Contact:

Kat Kamp
Backstage Library Works
Phone: 801.356.1852
news@bslw.com
www.bslw.com

BETHLEHEM, Pa., April 29, 2016 –– Backstage Library Works (www.bslw.com) has announced its most recent digitization projects that are part of a continuing effort to help institutions around the world provide access to culturally and historically rich newspapers.

Interested in providing patrons online access to newspapers, libraries often take the initiative to seek donor or grant funding to digitize collections. Digitization projects can be fraught with challenges such as brittle, fragile, or dog-eared materials. Backstage preservation teams implement special handling techniques to ensure that materials are kept intact.

Newspapers up to broadsheet size are captured at high resolution, allowing for the best possible optical character recognition (OCR), converting scanned words into searchable text. Backstage can prepare images and metadata according to a library's requirements. Newspapers and other serials can be segmented at page or article level using METS/ALTO metadata.

Newspapers reflect local history in ways few other documents can. Regardless of the scale or scope of a project, Backstage is leading the way in its production capacity, guaranteed quality and customer service.

Eric Larson, vice president of digitization services for Backstage states:

“Backstage recognizes the important historical significance of local newspaper collections, and we are dedicated to preserving that history through our high quality digitization efforts. Newspapers preserve local history, and Backstage is here to help libraries share this unique and valuable knowledge.”

Client projects underway include:

◾Bermuda National Library
◾Free Library of Philadelphia
◾Millersville University, Pennsylvania
◾Suffolk Cooperative Library System, New York
◾Thomas Nelson Community College, Virginia
◾University of California, Riverside
◾University of California, Santa Barbara
◾University of Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada

About Backstage Library Works

Backstage’s objective is to provide the most technologically advanced and efficient means for delivering professional library services. With over 25 years of experience, the company is known for its expertise in handling complex and unique projects. Backstage specializes in solutions for cataloging, authority control, digitization, preservation microfilm, and on-site needs. In providing services to more than a thousand libraries, large and small, public and private, and in locations across the globe, Backstage has cultivated an understanding of libraries, their mission, their operations, and the challenges they face. Backstage offices are located in Provo, Utah, and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania.

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