat launches online solution services
MicroFormat are able to supply an online document retrieval system that integrates seamlessly with our scanning services to provide SME’s who want security, performance, and flexibility with minimal investment, all you have to do is click and login to view your documents online. We manage the service, the administration and support of the solution.
