Scholarly Communication and Publishing
What is Text?
In this guide, "text" is defined as content that primarily consists of text. It includes content such as books, newspapers, journals, letters, and more. It can include both physical materials, as well as digitized content and images of text.
Requesting Scans and Reproductions
At the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, some library units take requests to scan and/or produce digital reproductions of their materials. Please note that these services typically have a fee associated with them. More information about specific reproduction services and associated fees are available on each unit's page.
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Digitization ServicesDigitization Services offers reproduction services for library material for current University of Illinois affiliates. Their website includes information about what requests they can take, how to place a request, and associated fees and pricing.
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MPAL Special CollectionsTo request reproductions of special collections print materials at the Music and Performing Arts Library (MPAL), please contact them directly at mpal@library.illinois.edu.
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RBML Reproduction ServicesThe Rare Book & Manuscript Library (RBML) takes requests for digital reproductions of works in their collections. Please visit their site to learn more about their policies and associated fees.
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University Archives' Duplication ServicesThe University Archives offers a variety of duplication and digital reproduction services to patrons and researchers.
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Preservation Reformatting Digitization RequestsPreservation Reformatting, in collaboration with the Internet Archive, provides in-house digitization of public domain (pre-1929) print materials to Library patrons, including microfilm and large-scale requests. Patrons must fill out a form to place a digitization request. The form is available on Preservation Reformatting's website.
Scanning Your Own Copies
If you already own materials you would like to scan, the library has a variety of scanners on-campus that you can use.
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Media Commons ScannersThe Media Commons has five different scanners available to patrons in room 220, including a KIC BookEye Scanner; a Plustek Opticbook Flatbed Scanner; an Epson Perfection Flatbed Scanner; and an Epson WorkForce Sheet Feed Scanner. Their scanning guide includes information about each kind of scanner, what sizes it can scan, and what it is best used for. The KIC overhead scanner and the kiosk flatbed scanners are available to community patrons, but the other scanners require a University of Illinois login.
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Media Commons Loanable TechnologyMedia Commons also loans out several portable scanners, including a CZUR Aura Pro Portable Document Scanner and a Kodak Slide N Scan. Items can be checked out up to 10 days at a time.
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Grainger Engineering Library First FloorGrainger Engineering Library has a variety of scanners available on their first floor, including public access Canon flatbed scanners; a CanoScan 9000F Mark II scanner; a Plustek OpticBook A300; a Microfilm ScanPro 2000; a Book2Net Spirit Scanner; and a ClearView+ Optelec.
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MPAL ScannersThe Music and Performing Arts Library (MPAL) has several free-to-use scanners, including flatbed scanners; a large-scale flatbed scanner; and an overhead scanner. Please visit their Printing, Scanning, and Microform page for more information about their policies and scanner locations.
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Map Library ScannersThe Map Library has a tabletop scanner that can scan 300-1200 dpi, 11x17 inch materials. It is available for self-service after users have consulted with Map Library staff. Users will need to bring a flash drive to save files of the scanned material onto.
Turning Images into Searchable Text
Optical character recognition (OCR) transforms images of text into machine-readable text. This makes material fully searchable, creates opportunities for computational forms of analysis, and improves accessibility in digital collections. Historically, there were GAs with OCR expertise in the Scholarly Commons, but there is not currently a point person for questions.
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Introduction to OCR and Searchable PDFsThis LibGuide offers an overview of what OCR is, how it is used, and various software you can use for OCR.
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Adobe AcrobatAdobe Acrobat is available to university students, faculty, and staff for free, and can be downloaded as part of the Adobe Creative Cloud through the University Webstore. Adobe Creative Cloud agreements expire on August 1 each year, and can be renewed for free by redownloading it from the Webstore.
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TesseractTesseract is a free, open-source software for OCR. As an open-source software, users with programming knowledge can edit its code and adjust it for their specific needs.
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ChatGPTChatGPT and other AI software are useful resources for OCR. Please be mindful and do not use AI programs to OCR copyrighted or sensitive materials.