Family Photos, Documents Digitized for Free on ‘Community Scan Day,’ Oct. 8

Ball State University Libraries, along with a few area partners, are hosting the second community scan day—an opportunity for community members to have their family photographs and documents digitized, at no charge, in an effort to preserve local history.

The event, “Preserving Local History: Community Scan Day,” will be held 1-4 p.m. on Oct. 8 in the Cantina Room at Minnetrista Museum & Gardens, 1200 North Minnetrista Parkway, in Muncie. For this community scan day, event organizers are seeking local Delaware County items that fit the themes “Women in Politics” and/or “Women in the Military.” In addition to having photographs and documents digitized and added to local digital archives, community members will be given a digital copy of their items on a free flash drive.

“This community scan day is vital to preserving access to the rich materials and stories of women in our community. The theme of this event will shine a light on the histories and experiences of local women in civic and military life, whose leadership and contributions were sometimes obscured or even ignored,” said Matthew Shaw, dean of University Libraries at Ball State. “Making these materials accessible to researchers through digitization is a core mission of Muncie's cultural institutions, and we are excited to focus our October efforts on capturing, preserving, and amplifying the voices of local women.”

Only paper documents and photographs no larger than 11 inches by 17 inches, plus photo negatives and slides, will be digitized during community scan day. If items brought to the Oct. 8 event cannot be scanned at that time for any reason, participants will receive information on how to schedule a follow-up appointment for one-on-one assistance or other recommendations.

Community scan day participants are encouraged to pre-register as a way to save time, either online or by calling Sara McKinley at 765-741-5159.

Members of the public who have questions about this event may contact Sarah Allison, head of Archives User Engagement at University Libraries, by email or phone: 765-285-5078; or Jim Bradley, head of Metadata and Digital Initiatives at University Libraries, by email or phone: 765-285-5718.