Book Digitisation - Unlocking Egyptology's Past

Book Digitisation – Unlocking Egyptology’s Past

One of the world’s most important and authoritative collections of Egyptology books is becoming more accessible through a digital scanning project delivered by Document Options.

The project involved digitising approximately 400 books from the Egypt Exploration Society (EES) Reference Library. Containing around 20,000 books, journals and pamphlets, the library is a world-leading source of information on Egyptology and Egyptian cultural heritage.

Founded in 1882 by English novelist, journalist, traveller and Egyptologist Amelia Edwards, the EES supports and promotes the study and preservation of Egyptian cultural heritage. It conducts archaeological and heritage research and shares its findings with researchers and the public.

Howard Carter, who became world-famous following his discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, began his career as an artist producing watercolour paintings of archaeological sites for the EES collection.

Previously, students, academics and researchers wishing to consult the EES’s unique collection of books generally had to visit the charity’s headquarters in London. This could be costly and time-consuming and was particularly difficult for researchers based overseas.

When Dr Carl Graves, Director of the EES, was completing his PhD at the University of Birmingham, he had to travel to London specifically to use the library.

While renovating its London office, the EES was prompted to consider how best to manage its extensive collection. The organisation held several copies of some books, occupying valuable space, and had also developed a digitisation strategy designed to make its knowledge and research more widely available.

“The EES felt it was more fitting to our charitable and educational purpose to bring our wealth of knowledge and information back into circulation electronically,” said Dr Graves.

“By digitising the books, we could make them more accessible online as digital e-books or through print-on-demand services.”

The EES began searching for a suitable partner to undertake the book digitisation project.

“As a charity, we follow a rigorous tendering process when selecting suppliers. We considered several companies but chose Document Options because its approach gave us a great deal of confidence in the quality of the service,” explained Dr Graves.

“Andy, a director at Document Options, took extra care to understand the project. He was the only supplier to inspect the books physically and remained in regular contact, providing us with clear information throughout.”

Document Options completed the project in only two months. The service included carefully packaging approximately 400 books before securely transporting them to the company’s scanning facility in Crawley, West Sussex.

Some of the books were more than 130 years old and contained between 300 and 400 pages. As the EES held duplicate copies, the volumes supplied for digitisation could be carefully disbound, allowing each page to be scanned individually and captured to a high standard. Each page was assessed individually and scanned either in colour or greyscale, depending on its content, at a resolution of 400dpi.

The scanned pages underwent Optical Character Recognition (OCR), making the contents of each book text-searchable. The individual pages were then compiled into complete digital books and securely returned to the EES.

With the organisation’s approval, the duplicate physical copies were securely recycled following digitisation.

“The main benefit of the Document Options service is that it has re-energised our back catalogue,” said Dr Graves.

“Our books are renowned worldwide as primary sources for Egyptology research. Accessing material of this quality can be challenging, so making the books available digitally provides more affordable and convenient access to our unique knowledge while also generating income for the EES.

“Document Options has helped us achieve our key objectives of supporting, promoting and educating people about Egyptian cultural heritage worldwide.”

The books document archaeological exploration at numerous Egyptian sites of historical significance. In some cases, they now provide the only surviving record of archaeological work conducted at the time.

“These books represent preservation by record, since they are now the only remaining accounts of some of the most important archaeological sites in Egypt,” explained Dr Graves.

He added that he could not have completed his own PhD research into Beni Hasan—an ancient Egyptian cemetery dating from approximately 2055 to 1650 BC—without access to books held by the EES.

Digitisation also provides a more cost-effective publishing model. Instead of paying to produce and store printed stock that may not be required, the EES can make material available digitally or produce physical copies on demand.

“The EES funds research and encourages public engagement to generate funding. Between those activities is perhaps the most important thing we do: disseminating information,” said Dr Graves.

“Working with Document Options to digitise our back catalogue and bring it into the 21st century allows the EES to share its research much more easily with many more people.”

Through careful book scanning, searchable OCR and secure digital conversion, Document Options has helped the EES make an internationally important body of knowledge more accessible to students, academics, researchers and members of the public around the world.

Do you have bound books or other important documents that need to be digitised and preserved? Contact Document Options today to discuss your requirements and discover how we can make your collections more accessible