Heritage Scrapbooks - Scrapbooking Through Time

HERITAGE SCRAPBOOKS - SCRAPBOOKING THROUGH TIME

Heritage Scrapbooks is a digital archive of vintage scrapbooks dating from 1700 onwards.

The scrapbooks are from Dr. Gary Kelly’s private collection, as well as from generous patrons willing to share their collections online with the rest of the world.

The scrapbooks are on a variety of topics, such as domestic issues, film stars and media, political campaigns, school memories and travel adventures. The books range, geographically, from as far as Israel, Italy, Germany, England, to the United States and Canada.

DIGITIZATION PROCEDURES

Most of the smaller, well preserved scrapbooks were digitized by using an Epson Perfection 1400 flatbed scanner at 400 dpi. Any larger, awkward or delicate scrapbooks were photographed using a Nikon CoolPix 900 digital camera and a special light set up, to minimize any damage to the materials.

Some scrapbooks, such as the Floral collection, consist of fragile pages and dried flowers, which are as much as 50 years old. It was difficult at times to capture the images without compromising the dried floral arrangements and it was a slow process altogether. However, most of the scrapbooks are in pristine condition and even their leather or paper spines are still holding up well.