Please excuse cross-postings.

Hi,

This is my first posting to this listserv, and I not sure if this is the right audience for this query.  But, here goes nothing.

Is there anyone out there who has a successful "imaging-on-demand" service they are providing to patrons of their records?  

By imaging on demand I mean that a patron or staff member would discover a folder or box full of material that they would like a copy of and would like digitally imaged, rather than photocopied.  This would allow us to distribute content via e-mail or over the Internet or our intranet.  Of course we would then keep a copy of what was imaged and make it available on-line, linked to the catalog, via the register or finding aid.  

Currently we make requests for digitization through a separate printing services department within our corporation. This usually takes a few days to a couple of weeks, depending on the volume and type of documents, and since we are not their only customer.  We had such a request from a corporate patron a couple of weeks ago and we were only able to deliver the images about two or three days after the request, and that was about as fast as they have been coming.  

What we need to know is whether there any repositories out there that are able to offer immediate turnaround (within a maximum of an hour or so) for digitizing requests?  If so, what is your secret?  What machines or software do you use?  What is your workflow?  Any ideas towards this end would be very helpful.

Again, this may not be the right audience for this query.  If anyone has suggestions for a better result, feel free to let me know.  I'm all ears!  I am sort of new at this still, only being out of grad school for less than two years.

Thank you,

Ryan

Ryan K. Lee
Metadata Specialist
LDS Church History Dept.
50 E. North Temple Rm. 289E
Salt Lake City, UT 84150-3420
(801) 240-2173
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