The Scribe Project

Starting in summer 2008, Duke Libraries Digital Collections Program has partnered with the Carolina Digital Library and Archives at UNC-Chapel Hill to pilot test their Internet Archive Scribe scanning station. Since then, we've digitized nearly 300 titles on the UNC-Chapel Hill Scribe, including Duke's yearbook The Chanticleer from 1912-1995, Utopian literature, Victorian women's literature, advertising publications, and other materials. All are freely available on the Internet Archive page for Duke University Libraries.

Conservation is helping with this project by inspecting items before they are sent out for imaging. We preview those books that seem particularly fragile to determine if they can be scanned safely. If the paper is too brittle or if the binding is too damaged we may not let it go. Saying "no" is fairly rare, however, as part of our mission is to make the collections accessible.

Once the books come back from the Scribe, we construct custom four-flap boxes (aka "tuxedo" boxes) for the items we flagged earlier. It just so happens that today is Boxing Day, so the books from this last shipment are in the lab getting fitted for their tuxedos.

Jill Katte, Coordinator, Digital Collections Program, contributed to this post.