Author Archive
Microfilm and the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Ever Seen
Writing images to microfilm is not an unusual request for Crowley Imaging. It is unusual, however, to get a request to write only 15 images to microfilm. Five times. In two days. From five different people. In five different locations. We asked a few questions, did a little research and found that the request was part of an international scavenger hunt that raises awareness for charity: GISHWHES (aka the Greatest International Scavenger Hunt the World Has Even Seen). It is,…
Broadening Reach with Resellers
From its humble beginnings as a one-person firm started by Jerry Crowley in 1980, The Crowley Company has grown in many ways and yet remains a small business at heart. Now with divisions in Frederick, MD, Basingstoke, UK, and San Dimas and Newbury Park, CA, Crowley has sprawled out across the map with expanding staff, brands and services. Today led by brothers Chris and Pat Crowley, the company remains a family business and preserves this mentality in the way it…
Quantum Happiness
Last week we received the kind of email every business wants to receive: a glowing review, a good tip and an idea for further engagement – the trifecta of customer response. A State Archivist wrote: “After framing the first fiche…in QuantumProcess, I used “Progogate this page” and since they [the images] were all shot the same, it took very minor tweaking to get the rest perfect. These machines are more flexible than I ever imagined. Is there an official forum…
From Scanning to Salmon: Installing an InoTec in Alaska
In April, we discussed technical support services and celebrated the 50th state milestone of Crowley technician Steve Sheckels. Today, we take a look into the life of another Sheckels brother, Kris. You may remember Kris as the imaging specialist who scanned the Rosenberg diary under armed guard. Now a Crowley Imaging service bureau project manager, Kris used to also be a traveling technician. This past week, he took a step into his past life and flew cross-country to Bethel, Alaska…
From Google Alert to Dorothea Lange
As I reluctantly shook off the long weekend and dragged my cursor through Monday morning’s inbox, I was pleasantly surprised to see a Google Alert entitled “Fourth of July Celebrations from the 1870s to 1940” citing “Library of Congress, The Crowley Company/Dorothea Lange.” Getting an alert that actually applies is akin to getting a ‘real’ letter in the mail: you don’t know if you should open it first because it’s not junk or draw out the anticipation to later savor…
Celebrating Independence; Remembering the Revolution
As we celebrate Independence Day this week, we appreciate that the 4th of July is more than an excuse for a three-day weekend (although it’s a plus). It’s a chance to celebrate the day we declared ourselves a free nation. There are several organizations such as the Daughters of the American Revolution, Daughters of Colonial Wars and more who devote not just one day, but generations to memorializing the Revolutionary War and its role in shaping our country’s history. Crowley…
Selling to the Competition
I recently interviewed a client for an upcoming case study on Mekel Technology microfilm and microfiche scanners. The client represents a service bureau and asked a question we hear often, “We’re Crowley competitors. How do you represent us and yourselves at the same time?” Good question. Crowley has several divisions: research and development; manufacturing; hardware sales; technical support and Crowley Imaging, our own service bureau. In addition to selling to service bureaus, with which we compete, we also manufacture…
Behind the Film: Creating and Maintaining Microfilm
In a recent blog post, we continued the discussion on why microfilm as a preservation media remains relevant in today’s archival and records management industries due to its long lifespan, utility for disaster recovery, image quality, and other factors. As a follow-up to this conversation, I was curious about the behind-the-scenes and wanted to discover how people preserve information on microfilm. Fortunately, there is a fully-staffed conversion service bureau just a few yards from where I sit, and I was…
“Conventional data backup is not a preservation process”
Why the microfilm conversation continues A few days ago, I posted this comment to several relevant Linkedin groups: “Interesting headline in USA Today, but misleading as the archives and records management industries agree that microfilm remains relevant as a preservation media.” The rest of the comment then pointed to a prior blogpost I’d written on why microfilm remains important today. The headline itself mentioned “a major fight over microfilm” when in fact the discord is over client base and not…
Technical Support – The Third Slice of Crowley’s 360⁰ Solution
We recently wrote about one of our senior technicians, Steve Sheckels. The blog documented the highlights of his six years (and counting) with Crowley Support and his recollections upon visiting his 50th state while on the job. As a natural follow-up, this blog will shine some light on the capabilities of our entire technical support team. What many clients don’t know is that Crowley customer services don’t stop at scanning equipment and imaging services. We also offer technical support along…