Unyellowing 150 Years of Clips
by Nancy Lowther
A century-and-a-half’s worth of history sits in yellowing clip files at the Chicago Tribune. However, the paper’s morgue soon will be reborn, thanks to an extensive digitization project using cutting-edge technology.
The Tribune plans to digitize text and images from every front page since 1849, plus all obituaries and death notices–a huge asset for genealogists. All told, some 15 million articles will be placed in the most extensive electronic newspaper archive to date.
"The biggest advantage for us is the creation of a new information source," says John Jansson, the Tribune’s editor of information systems. "And of course, there’s the potential for revenue from outside."
That revenue will come from a fee-per-use service launching this year on chicagotribune.com and newsbank.com. Existing electronic archives dating back to 1985 also will remain available.
To build its mega-archive, the Tribune is working with Progressive Technology Federal Systems Inc., which offers new tools to deal with old, yellowing clippings, many annotated with date stamps, handwritten notes and other extraneous information.
"The challenge is that these clippings don’t go through a normal scanner very well," says Todd Glass, vice president of the Bethesda, Md., company.
To digitally capture front-page images, PTFS uses specialized vacuum-transport scanners that suction clippings onto a belt and drag them through the scanner. Before scanning, the creased and yellowed clippings go through a patent-pending treatment process using "a combination of pressure and heat," Glass says. Doing so allows PTFS to "use first-generation materials and not compromise the image," he adds.
Clippings are captured using grayscale scanners to enhance the digitized image. For news text, a sophisticated optical-character-recognition system compares results from five different OCR engines, using an algorithm to "vote" on the best choice.
The second part of the project involves keying in the front pages, obituaries and death notices. "We are using contract labor to do this manually," says Glass.
Along with the new scanning technology, PTFS spent 18 months developing a work-flow and tracking system. Dubbed ADAMS (Avatar Digital Asset Management System) and using a full-text search engine from Excalibur Technologies of Vienna, Va., the system will manage the huge database.
Started last summer, the project will take three years to complete.
"It’s the first large-scale project of this type," Glass says. "We’re making imaging history."
Lowther is a Scarborough, Ontario, free-lancer. Phone, (416) 282-1890.