Fire safety improvement works at the Martin Opitz Library
30 September, 2026As part of the refurbishment work currently underway, various areas of our library have been rearranged. As a result, a new digitisation workshop has been set up on the second floor of the Martin-Opitz-Library. Our scanners, which we are happy to use to digitise printed materials for our users on request, are now grouped together in one central location within the library.
We currently use two main scanners for digitisation. Our primary scanner, a Bookeye 4 V1A, can scan items up to DIN A1+ in size. In theory, it can scan at resolutions of up to 600 DPI, although we generally use a resolution of 300 DPI.
During scanning, the materials being digitised are held in place by a glass plate to ensure optimum scan quality. The resulting digital images can then be further processed, for example by correcting colours or aligning pages correctly.
To digitise older works with particular care and avoid damage, book cradles are used to support the books. These allow, for example, one side of a book to be lowered or the book to be scanned in a V-shaped position. The glass plate is not used for these scanning processes.
Our second, smaller scanner, the Booktek 5 Scanner, can scan formats up to DIN A2+ and is used when several printed items need to be scanned at the same time.
The acquisition of a Widetek WT36-600 scanner will make it easier in future to scan maps and make them available in digital format.
Once our building work has been completed, you will of course once again be able to scan materials yourself on our premises. You will also be able to use our Zeutschel microfiche and microfilm scanners, our flatbed scanner and our photocopier, free of charge or for a small fee, as applicable.
On request, the library also offers a digitisation service through the document delivery service eBooks on Demand (EOD). Books from our older holdings (published up to 1900) can be digitised and supplied as PDF files.
Further information about scanning and photocopying and eBooks on Demand can be found here: SERVICES.
Please direct any enquiries about eBooks on Demand to:
Mr George Müller
Email: george.mueller@herne.de
