Request
Hello, I just explored/exhibited your Love, Letter collection on your site. As a graduate student in the library science field, I am curious to know what technology you used to scan and digitize all the letters.
Outcome
Some information provided.
Response
For original documents, we capture historical documents on paper and parchment using any of our studio production cameras. These are a mix of electronic cameras with a full frame sensor or medium format cameras. Both of these solutions work side by side with a bespoke workstation. Our current organisational image standard is a 300ppi Tif. These images are captured using fixed cameras where the position, height and lights are always the same, making sure that the results are consistent throughout.
When capturing negatives, we use our medium format cameras supported by a light box and we do not scan it at anything lower than 600ppi due to the size of the originals.
For scanning microfilm, in order to make it available in a digital format, we use a microfilm scanner and two different pieces of software – one for capturing and the other for Q&A and digital storage. This allows us to see the full reel in its digital form without having to have the physical microfilm reel with us.
For large scale material, depending on the type of document and its size, we have different solutions available. All flat material up to A0 in size will be mainly digitised on a large scale flatbed scanner. This scanner is capable of producing images from 150ppi up to 1200ppi. By scanning our large format material using this scanner, we are sure that the digital copy is true to the original’s size and to its colours without any need of specialized calibration by our team.
Any material larger than A0 or is stored rolled will be digitally captured in our specialist studio using a medium format camera capable of producing images with the same quality as the flatbed scanner. When a document is larger than A0, sometimes it is not possible to capture it in one shot. In those cases, the document will be captured in sections and, before it’s delivered to the costumer, merged using a photo editing software. This involves more technical knowledge by the team and consumes more time to make sure that the digital files are a true representation of the physical document.
Explanatory annex
Exemptions applied
Section 31: Law Enforcement
We are unable to provide you with information specific to IT systems because this information is exempt from disclosure under section 31 (1) (a) of the FOI Act. Section 31 (1) (a) exempts information if its disclosure is likely to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime.
Section 31 is a qualified exemption and we are required to conduct a public interest test when applying any qualified exemption. This means that after it has been decided that the exemption is engaged, the public interest in releasing the information must be considered. If the public interest in disclosing the information outweighs the public interest in withholding it then the exemption does not apply and the information must be released. In the FOI Act there is a presumption that information should be released unless there are compelling reasons to withhold it.
The public interest test has now been concluded and the balance of the public interest has been found to fall in favour of withholding information covered by the section 31 (1) (a) exemption. Considerations in favour of the release of the information included the principle that there is a public interest in transparency and accountability in disclosing information about government procedure and contracts. However, release of this information would make The National Archives more vulnerable to crime. The crime in question here would be a malicious attack on The National Archives’ computer systems. As such, release of this information would be seen to prejudice the prevention or detection of crime by making The National Archives’ computer system more vulnerable to hacking. There is an overwhelming public interest in keeping government computer systems secure which would be served by non-disclosure. This would outweigh any benefits of release. It has therefore been decided that the balance of the public interest lies clearly in favour of withholding the material on this occasion.
Further guidance on section 31 can be found here:
https://ico.org.uk/media/for-organisations/documents/1207/law-enforcement-foi-section-31.pdf