Museum volunteers have been learning to use our new IQ FLEX flatbed scanner which was purchased with a $6,900 grant from The Portland Foundation along with additional donations from museum members and friends. This machine has an 18.5” by 25” flatbed screen. Items larger than that can be scanned in two stages and “stitched” together automatically by the machine. It is able to take old, faded documents and make them much easier to read. 

As a benefit of your membership, special days have been scheduled for only JCHS members to have documents scanned. Each member will be allotted five free scans with regular fees charged for more than five scans. Scanned items may be placed on a flash drive which you provide or sent to your personal email as an attachment. Scanning fees are also waived for anyone, including
members, who wish to donate to the museum a digital copy of your item(s) which are not already in the museum’s collection. If you wish to have items printed, regular printing fees will apply.

This is an excellent opportunity for members to bring in originals of family Bibles, old family photos, old hand-written recipes, old family letters, historic maps, etc., to obtain digital copies for your personal archives and also save money.

The following days have been designated as JCHS Members’ Scanner Service Free Days: Thursday, April 21, 2022, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday, July 30, 2022, between noon and 6 p.m. Thursday, September 29, 2022, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Saturday, December 3, 2022, between noon and 6 p.m.

JCHS members must contact the museum to set up an appointment on these dates. Museum staff will be available to do the scanning. When making an appointment, please know the number of items you have to be scanned and whether you want the scans on your flash drive or forwarded to you by email.

If you wish to make an appointment or have questions, please call the museum (260/726-7168) on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.