I was just reading on the italian genealogy forum..and someone said this:

Onother service some of the Family History Centers have is that you can scan the microfilm and save the file to a memory stick or other hard drive.

Then it may be better to view the images via a home computer & with windows XP you can enlarge the images.

Also, having the images at home allows you to research at your own time frame or share the files with others while you are in the learning curve.



Do any of you do this? How, exactly do you scan the microfilm..and into what?

Eleven,
As you know I upload many of the images I get onto my server for my websites. In case the server crashes (God forbid) I keep all my scans on CD. My FHC sells the CD's for 80 cents each (a fair price) so I purchase them there. For my personal family documents I save them on my flash drive. Very simple, you just plug it in, it opens a file to view your files and I open the file the scans are in and move them into my flash drive file. I have several flash drives the largest of which is 16 gigs! That holds a whole lotta documents!

And you can do this at any FHL?

I havent been to an FHL in probably over 14 years...so, I dont know how these things work, at all. How long does it take you to do this?

The only way to save from films at the FHC nearest me is to make a copy to paper by mounting the film on one special viewer which is configured to do this. Each print costs 25 cents. Once you have the print you can scan it and hopefully improve the image somewhat and then save it to any media that you have. It would be great to scan directly from the film to digital media, unfortunately there are no such options at my local FHC. I have also used a digital camera to photograph the image projected from the film by the viewer with variable success. The arrangement of the viewer, lens, and the surface on which the image is projected doesn't lend itself to obtaining a clear digital image although a much better camera than my point and shoot might improve the quality of the image.

Thats how I did it at my FHL..only, back then..the copies were 5 cents..and the only lens that could read the film was on that copier..so they let me use it. It took them two years to get the lens for their regular reader...and by then, I was done.

Being it took them so long to get a lens, I figured if there was a way to get that film on a cd or flash drive..they sure wouldnt have whatever it is one needs.

Also, to rent the film was only 3 dollars a roll.

I probably could go back there, because they have the film of my mothers town now and I have sent for the italian records, up to the point thats needed to use the film. But, I cringe at the thought of now having to load and unload the film from the reader to the copier. I guess I was also disheartened because the information I really want (my grandparents siblings), I cant get, unless I have names. I am sure there are more than what I know of...only..I cant get that info.

My center only has 2 machines to view the smaller Italian films on, one of which is the scanner. There are nights I cannot get on the scanner (because there are other people waiting for it) but most of the time I have no problem. Our scanner is attached to a printer too as well as a PC so you can print a copy and save them to a CD or flash drive. Copies at my center are 30 cents off the scanner. They have about 6 computers and copies off the other computers are 10 cents.
I found all my grandfathers 1/2 siblings in the records but since all but 1 were female and they were born from 1898 to 1906, I have no way of finding their children yet. The only male immigrated to Argentina (according to my dad) so I am stuck.

I have decided from reading forums these last few years that every Family History Center has flavor of its own. I think that the Family History Centers in larger towns have larger budgets, better hours and better equipment. I'm lucky to have a very nice Family History Center here in Cincinnati with all of the newest amenities. I took a year off from researching last year and found that when I went back they had a lot of new equipment and all new procedures for scanning. I felt like an idiot all over again. When I asked how to use the new system to save images to my CD they stared at me like I was an old relic and said, "Why would you do that? Don't you have a flash drive? Keep up, Donna."

LOL, and I always thought of myself as tech-savvy.

Donna

Ya know, I have been using the computer almost as long as I have been researching..16 years on the research..15 on the computer. But, some of this stuff, I am not familiar with..and this cd/flashdrive stuff is confusing me. I know what they are..but, I am confused..its clearing a little tho..lol

OK..Cathy..you said you have put whole towns on CD via a flash drive, right? But, now you say..they are charging 30 cents for these scans? This is what I am confused about. At first, it sounded like you could just stick the film in "something" and attach the flashdrive and copy everything. Now, it sounds like, you can copy it to that for 30 cents each. Can you explain exactly how you get whole towns on to a flashdrive..and what they are charging? Unless I misunderstood.

Now..about south america.

I found, thru the grapevine, many years ago..that more recent ancesters of mine, immigrated to argentina. Who knows if this stuff is true, when you get it 3rd hand, and filter thru unreliable sources...but, I never forgot it.

At some point, when the internet began to progress..I found the argentina white pages. What the heck, I thought. This was a rare surname. Anyone who has it is related to me..as the name was given to a foundling..and that foundling was my great grandfather. So..when I found the white pages, I stuck the name in a search..and low and behold, there it was in buenos Aires. Of course, these people were now second or even third generation, there..and had spanish first names..but some of them were the equal to the italian first names that run in the family. Thats not any help for your females, but if you are looking for the male..you can probably find him.

I have friends from South America and from what I was told, the reason the names are Spanish with an Italian flair is because when our ancestors moved to South America, they were made to change their names to sound more Spanish. Has anyone else heard this?

My grandmother and her 6 brothers and sisters immigrated from Calabria to the U.S. One of my grandmother's brothers, Giuseppe, went to Buenos Aries for 24 years, had a family and then joined the others in the U.S. On the Ellis Island manifest that shows his arrival in the US, his name was Jose and all of his children had Spanish names. In the U.S., he became Joe.

Donna

I never heard of anyone being made to change their name..but, look at us. Our families came here and before you knew it..most italian first names were americanized...heh..all except my husbands..lol..who I foolishly passed to my son....who I made sure to haunt and haunt them so my grandson didnt end up with it..lol He didnt..well, not as a first name, anyway.

Here at our local FHL, we can use the film reader attached to a scanner/pc set up (if no one else is using it) and save a file of all the scans to flash drive but they have not got the software working for the save to CD options yet. They do not charge if you merely scan and save to flash - they do charge for any actual print outs.

edited for spelling -- sigh

My FHC is great. When I go I sit at the scanner the whole night (but I always give it up if someone wants to use it just to be fair). I have the option to print my records, for a charge of 25 cents each, or copy them to CD or flash for free. I can buy CD's there for a dollar but I usually bring my own since I now buy them in bulk.

I haven't been lately due to the weather but I am hoping to get out there again soon. Wanted to go today but it's so far by bus and its so cold outside (currently 15 degrees F and feels like 3 degrees F which is about 8 degrees warmer than yesterday). No, I think I will stay right where I am today.

Bonnie, you have no idea how many posts I have had to edit for spelling so don't be embarrassed.

I edit a lot too..because I dont preview.

My FHL is a half hour ride by car. My husband has to take me. We went together once or twice a week for 2 years straight.

My husband takes me too because its too far to go by bus and in this weather. He now waits for me when I go which is now not to often. Hopefully as the weather improves I can go more. Lou doesn't like coming inside though so he usually waits in the car or at the coffee shop for me. Sometimes he does our grocery shopping. I feel bad that he waits outside but is much better than him having to drive out there (! hour), drive home(another hour), drive back (yet another hour) and drive us both home (four hours int total). It got to be tooo expensive and tiring and I don't drive in the winter so this is the way it is. Oh well..at least he is supportive and NEVER complains so for this I am grateful!