About

We create archive-quality digital facsimiles and share them online in Colenda and OPenn. Startup costs were met through a generous gift from Penn Libraries Overseer Lawrence J. Schoenberg.

Digitization Standards

Two SCETI offices.

Digitization Preferences

The goal of most digitization projects at the Penn Libraries is to represent the original physical item accurately. In order to achieve accurate representations with consistency, SCETI has developed a set of preferences to guide their work.

View digitization preferences
Academic using camera and lighting setup for digitization.

Image Formats and Standards

All images produced by SCETI meet standards developed by the Federal Agencies Digital Guidelines Initiative (FADGI). We digitize books and manuscripts at a resolution of 400 or 600 PPI, and TIFF serves as our master file format. Other material types and image specifications can be accommodated. 

Academic using a scanner for digitization.

Digitization Equipment

SCETI uses Phase One digital sensors and Schneider-Kreuznach lenses mounted on several single-camera copystands (RG3040s and DT Elements) and a dual-camera system (BC100) by Digital Transitions. Our capture and processing software is the Cultural Heritage edition of Capture One Pro.

View all digitization equipment

How to Work with Us

For small image requests consisting of no more than five library items and producing no more than 1,000 images, email the following library staff directly:

  • For small image requests from the Penn Libraries’ special collections, please contact kislak@upenn.edu.
  • For small image requests from the Penn Libraries’ general collections, please contact the Head of SCETI, Mick Overgard, at overgard@pobox.upenn.edu.

For larger image requests:

For audio and moving image reformatting of up to 10 items, please contact the Head of SCETI, Mick Overgard, at overgard@pobox.upenn.edu. For audio and moving image reformatting of 11 items or more, a Collection Digitization Project Proposal Form will need to be submitted.