Prepress

BÖWE BELL + HOWELL and Wietec Help Preserve Memory of Holocaust

Friday 26. December 2008 - Yad Vashem taps Spectrum XF for comprehensive document digitization project

Faced with the challenge of digitizing its extensive database of Holocaust documentation, Yad Vashem, the Holocaust remembrance and education center in Jerusalem, turned to BÖWE BELL + HOWELL Scanners.

Yad Vashem purchased BBH’s Spectrum XF scanner from Wietec, the sole authorized distributor for BBH products in Israel. Yad Vashem is using Spectrum XF to scan millions of Holocaust documents. The digitized images of the documents will be accessible to the public via the organization’s Web site (yadvashem.org).

The database includes personal testimonies, artifacts, more than 263,000 photographs and tens of thousands of lists, which include the names of millions of Jewish victims of the Holocaust. The project is an attempt to create a comprehensive digital memorial for the Holocaust.

Since the documents vary in quality, color and sensitivity, Yad Vashem needed a scanner with top of the line image enhancement features. According to Wietec, Yad Vashem was impressed with the Spectrum XF scanner’s ability to produce high-quality digital images of old documents without sacrificing speed or document throughput. Spectrum XF’s SharpShooter camera technology and built-in image enhancement features ensure that all types of documents are reproduced as crystal-clear digital images.

The digitization project is part of a larger development plan designed to facilitate and modernize Holocaust research and scholarship. In addition to document imaging, the recently completed development plan included the opening of the International School for Holocaust Studies, the world’s largest school dedicated to teaching the history of the Holocaust; new offices for the International Institute for Holocaust Research; a new Archives and Library Building; a new Visitors’ Center and a new, state-of-the-art Museum Complex that includes a Holocaust History Museum, Hall of Names and Holocaust Art Museum.

The digitization project will continue indefinitely as Yad Vashem continues to receive and uncover documents related to the Holocaust.