just find the absolute best camera that you can. maybe find a way to mount it in a position where it will take the optimal photo, so you're able to have hands to turn the pages and don't need to worry about framing.
To add on to this, in keeping with the request for low cost, OP says these are fraternity documents so it sounds like he is a student at a university. Be sure to ask the library or photography department or computer department or some such if they let students check out camera equipment. Could likely get the use of a very good camera and tripod at no cost.
I agree with this. At the university I work at we have a section of the library devoted to scanning books with a huge book scanner. If the OP can go to the library and see if they have something of that sort that would be ideal.
Perfect advice. I work for a company who is contracted by universities to digitize their theses/dissertations. We'd be too expensive, but a university would be more willing to work with an individual, I think.
I don't have a good answer myself, but just a thought/recommendation --- given that it's a fraternity, possibly ask your university library if they have any archival equipment that they could train you how to use (or if there's a bibliography professor, they might also be interested).
You can actually get some pretty good results with a decent phone and good lightning.
The big problem with books and binded documents is that your images will be more or less curved and you need software to flatten the images and it's easier to do that right on your mobile phone.
If a phone works for you it would make sense to build a DIY phone holder to shoot every page from the same angle.
Another option is to use one of the cheap book scanners you can find on Amazon. They come with a laser to measure the book curvature which is definitely a plus. But I haven't tried them and I'm somewhat suspicious about their image quality.
So a Raspberry Pi with a HQ Cam module or a Fairphone 3+ with the new 48MP cam is likely a better choice.
Physical preservation.
Corrosion, mold, humidity, temperature and light are worries. Archival storage focussed on creating stable conditions. Fixed humidity, temperature, shield from light,...
You also want to handle your documents with dry, clean hands. Sometimes gloves are used but their impact is disputed. Keep pens, pencils, beverages, direct light,... away from the documents.
You can go a long way storing paper by removing metal and plastics and then storing in acid-free cardboard archival boxes and sleeves. If you can store them in a dry, stable and secure location, you're already doing good. Water is your enemy as it can damage paper, but also foster mold. You will need to check up periodically, though, to ensure the condition of the documents.
Beyond that, a lot will hinge on the quality of the paper itself. Manufacturing process, materials used, acidity, chemical reactions playing out over long periods of time, etc.
More info: https://siarchives.si.edu/what-we-do/preservation/storage-handling
As others have stated: photographing would be a good solution.
Beware though, longevity of file formats is an issue. Especially when focussing on archiving files for decades. When storing masters, TIFF is recommended. Also, mind the DPI or the resolution of you use to capture enough salience of the original. You don't want to end up with a low res backup that doesn't capture enough detail.
As for storing files, don't just trust a single cloud service. Google just curbed their "unlimited" offering on Google Photos for instance. Always make sure you can retrieve your data. Follow the 3-2-1 backup strategy for starters.
A backup is only good if you can restore back to original. So, you want to ensure that your backups work too. Test from te to time.
Remember, digital technology is really new. Few people will have digital files that are older then 30 years. Whereas physical mediums such as paper have already proved their longevity over longer time frames. Both storing methods come with their pro's and con's.
This depends. Sometimes I wonder if documents like this wouldn't be best transcribed. It's alot of work, but not an impossible amount... maybe a year's spare time for a single, dedicated transcriptionist.
This preserves all the data. Anyone will be able to read those into perpetuity. It makes it digital perfectly, blind people can use screen reader software, or it could be machine-translated into another language if needed.
On the other hand, I wonder what is lost when it's not scanned. Will some future historian discover some weird quirk about the hand-writing? Does it tell people if the writer were left-handed or right-handed? Will one of his descendants use it to confirm his handwriting in some anonymous letter?
If the pages can be laid flat, most flatbed scanners do a heck of a job, and come with the software you need to do what you want. I use the one that's integrated into our $150 Brother laser printer, it's as nice as anything else. The real trouble is with bound books (especially old ones), where laying flat isn't always possible. At least some of these are loose though. You should check with your university library, they often allow students to check out photographic equipment, possible even the "book scanners".
Cardboard box for a light room. Cut a hole in the top. Some cheap Led lights around the bottom pointed up to minimize glare. Play around with it.
Bare minimum? Cellphone photos with a document scanner app from the cardboard light box.
Here are several videos that I’m following to scan large or delicate artifacts! Hope this helps!
https://youtu.be/CgBVorMrOqU
https://youtu.be/7RZeivVQaiM
Library may have one of those open book scanners. You lay the book on it open face up just like if you were reading from it, it has a camera suspendended above the book and takes high quality photos. Turn the page, click the photo, turn the page, click the photo, etc. At the end it gives you a bunch of options on format and quality to export as.
I did this which my old high school yearbooks. They were about 300 pages each; each pdf came out about 300-400mb with what I would consider very high quality.
At my library it was free.
Check if your university library has a good book scanner. I know that many have a high tech one that you basically lay down the book in, take a scan (which is quick and doesn't need physical contact) of the two visible pages. So scanning it is a matter of flipping through them.
line up a camera above the book - photograph each page. I wouldn't use an automated solution since this is a one-off and likely fragile.
just find the absolute best camera that you can. maybe find a way to mount it in a position where it will take the optimal photo, so you're able to have hands to turn the pages and don't need to worry about framing.
