The City of Toronto Archives has developed their digitizing program by using the Atiz book scanner. This digitization helps to fulfill the mandate of the City of Toronto Archives, which is to preserve and provide access to records of enduring value.

All scanning activities occur in the Archives’ Digitization Lab, a secured room that includes two full-time staff members with a background education and expertise in digital photography. On occasion, contract workers are brought in to help complete large-scale digitization projects.

Textual documents are photographed with a Canon EOS 5D digital camera that is attached to the ATIZ BookDrive DIY book cradle system. Digital photographs are processed in batches, which automatically cleans up, crops, and adjusts the brightness and contrast of the digital image. Using a PDF compressor software, images are converted to bi-tonal PDF/A files with machine-readable, searchable text.

All scanned digital files are saved as 8-bit TIFF files and stored on a Sun 5320 NAS server that has a raw capacity of 12 terabytes. Currently, the City of Toronto Archives has stored approximately 3 terabytes of master TIFF files, including over 40,000 scanned photographs. Approximately 37,000 of the scanned images are linked to the WebGENCAT online database, but only after they have been copied and compressed into lower resolution JPEG files. The institutional standard for JPEG images is 1,050 pixels (long-side) with a standard resolution to fit a 17” monitor.

Digital reproductions are sold to the public upon request. There are set fees to obtain a copy of a TIFF file on a CD-ROM or to receive a high-quality printout on either 8X10” or 11X14” archival matte paper. The Digitization Lab uses Epson R1800 and SP2200 Inkjet printers to print photographs.

The City of Toronto Archives has the things history is made of: orginal photographs, maps, letters, government papers, Their documents aren't just about downtown Toronto; They also have records from the former municipalities and neighbourhoods that make up our modern city. The oldest item is a map from 1792; their most recent acquisition is a DVD of last month's City Council meeting. They have 1.2 million photographs; millions of pages of textual records, from diaries to speeches to articles; over 5,000 maps; and more. It's all about Toronto.

City of Toronto Archives website can be found at http://www.toronto.ca/archives/