Fiche scanning (was Re: [Simh] Listings of XXDP test and maindec's for 11/70) - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

14 Apr 2009

Ethan,

I have some small experience in fiche scanning. Several years ago I was
researching/writing a biographical essay on an interesting scholar and adventurer in my
family. His published writings were in the 19th and early 20th century, and mostly
available only on microfiche.

I'd suggest checking with your local university. I lucked out at a local university
(SDSU, in San Diego). I found a fiche printer with a add-on which wrote the image off to
disk. 

It wasn't automatic but as I recall it was about 2min/page for scan to writing the
disk. The images were very good; had the typefaces not been antique, I could have applied
OCR in my own office.

I suspect that the technology will be vastly improved and available for use.

Good luck.
Vern Wright

--- On Tue, 4/14/09, Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks at gmail.com> wrote:

...
  From: Ethan Dicks <ethan.dicks at gmail.com>
 Subject: Fiche scanning (was Re: [Simh] Listings of XXDP test and maindec's  for
11/70)
 To: "General Discussion: On-Topic and Off-Topic Posts" <cctalk at
classiccmp.org>
 Date: Tuesday, April 14, 2009, 7:09 AM
 On 4/14/09, Al Kossow <aek at bitsavers.org> wrote:
  I have all of the diag listing on fiche. The
scanner  that I have is a bit
   difficult to use, so it takes about an hour per
sheet  to set up and scan.

 Wow.  That's fiddly.  I can understand things being
 difficult - the
 information density on a fiche is rather high.

 Speaking of fiche scanning, I was going through some boxes
 last week
 and ran across the source fiche for VMS 2.0.  I know
 it's far from the
 only copy in the world, but it did make me wonder if anyone
 has an
 electronic copy.  It'd be a hell of an OCR project (or
 an interesting
 Captcha dataset), but even scans could be interesting to
 read through.

 What I have is one 3-ring binder with a special
 fiche-storage insert -
 you can read the top 1/4" to see that you have the
 right fiche, and
 the lower 90% is protected from dust and scratches. 
 There's at least
 20 fiche to a "page" in the notebook, and
 it's one or two "pages".

 Elsewhere, I know I have VMS 4.0 and probably other
 versions of source
 fiche.  Of course, I do have a reader (more than one), but
 looking at
 things on a modern machine without having to go to where
 the gear is,
 make room to set the reader up, etc., means that most of
 the time, the
 fiche just sit - no casual browsing and no easy way to
 share or
 preserve the contents.

 I know the group has hashed and rehashed fiche scanning and
 I don't
 mean to re-open that debate.  Obviously fiche scanners
 exist,
 reinventing the wheel isn't cost effective, etc, etc. 
 It's
 unfortunate that there's so much manual fiddling to get
 a good scan,
 but those letters are awful tiny.

 If I were on the left coast, I might consider volunteering
 to drive
 the scanner just to be able to share the results.  I have a
 pile of
 fiche myself, mostly from the late 1970s through the
 mid-1980s, IBM
 and DEC docs primarily, and it would be great to know that
 it's not
 only accessible as slivers of film.

 -ethan 