Digitization Enters a New Era at the Posner Center
In a quiet lab inside the newly renovated Posner Center for Special Collections, a rare book rests in a custom cradle. Once positioned, it barely needs to be touched again. Two high-resolution cameras hover above, capturing each page simultaneously. The spine is supported. The lighting is calibrated. The image is preserved at the highest possible quality.
“This spring, the arrival of our new DT BC100 represents a significant investment in the Libraries’ digitization capabilities,” said Digitization Projects Manager and Data Deposit Coordinator Ann Marie Mesco, who has trained extensively alongside her colleagues to operate the highly specialized machine. “It has given us the opportunity to build on the skill set we’ve been developing for 30 years.”
For the last three decades, CMU Libraries’ digitization team has quietly preserved the university’s legacy — from the papers of celebrated AI innovators to architectural blueprints, rare books, and community archives. Now, with the team’s move into the Posner Center and the installation of state-of-the-art imaging technology, that work is no longer behind the scenes. It is positioned at the heart of campus — visible, collaborative, and designed to serve not only CMU, but the broader Pittsburgh region.
The move marks a new chapter for what the team now calls Digitization & Imaging Services.
From Paper to Pixels
The DT BC100 is at the center of the upgraded Digitization Lab. A powerful book capture system designed specifically for fragile and high-value materials, it is found in only a small number of institutions nationwide, and uses a dual-camera configuration to capture preservation-level images. But it’s one piece of a larger process — inside the studio at the Posner Center, a book’s entire journey from paper to pixels comes to life.
Ann Marie Mesco, along with Digitization Technician Joe Mesco, rely on more than two decades of experience each as they scan materials. In addition to the DT BC100, which they use for the rare and delicate books in Special Collections, they also work with a new CopiBook scanner that excels at general purpose scanning, used for the Libraries’ virtual course reserves service, and a new Epson scanner perfectly suited for photographs and other materials from the University Archives.
Once scanned, images are then moved to post-processing. In one corner, photos of typed text or handwritten notes are transformed into machine-readable, editable digital text at the Optical Character Recognition (OCR) station.
At another station, the team uses a technique called photogrammetry to assemble a 3-dimensional view from a variety of images, making it possible to digitize 3D objects like pieces of robots or chemistry equipment. For oversized blueprints and drawings too large for any of the scanners, they use digital stitching to combine multiple shots into a single continuous image.
The Libraries’ metadata specialists, Angelina Crowe and Jon McIntire, add descriptions and other details to ensure that every image is discoverable, searchable, and preserved within CMU’s digital infrastructure. After that, images are added into Islandora, where they are then findable within CMU’s digital collections.
“It was a five-year process to research new equipment and techniques, look into vendors, and talk to professionals from other institutions in order to build the new lab in a way that suited our needs,” Ann Marie Mesco explained. “Being able to see it all in action — and to get started on more complex projects that we might not have been able to accommodate as easily before — has been incredibly rewarding.”
Expertise Across Decades
CMU’s digitization lab was established in the mid-1990s and has operated since, which isn’t always a given in the field.
“For many labs, teams are put together for the duration of a grant or a project; once that concludes, the people go away,” Ann Marie Mesco said. “Our ability to retain team members and build on our skill sets and knowledge over time offers real benefits, and it’s something we don’t take for granted.”
One of the earliest projects completed by Digitization and Imaging Services focused on the Posner Memorial Collection, which includes approximately 1,000 books, including major works documenting the history of astronomy, mathematics, mechanics, natural philosophy, and technology from the collection of Pittsburgh entrepreneur and philanthropist Henry Posner Senior. Henry Posner Jr. and his wife Helen, who deposited the collection with CMU Libraries, provided funds to support the project. It concluded in 2005.
Back then, standards for digital preservation were still emerging, and over the years, there have been significant improvements to the technology used in digitization. Still, the early work of the lab holds up today.
“At the beginning, nobody knew what computers or monitors would be capable of in ten years,” Ann Marie Mesco explained. “We still don’t know what will be possible ten years from today. But from the start, the goal has been to create the highest quality images possible — not just for today’s scholars, but for future ones.”
From the papers of AI founding fathers Herb Simon and Allen Newell to the travel journals of CMU architect Henry Hornbostel, which were recently published in a book called “Time Well Spent” by the CMU Press, the team has continued to digitize items from CMU’s collections to the highest standard. Their efforts have made these resources accessible to students and scholars far from campus.
A Regional Resource
While the move strengthens support for CMU researchers and students, its impact extends far beyond campus.
The Digitization team is no stranger to working with the Pittsburgh community. In the early 2000s, they joined forces with the Rodef Shalom Congregation Archives, the Rauh Jewish Archives at the Senator John Heinz History Center, and the Jewish Chronicle of Pittsburgh to gather and digitize the Pittsburgh Jewish Newspaper collection.
They’ve assisted with projects beyond the city as well. They assisted CMU alumnus Tom Kolano, a 1992 graduate of the Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences, digitize a book of Polish history passed down in his family for 50 years. As a result, he was able to share the content of the book with the National Institute of Remembrance, a government-funded organization in Poland, without sending his copy across the ocean.
“It’s part of being a good neighbor,” Ann Marie Mesco said. “We have resources here that not everybody has, and we like to help out when and where we can.”
Now, with an accessible lab in a public space like the Posner Center, opportunities for strengthening collaboration throughout the region have grown. Current projects include work with community groups in Hazelwood, as well as the Rivers of Steel Heritage Corporation. With a history of working with other groups like the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, the Pennsylvania Trolley Museum, and local historical societies, the team is ready to embrace new partnerships and expand their impact.
Collaborating on Campus
Operating for the first time directly alongside archivists, curators, faculty, and students, Digitization & Imaging Services can easily welcome visitors into their new studio. Within weeks of opening, the team had already hosted more than 20 tours. They explored potential new projects with student researchers working in the Archives and chemistry students interested in the Chemistry Department’s monthly reports from the last 30 years.
“For a long time, a lot of people didn’t know we existed,” Joe Mesco said. “Now they can walk into the space, see the equipment in action, and start conversations about their projects.”
“You never know what you’ll unlock by giving someone access to information,” Ann Marie Mesco added. “From watching alumni recognize themselves in digitized photos to meeting strangers who use our digital collections to teach new generations of high school students, I’ve seen the ways this work can touch anyone.”
To schedule an appointment with Digitization & Imaging Services, reach out to Ann Marie Mesco or stop in during the Posner Center’s open hours, Tuesday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.