[PADG:439] RE: Photocopier specs

We do quite a lot of preservation photocopying, mostly of scores, which are larger format than books. Therefore our first requirement in a preservation photocopier is that it accommodate 11x17 paper, which we use about 90% of the time. When we copy books smaller than 8.5x11, though we sometimes use 8.5x11 paper, we prefer to copy in folios so that the preservation photocopy can be sewn through the fold. This does mean cutting special 11x17 paper with the grain running short so that the grain in the bound book is correct.

The next most important requirement we've found to be that the machine can be programmed to heighten contrast, so that paper blemishes, and to a large degree acid-darkened paper, don't show in the photocopy. This would be something to have demonstrated on samples.

We normally disbind scores before photocopying them, so that having the photocopier be "book-friendly" has not been a high priority for preservation purposes. When we last researched copiers we were unable to find a book-friendly one that did produced copies of as high a quality as the one we have. If this has changed, it would be nice!

I have not, I must admit, done a great deal of research into the longevity of toners. However, I have been told by several dealers pushing different products that there is negligible difference among machines in toner retention nowadays, and that they would expect paper wear to be more of a factor than toner, say, sticking to opposite pages, as I can remember from times past. The photocopier we use for preservation work is the same one used for all other staff photocopying, a Canon IR220. I recommend it.

Some (high-end) photocopiers can export image data to files, so that you are photocopying and scanning at the same time. I haven't looked into that, but it would be one way to incorporate scanning into a preservation photocopy program. What we do is to run the photocopies through a sheet-feed scanner using Acrobat Capture to produce files of pdf images, set so that each batch run through the scanner produces one file. This takes very little time. We then upload the images to Dspace, in which our institution is involved, so that the files can remain at a stable URL, then link that to our OPAC. This means that any time we make a preservation photocopy we also have an opportunity to scan a copy for wide access. We do this for scores that are in the public domain and out of print, with particular attention to those that are requested through ILL or by patrons who have discovered we do this service (we have a well-hidden request button on our web page) or have few copies listed on OCLC. So far we have run the entire scanning program without added staff, and have uploaded 174 titles since last August. They can be found at https://dspace.lib.rochester.edu/handle/1802/291/browse-title. We're very pleased with that program so far.

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[PADG:439] RE: Photocopier specs

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