Partnering to provide free digital access to local history

The content contained on paper documents gives a firsthand account of the and informs our perspective of history, that shaped not only your community, but also your state, and the nation…from a local perspective. Although historical newspaper imaging is our specialty, we have an equal passion for all historic documents, including vital records, family bibles, transcripts, journals, and more. All documents and fragile papers are evaluated and processed to assure proper care and accurate conversion. Our experience covers a broad range of document types from a few days, a few years, or even 200 years ago. All phases of the archival document imaging process, such as preparation, document scanning, document indexing, etc., are managed effectively by the experienced team at Advantage. We work closely with our clients through the entire lifecycle of the project utilizing proven project management and preservation methodologies.

The history recorded in the documents from communities across the country is invaluable. Newspapers, atlases, almanacs, personal journals, directories, government documents…and even yearbooks can put historical events in perspective, and allow us to view those events through the lens of someone who was there and witnessed “history as it happened”. It also allows us to connect to our past in a real and tangible way. This cultural asset must be protected and preserved so future generations can have access to the documents that would otherwise be lost to the erosion of time if they remained on fragile paper. The only true way to ensure its survival is through microfilming.

Historical preservation is far from our only area of expertise! Our dedicated commercial document imaging solution division AdvantageIMS is dedicated to providing solutions for more documents critical to your business or organization. Archiving and retrieving information may not be your core competency. It is ours. We provide solutions tailored to your specific requirements. Advantage Archives commercial division has provided document management solutions for many years. We pride ourselves in our understanding of business documents and their impact on your bottom line. We listen to your needs and requirements and design a solution specific to your company and its clients.

Microfilm digitization is the key to unlocking content that is not currently accessible in a practical way. Creating a digital archive is a powerful tool that will save time by searching through a community’s history by name, date range, keywords, publication, or location. Advantage Archives offers a budget-friendly digital solution, and an easy-to-use content delivery system to materials via our Community History Archives hosted search portals.

Digitization Of Historical Books And Bound Volumes
Our advanced imaging equipment, innovative post-processing methodologies, and years of experience ensure that the content contained in your history books, journals, bound newspaper volumes, ledgers, scrapbooks, and other collated paper documents is never lost to age, deterioration, fading, ripped, and torn pages, broken bindings, or skin oils and other contaminants. It allows for practical online access to this valuable content. The original, alongside microfilm or a different preservation plan, can be treated as the preservation copy, ensuring the range has a future.

Digitizing yearbooks creates a portal to your community’s past! Alumni, genealogists, or anyone that is looking to relive their youth can search and browse the faces, names, and memories contained in the pages of your community’s school yearbooks. When paired with other materials such as newspapers, or city directories, memories can be unlocked as to what was happening during those years at school. It becomes such a powerful and essential tool to help connect your community.

Digitization ensures that your photographs, negatives, or slides can be viewed anytime, anywhere, from any device, allowing you to relive those moments in the community through pictures of the people, places, and events that shaped your community and will enable you to share those moments with others. Once digitized, the original copy is to be tucked away and stored to keep in pristine condition and allows the image to be shown to all that want to see it.

Our purpose-built, high-resolution large format scanners and our sophisticated two-camera digital imaging systems allow us to capture your maps and other large-format documents, as well as historical atlases, land records, plats, or other bound volumes in a non-destructive manner, providing the best possible image quality. Doing so ensures that these large records can be converted over to a much more portable and easily searchable format, which will make the time looking for certain plots, locations, statistics, or figures much more accessible and will save you time and money in the long run.