Explore Digitizing Equipment
Speaker: Tom Steman
Tour and Exploration of SCSU’s Creativity Commons Digitization Equipment (Member's Only)
Have you been searching for a way to digitize your treasure trove of family documents, pictures, slides, movies, maps, and other genealogy materials? Or agonizing over what equipment to purchase? If so, you will be thrilled to learn about St. Cloud State University (SCSU) Creativity Commons that houses digitization equipment available to all SCSU staff, faculty, students, and all members of the central Minnesota community (that means you!). Use of this facility is free. It is located in the James W. Miller Learning Resources Center, 2nd floor west on the SCSU campus.
Join us for a tour! SCSU’s archivist, Tom Steman, will lead us on a tour of the equipment available for use. He will demonstrate how each machine is used. After the tour is complete, you will be able to try out the equipment. Bring one small project with you to get acquainted with the facility and the equipment. Once you get a taste of what you can do in this amazing facility, you will likely want to plan a follow up trip on your own.
When choosing the one small project to bring with you the day of the tour, keep the following things in mind and prepare properly to make it the best experience possible:
- Bring your laptop
- The library has one laptop to loan out, but you can’t assume it will be available for you to use. SCSU staff, faculty, and students can use their STAR ID.
- Bring your own storage device
- Base what type of storage device on the equipment you plan to use. Some of the equipment requires an SD card and others require a USB device. Refer to this link for equipment requirements: Digitization and Preservation - Creativity Commons - Research Guides at St. Cloud State University. Note that the equipment has a maximum size limitation for SD cards!
- Length of time to digitize
- Keep in mind that some of the digitization takes a long time. For example, the VHS tape converter is in real time, so if you have a 3-hour movie, it will take 3 hours to digitize.
- Backup Plan
- Some digitization equipment may be more popular than others, so consider having a backup project with you in the event that the machine you want is already in use.
- This is your project
- Staff is available to demonstrate how to use the equipment, but then you complete your project on your own. Staff does not do digitization for you.
- Efficiencies
- The FastFoto scanner digitizes stacks of photos, postcards and panoramas up to 8”x10”. To be most efficient, have your photos organized by size ahead of time to easily load each stack of same-sized photos in the hopper.
Registration is required for this special event and is open to SCAG membership only.
For additional information on the Creativity Commons, click on this link: Get Started - Creativity Commons - Research Guides at St. Cloud State University
For additional information specific to the Digitization labs within the Creativity Commons, click on this link: Digitization and Preservation - Creativity Commons - Research Guides at St. Cloud State University
Registration Deadline: Register no later than March 21, 2026.
Parking Options: The parking lot in front of the library is a pay lot. $1.50 per hour with pay stations that accept credit cards, paper money and coins. Suggested alternatives that have a set price of $5 on Sundays are: Miller Pay Lot, 400 6th St. S. 4th Avenue Parking Ramp, 516 4th Ave. S. There is also free parking on city streets several blocks awa.
Donation: The Creativity Commons accepts donations of materials. Please bring an item or items as a thank you for this special tour and use of their digitization equipment. Suggested items are: glue bottles, glue sticks, scissors, tape (all types), paper (all types), stickers, yarn, knitting supplies, thread, magazines, markers, pipe cleaners, crayons, colored pencils, Legos, adult coloring books, Sharpies, beading supplies, poster board, handheld vacuum, sewing machines.
