The following is a quote from the Fort Wayne (Indiana) Journal-Gazette:
Deep in the catacombs of the Allen County Library, in a darkened room, 10 black-cloaked “scribes” quietly pore over yellowed texts:
- “The History of Natrona County, Wyoming, 1888-1922.”
- “Cornwall Parish Registers, Marriages, 1853-1913.”
- “Fort Wayne, Indiana, City Directory, 1864-1865.”
But these scribes aren’t people – they’re state-of-the-art scanning machines from non-profit Internet Archive, the library basement’s out-of-sight secret. The basement lab will play a vital role in digitizing the former Lincoln Museum collection for public access.
Though housed in the library, Internet Archive is an independent operation, part of a national network of scanning centers that put rare books and documents on the Internet for public consumption.
The article goes on for some length describing this worthwhile project. Because of the efforts of both the Internet Archive and of the Allen County Public Library, these valuable works will soon be available to genealogists and others from the convenience of home. There will be no need to travel to Fort Wayne to see them.
You can read the entire article at http://www.journalgazette.net/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081226/LOCAL/812260323.
