Digitization and Preservation

      Digitizing Night and Morning was more than a technical task; it was an act of preservation. This book is over 180 years old, and every page I scanned is a page that has survived time, handling, humidity, and changing generations of ownership. By making it digital, I am helping ensure that the book continues to exist, be studied, and be read without being physically stressed further.

            For this project, I used the CZUR ET24 Pro Scanner, which is designed specifically for rare books. Following rare book handling guidelines, I supported the spine, kept the pages at a natural angle, avoided forcing the binding open, and made sure my hands were clean and dry prior to scanning. I also scanned slowly, which helped reduce the strain on this copy of Night and Morning. While scanning this book, I struggled with some pages not capturing without the finger cot capturing, as well. I theorize this was due to some pages on this copy being blank on one side but had writing on one side. I also scanned the book’s cover and spine, unfortunately, my hand is pictured in these scans, but felt it was important to overlook, to remind researchers this is still a surviving physical book, and the spine and cover look very different than how book covers look today.

            However, digitization allows for a fragile material object to be accessible to all researchers. Instead of only existing on a shelf in Columbus, Georgia, or worse, locked away in a shed or storage, this book can now be viewed by students, researchers, or anyone curious about Victorian novels, Southern reading culture, or book history. It becomes findable, and usable, in ways it never was before. Preservation also means documenting what exists currently, such as foxing on the paper, the faded brown ink inscriptions, and the worn binding edges. These characteristics of the book help document the history the book lived through. The book becomes evidence of time, and traces of its past owners, including the person who once read Chapter VII closely enough to mark the sentimental King John quote in parentheses. Digitization does not replace the physical book, but it does protect it, and gives it a new form of life, one that honors the original while making it durable enough to survive another century or more.