Moorland-Spingarn Research Center (MSRC) is one of the worlds premiere centers for the study of the Black experience. It has made possible new research and enabled scholars to probe more deeply into the complexities of Black history and culture. As we move into the 21st century, MSRC continues to adapt to new methodologies to support research. The purchase of an Scanpro 3000 Microfilm Scanner will greatly support our overall digitization program. MSRC now holds thousands of reels of microfilm and microfiche that cover a wide swath of the global Black experience. This includes copies issues of local Black newspapers not found anywhere else, early Howard University Board of Trustee Minutes, and archival documents held in various manuscript collections including the Metropolitan AME Church, Daniel Alexander Payne, and Kwame Nkrumah papers. As time passes, the use of digital technology has now made this medium obsolete. In effort to continue to preserve and provide access to this valuable history MSRC is seeking to purchase this microfilm scanner.

The microfilm scanner purchased by MSRC will be housed in our Digital Production Center. It will be used to systematically create archival preservation level scans from the reels. The digital surrogates will be maintained according to our Long-Term Digital Preservation Policy. The digitized material will be made accessible on site for researchers. Select materials will be made available via our Digital Howard institutional repository as copyright allows. Digital Howard is an open access repository of historical materials held in the MSRC collection. It is open and accessible to researchers around the world for free.

For more information, please contact Dr. Lopez Matthews, Jr. at lopez.matthews@howard.edu to stay updated on the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram @moorlandhu