General technical note regarding the Riazanov Library project scans: Most of the scans made by the Riazanov Library project were created directly from original paper, using either an Epson GT 20000 tabloid size flat bed scanner (for papers tabloid and smaller size), or a Contex Flex 50i broadsheet size flat bed scanner (for broadsheet newspapers). Occasionally I've used the cantankerous old Minolta PS7000 (mark I) overhead book scanner at Tamiment Library for portions of this archive, and my portable Canon LIDE 200 and Epson Workforce GT1500 letter size flat bed scanners on the rare occasions libraries have permitted my bringing what I consider to be proper high quality scanning tools to their site to scan their material. We use throughout .pdf file format for our scans. Scanning of most average size black and white text was done at 300 dpi early on in the project, and later often at 400 dpi. Where at all possible, we use single bit black and white scanning, to enhance contrast and proviode (again, where at all possible) clear, crisp solid jet black text on pure white background images off even stained and faded brittle highly deteriorated original paper, while at the same time producing very compact files of the scans. Where the range of contrast is too great to adequately capture with single bit technique (especially due to different degrees of fading and stains on an old paper) we tend to use 8 bit gray scale, tho occasionally will employ 24 bit color scans. We often use 8 bit gray scale for reproducing black and white photographs, and some types of art, where there is a lot of use of very varying shades of gray. We of course use 24 bit color, often at 400 or even 600 dpi, when reproducing color cover art, especially in the case of our archive of The Liberator. Our philosophy of scanning, based on our years of experience experimenting with varying approachs, involves firmly rejecting the (to us foolish and misguided) concept often embraced at academic institutions today of using 24 bit color scans universally. Indiscriminate use of color scanning creates bloated scan files and more of a museum of how paper ages than a pleasing to read record of the content of the publications in question. The material we are scanning is NOT the Magna Carta, or the Dead Sea Scrolls, where preservation of every last detail of the color and texture of the original document is critical. The material we are scanning consists primarily of newspapers and journals that we know with 100.000% certainty were originally printed in pure black ink on pure white paper, and consist mostly of just text, or simple black and white line drawn or charcoal sketch cartoon art. As mentioned, use of single bit black and white scanning instantly, without laborious page by page, pixel by pixel digital restoration, instantly removes the sad and distracting effects of yellowing, browning, many minor tears and other imperfections, and results in an image that can come very close to what the document looked like the moment the ink used to print it dried on the paper. Of course, as mentioned above, where single bit black and white scanning is inappropriate (very badly damaged or aged pages with lots of variation in density of print and background, complex art with lots of levels of gray, some half tone and all continuous tone black and white photos, and of course color art) we will use appropriate techniques. Microfilm: At present, nearly all of our scanning is from original paper or paper reproductions (mostly Greenwood Reprints). However, some of the scans have been taken directly off microfilm, where no other alterantive is available. The Riazanov Library project has an old but serviceable Minolta MS7000 microfilm scanner with a full range (7.5x, 9-16x, 13-23x, and 20-50x) lenses. I may later elect to acquire a modern ScanPro 3000 or even a high end Meckel Mark IIIQ microfilm scanner eventually. We have acquired a small library of selected microfilm reels purchased as fresh prints off the master negatives from originals held by the New York Public Library, Wisconsin Historical Society, Columbia University, Emory University, and other sources which we intend to scan. Tim Davenport, with what may be the largest private perosnal collection of microfilm images of American radical publications in the world (a collection more complete than that of most major libraries, in many respects) has offered to make his collection available to the Riazanov Library project when we move to the "microfilm phase" of this project, and concentrate on scanning microfilm. Occasionally we have been compelled to scan use copies of microfilms at libraries, which sadly (usually) suffer horribly from scratches caused by repeated abuse of the film and poor maintanance of the equipment at the libraries that hold the film. ---marty Martin H. Goodman MD Director, Riazanov Library digital archive project