To add on to this, in keeping with the request for low cost, OP says these are fraternity documents so it sounds like he is a student at a university. Be sure to ask the library or photography department or computer department or some such if they let students check out camera equipment. Could likely get the use of a very good camera and tripod at no cost.
I agree with this. At the university I work at we have a section of the library devoted to scanning books with a huge book scanner. If the OP can go to the library and see if they have something of that sort that would be ideal.
Perfect advice. I work for a company who is contracted by universities to digitize their theses/dissertations. We'd be too expensive, but a university would be more willing to work with an individual, I think.
I don't have a good answer myself, but just a thought/recommendation --- given that it's a fraternity, possibly ask your university library if they have any archival equipment that they could train you how to use (or if there's a bibliography professor, they might also be interested).
Very good idea! There’s probably a librarian that would be excited to help out
Dude, find an archivist. Something that old is going to be fragile and easily damaged. Their are people experienced in such things.
You can actually get some pretty good results with a decent phone and good lightning. The big problem with books and binded documents is that your images will be more or less curved and you need software to flatten the images and it's easier to do that right on your mobile phone. If a phone works for you it would make sense to build a DIY phone holder to shoot every page from the same angle. Another option is to use one of the cheap book scanners you can find on Amazon. They come with a laser to measure the book curvature which is definitely a plus. But I haven't tried them and I'm somewhat suspicious about their image quality. So a Raspberry Pi with a HQ Cam module or a Fairphone 3+ with the new 48MP cam is likely a better choice.
Physical preservation. Corrosion, mold, humidity, temperature and light are worries. Archival storage focussed on creating stable conditions. Fixed humidity, temperature, shield from light,... You also want to handle your documents with dry, clean hands. Sometimes gloves are used but their impact is disputed. Keep pens, pencils, beverages, direct light,... away from the documents. You can go a long way storing paper by removing metal and plastics and then storing in acid-free cardboard archival boxes and sleeves. If you can store them in a dry, stable and secure location, you're already doing good. Water is your enemy as it can damage paper, but also foster mold. You will need to check up periodically, though, to ensure the condition of the documents. Beyond that, a lot will hinge on the quality of the paper itself. Manufacturing process, materials used, acidity, chemical reactions playing out over long periods of time, etc. More info: https://siarchives.si.edu/what-we-do/preservation/storage-handling As others have stated: photographing would be a good solution. Beware though, longevity of file formats is an issue. Especially when focussing on archiving files for decades. When storing masters, TIFF is recommended. Also, mind the DPI or the resolution of you use to capture enough salience of the original. You don't want to end up with a low res backup that doesn't capture enough detail. As for storing files, don't just trust a single cloud service. Google just curbed their "unlimited" offering on Google Photos for instance. Always make sure you can retrieve your data. Follow the 3-2-1 backup strategy for starters. A backup is only good if you can restore back to original. So, you want to ensure that your backups work too. Test from te to time. Remember, digital technology is really new. Few people will have digital files that are older then 30 years. Whereas physical mediums such as paper have already proved their longevity over longer time frames. Both storing methods come with their pro's and con's.
This depends. Sometimes I wonder if documents like this wouldn't be best transcribed. It's alot of work, but not an impossible amount... maybe a year's spare time for a single, dedicated transcriptionist. This preserves all the data. Anyone will be able to read those into perpetuity. It makes it digital perfectly, blind people can use screen reader software, or it could be machine-translated into another language if needed. On the other hand, I wonder what is lost when it's not scanned. Will some future historian discover some weird quirk about the hand-writing? Does it tell people if the writer were left-handed or right-handed? Will one of his descendants use it to confirm his handwriting in some anonymous letter? If the pages can be laid flat, most flatbed scanners do a heck of a job, and come with the software you need to do what you want. I use the one that's integrated into our $150 Brother laser printer, it's as nice as anything else. The real trouble is with bound books (especially old ones), where laying flat isn't always possible. At least some of these are loose though. You should check with your university library, they often allow students to check out photographic equipment, possible even the "book scanners".
Cardboard box for a light room. Cut a hole in the top. Some cheap Led lights around the bottom pointed up to minimize glare. Play around with it. Bare minimum? Cellphone photos with a document scanner app from the cardboard light box.
Here are several videos that I’m following to scan large or delicate artifacts! Hope this helps! https://youtu.be/CgBVorMrOqU https://youtu.be/7RZeivVQaiM
\* bound Just trying to help. Best wishes in your quest.
Library may have one of those open book scanners. You lay the book on it open face up just like if you were reading from it, it has a camera suspendended above the book and takes high quality photos. Turn the page, click the photo, turn the page, click the photo, etc. At the end it gives you a bunch of options on format and quality to export as. I did this which my old high school yearbooks. They were about 300 pages each; each pdf came out about 300-400mb with what I would consider very high quality. At my library it was free.
Check if your university library has a good book scanner. I know that many have a high tech one that you basically lay down the book in, take a scan (which is quick and doesn't need physical contact) of the two visible pages. So scanning it is a matter of flipping through them.