Digitising millions of pages of often unique historical documents
PFU (EMEA) Limited has been appointed by the Vatican’s Dicastery of Communication to assist with the digitisation of historical documents dating back over 100 years.
Established in 2015, the Dicastery for Communication was created by the Pope with the purpose of restructuring communications to respond more efficiently to the mission of the Catholic Church. As part of the move, a single digital archive was formed to preserve all of the documents held by these departments and provide a research resource. This included a wide variety of document types, from information bulletins bound in volumes, to books, brochures, and news reports from events in the Vatican.
With long and detailed documents in circulation, failure to digitise a single page had the potential of damaging the comprehension of entire documents and important information. A solution was required that would be capable of precisely digitising several documents, whilst ensuring delicate paper is preserved.
A Fujitsu fi-7900 scanner, aided by Paperstream Capture software package was selected, automating the validation of information, and enabling data extraction from a wide variety of documents printed on varying types of paper, with different formats, thicknesses, materials, and sizes.
"The reliability demonstrated by this device in the capture process has allowed us to make scans without errors and inaccuracies, safeguarding our documents, from a single passage of text to substantial volumes," explains the Dicastery for Communication.
The digitisation of such a vast and historically significant archive is a delicate operation that needs careful preparation. Curated by six people, the document acquisition process began in 2021 and is expected to be completed by June 2022, digitising millions of additional pages.
The Fujitsu device has enabled the team to minimise the time taken for manual based tasks whilst ensuring 100% accuracy, without risks of harmful losses of content that would have compromised the entire initiative.
“Historical documents such as those held by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Communication provide a comprehensive record of the history of the Catholic Church,” comments Hiroaki Kashiwagi, President and CEO of PFU (EMEA). “I am pleased that the Fujitsu fi-7900 was selected to help the curators carefully, accurately and efficiently record these important documents, which will provide a valuable research archive for years to come.”