Scanning incomplete and updated documents

[J. David Bryan]

On Thursday, April 16, 2020 at 8:52, Alan Perry via cctech wrote:

> 1. One document is a software installation manual in a loose leaf
> binder with other documents. It has a title page, tables of contents,
> etc., several chapters, and then it gets interesting. It has several
> appendix sections (starting at A), an index, then more appendix
> sections (starting at A as well), and then another index. The document
> title and its font match of the second set of appendix sections and
> second index matches the table of contents and chapters. 

I've scanned roughly 450 manuals.  What you describe might be the result of 
a manual update.  Some updates include replacement pages, with the intent 
that the replaced pages are discarded.  I've encountered manuals, though, 
where both the old and new pages were kept, perhaps to retain a record of 
the changes.


> Should I create two different pdfs with different appendix sections or 
> create a single pdf with both sets?

Where both old and new pages were present, and where they could be 
differentiated clearly, I made a separate PDF for each manual printing.  
That is, I'd have two PDFs with the same part number with different print 
dates -- one containing the old (original) pages, and the other containing 
the new (replacement) pages.  See, for example:

  /pdf/hp/64000/hardware/64161-90901_Jan-1984.pdf
  /pdf/hp/64000/hardware/64161-90901_May-1984.pdf

and the update ("Manual Change Sheet"):

  /pdf/hp/64000/hardware/64161-90901-MCS_May-1984.pdf

...from which the later manual was created at Bitsavers.


> 2. One document is missing the title page and table of contents.
> Should the pdf just be what I have or should I create those pages for
> the pdf? 

If you know how the title page and TOC should appear, I would add them.  If 
you wish, you could add a note, such as "(Reconstructed)", as a page footer 
on the added pages.  I've reconstructed missing front and back cover pages 
where the manual is part of a family of manuals that all share the same 
basic cover and title page designs.

I think PDFs, ideally, should allow one to reprint an extinct manual in its 
entirety.  So I include the blank pages, covers, inserts, etc. from the 
original when I make mine.


> Thanks, 

You're welcome.

                                      -- Dave