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Kill a File Cabinet

John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 17 2010 09:43 PM

This might seem like a dumb question but we're trying to reduce all the crap in our house and one key is getting rid of some fugly file cabinets. A good amount of that are drawers jammed with photocopied clippings from various old newspapers that detail a number of past and/or ongoing writing/history projects including a tremendous amount of Mets clips. I'd like to cost-effectively digitize all this shit and store it in such a way so that I could find it, preferably easier than I currently do (arranged somewhat chronologically). So that clips can be tagged or text-searched, etc etc. Scanning with my "all in one" home print-scanner seems to me a non-starter, I don't have the patience to scan 1 sheet with that thing much less thousands. I would devote some time to organizing with the right combo of solutions, or I'll pay someone, but I figure the former would be cheaper. Come on you librarians. Help me out.

Willets Point Oct 17 2010 10:04 PM Re: Kill a File Cabinet

If they're all newspaper clippings and from newspapers that weren't published in someone's garage then surely they've already been scanned. Check the databases at the NYPL and you'll probably be able to download full-text of a number of them and have a lot less to scan left over.

seawolf17 Oct 18 2010 04:42 AM Re: Kill a File Cabinet

Exactly. No need to save physical old newspapers any more.

metirish Oct 18 2010 06:52 AM Re: Kill a File Cabinet

Willets Point wrote: If they're all newspaper clippings and from newspapers that weren't published in someone's garage then surely they've already been scanned. Check the databases at the NYPL and you'll probably be able to download full-text of a number of them and have a lot less to scan left over. Searching would take quite some time though right, you want something like this maybe, but on a more personal level. http://royalimaging.com/?gclid=CN-UvsC5 ... 5QodNHjtMQ

John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 18 2010 10:31 AM Re: Kill a File Cabinet

Re-acquiring these from the library wasn't exactly what I had in mind, since 99% of the stuff I have is already photocopied off NYPL microfiche, arranged to fit onto the page correctly, and doesn't include what I don't want, etc etc. What I want to do is save these documents I made electronically, and organize them & store them while doing so. Let's just pretend they are drawings on paper or whatever. Yes, what I'm looking for is what Irish said, a Document Management System for a home user.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 18 2010 10:36 AM Re: Kill a File Cabinet

Something like this maybe? Only I need a fast scanner too. And preferably free [url]http://www.sohodox.com/

metirish Oct 18 2010 11:27 AM Re: Kill a File Cabinet

Or this http://www.scantronix.net/ based in Brooklyn

seawolf17 Oct 18 2010 12:49 PM Re: Kill a File Cabinet

Right, but my point is to ask why you need to have copies of this stuff in your house, when it's all just as easily accessible through other sources, such as online through your library.

metirish Oct 18 2010 01:08 PM Re: Kill a File Cabinet

seawolf17 wrote: Right, but my point is to ask why you need to have copies of this stuff in your house, when it's all just as easily accessible through other sources, such as online through your library. cos he's a sentimental old fool..... seriously though, if I invested all that time in the clippings and what not I would like to scan the damn things before I dump them.

Kong76 Oct 18 2010 04:49 PM Re: Kill a File Cabinet

How many thousands of pieces of paper and how much do you want to spend? Do you have Adobe Acbroat? If it's sheets of paper you can get a good scanner that will do a hundred pages at a time or so and you can just make a directory structure of .pdfs by year or whatever. It's a nightmarish job, just how fugly are the cabinets?

Kong76 Oct 18 2010 06:31 PM Re: Kill a File Cabinet

I kinda glossed over some of the thread, especially the free part. Maybe I (or some of us) can help you with the Mets stuff ... a winter project of sorts ... and the laborers can get paid by getting to see and share your treasures.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 18 2010 09:47 PM Re: Kill a File Cabinet

I think I might be able to score a copy of Acrobat from work, but I definitely need a speedier scanner. Looking at Doxie and a few others. And Irish is right, having the stuff at hand in a form you can read is a million times better than knowing it's available if you can only get to the library. I needed to be unemployed for months to assemble all this.

Kong76 Oct 19 2010 03:49 PM Re: Kill a File Cabinet

We could do some bulk scanning at my office on a Saturday morning if you want. It's not that far from you as the crow flies, up 87 and get off last exit before T Z bridge.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Oct 19 2010 06:44 PM Re: Kill a File Cabinet

Sounds like a plan, Konger. Sundays are better than Saturdays tho!

Kong76 Oct 19 2010 08:00 PM Re: Kill a File Cabinet

Idea came to me when scanning something today!