Information technologies and libraries: New extraordinary scanner in the Library of Congress

Mark Sweeney, chief of the Serial and Government Publications Division, recently unveiled a newspaper-size scanner that is available for use by readers. According to book2net, the company that makes the scanner, it is the first and only one of its kind in the United States—and so far the only one at the Library.  

The machine, originally designed for use in the reading rooms of the British Library, was manufactured in Germany. It can capture a JPEG image of an entire newspaper page—or comic book, folio, book or bound volume, among others—in 0.3 seconds. The scanner has a touchscreen that allows a person to view details close-up, and all it takes to scan a page is a touch of a single button. Full-color images can then be easily saved to a USB flash drive.

The Library employees believe that the book scanner is pretty much a continuation of their intent to provide services that their readers will appreciate which will be a free benefit to patrons and Library-wide staff in the Newspaper and Current Periodical Reading Room and off-site.