Historical Events Database - History

[shijing]

Re: Historical Events Database

FWIW, I'm apparently able to check out all of the below from my library:

The chronography of George Synkellos : a Byzantine chronicle of universal history from the creation

The Chronicle of Adam Usk 1377-1421

Two of the Saxon chronicles parallel : with supplementary extracts from the others (volumes 1 & 2)

The Chronicle of John of Worcester (volumes 2 & 3)

The Chronicle of Battle Abbey

The Chronicle of Hydatius and the Consularia Constantinopolitana

I think most of them are already taken care of by others, but if there's anything I can help with from the above list let me know.

Also, one of my librarians contacted me at the end of last week to let me know they're still working on getting access to New Jacoby. They're supposed to let me know when they know more.

 

[Bo]

Re: Historical Events Database

Bo, can you make the PDFs compact or something? The last one I could never download because my computer announced it would take 13 hours! Maybe copying it onto a CD or usb stick would work?

Ah sorry about that! It was around 400 images which I combined into a single PDF, hence the big file size. I will do some research on how I can make the file size much much smaller. If that doesn't work I will put it onto a CD and send it to you.

I will keep you updated on that.

I started looking at scanners some online and want to see if anyone has a recommendation for one to purchase in order to scan (instead of copying) books. Figure if I get one for $200 that would be less cost than all the copying I would do if all the above books I have on order come in.

My printer has a scanner, but it really takes a long time per scan and I don't know if it would allow multiple scans into one PDF document. I'll stop by some stores today, but if someone has one that works well or a recommendation it would be appreciated. I'll also look into the availability of scanning the books at a shop.

Hi Bear,

I can share my experience with you on scanning books. For example I have an old scanner which was 100 euros at the time I had bought it. Nothing really special about it.

I have however learned from experience that it's not the scanner itself that is the most important but the software.

I have tested a lot of scanning softwares in order to maximize my efficiency in scanning books and I have found that ''Scannit Pro'' is the best one I have come accross. It easily gives your scanned images a number and puts them neatly next to eachother in a folder where you eventually at the end can combine them into a single PDF. With this software I scan 2 pages every 5 seconds. The only thing I do is quickly switch the pages every 5 seconds and press on the scan button.(Good physical exercise aswell :P)

So my advice would be not to waste any money on a fancy scanner(well unless you really think you need an upgrade) but instead maximize your efficiency with one you have in combination with a very good scanning software like the one I mentioned above.

Now the PDF part,

the best software for this is adobe acrobat x pro from my experience, it has no limit on how many documents it can turn into a pdf, so even if you scan 500 images, it neatly turns them into one single PDF document.

Regarding the size of the PDF is something I will have to do further research on.

Hope any of this can help you.

 

[Beau]

Re: Historical Events Database

Regarding the size of the PDF is something I will have to do further research on.

I have a software program called PDF squeezer that can reduce the file size. If you have a Mac you can get it for $4, or you can send me the file and I can squeeze it and send it along to Laura. Maybe it won't take me as long to download the big file. I couldn't find a Windows-supported pdf squeezer anywhere.

 

[Bo]

Re: Historical Events Database

Regarding the size of the PDF is something I will have to do further research on.

I have a software program called PDF squeezer that can reduce the file size. If you have a Mac you can get it for $4, or you can send me the file and I can squeeze it and send it along to Laura. Maybe it won't take me as long to download the big file. I couldn't find a Windows-supported pdf squeezer anywhere.

Cool! I will send you a PM with the download link :D

 

[shijing]

Re: Historical Events Database

The last one I could never download because my computer announced it would take 13 hours! Maybe copying it onto a CD or usb stick would work?

Laura, were you able to download and open the files for Abbots of Wearmouth and Jarrow I sent a couple weeks ago OK? Just wanted to check in case the file sizes might have been an issue.

 

[Laura]

Re: Historical Events Database

The last one I could never download because my computer announced it would take 13 hours! Maybe copying it onto a CD or usb stick would work?

Laura, were you able to download and open the files for Abbots of Wearmouth and Jarrow I sent a couple weeks ago OK? Just wanted to check in case the file sizes might have been an issue.

The first one, no, it was corrupted.

The second one is okay, including the fingers. How the heck were you scanning your fingers???

 

[Laura]

Re: Historical Events Database

In looking over all of them, this is the one I really want:

The Chronicle of Hydatius and the Consularia Constantinopolitana: Two Contemporary Accounts of the Final Years of the Roman Empire ~ Burgess. A good scan of this one would be sharable amongst us.

Scratch that. One of ya'll already found and got it to me.

Please try to make the scans pretty and neat so my OCD tendencies don't go wacky. I'm going to print everything and bind them as real books!

 

[shijing]

Re: Historical Events Database

The first one, no, it was corrupted.

OK -- I'll take a look at it later tonight and try to send it again. It's fine on my end, so there may have been a problem in the transmission. The more important information is probably in the second one, but it would be nice to make sure you get the full copy.

The second one is okay, including the fingers. How the heck were you scanning your fingers???

The only public service scanner available at my library is a top-down scanner -- you have to hold the book in place while it scans from above, which unfortunately makes it a bit more difficult to keep the pages flat (but I hope it was useable). The biggest advantage is that it automatically collates all of the scans into a single document, which is a lot more efficient than using the scanner I have at home, which requires you to save each scan independently and then find a way to collate them yourself (although I see Heimdallr mentioned a way to do this above*).

*Added: Heimdallr, is it OK if I try to send you the two files to see if you can merge them before sending them to Laura again?

 

[Beau]

Re: Historical Events Database

Heimdallr, is it OK if I try to send you the two files to see if you can merge them before sending them to Laura again?

Actually that was Bo who wrote about doing that. I only know how to squeeze PDF's so the files are easier to send over email.

 

[shijing]

Re: Historical Events Database

Actually that was Bo who wrote about doing that. I only know how to squeeze PDF's so the files are easier to send over email.

Oh, sorry Heimdallr! In that case, Bo, could I try to send them to you?

 

[Laura]

Re: Historical Events Database

Heimdallr, is it OK if I try to send you the two files to see if you can merge them before sending them to Laura again?

Actually that was Bo who wrote about doing that. I only know how to squeeze PDF's so the files are easier to send over email.

And it worked! Bo's file is now resident! Beau sent it as an attachment and it saved in 20 seconds.

 

[SeekinTruth]

Re: Historical Events Database

Good to hear there's an effective way found to transmit big PDF files. :)

I'm pretty sure everyone knows this pretty much, but thought I'd mention anyway that another option to keep in mind is to use an OCR (optical character recognition) software to scan texts/books. Only thing is they do have occasional errors to be corrected (incorrect reading of characters/letters/punctuation, etc.) - which can be done if the PDF is made to allow changes right in the document. But other than that it also has some advantages, including much smaller text files instead of larger image files.

 

[Bo]

Re: Historical Events Database

Actually that was Bo who wrote about doing that. I only know how to squeeze PDF's so the files are easier to send over email.

Oh, sorry Heimdallr! In that case, Bo, could I try to send them to you?

Offcourse! I will send you my email address by PM.

 

[Laura]

Re: Historical Events Database

Good to hear there's an effective way found to transmit big PDF files. :)

I'm pretty sure everyone knows this pretty much, but thought I'd mention anyway that another option to keep in mind is to use an OCR (optical character recognition) software to scan texts/books. Only thing is they do have occasional errors to be corrected (incorrect reading of characters/letters/punctuation, etc.) - which can be done if the PDF is made to allow changes right in the document. But other than that it also has some advantages, including much smaller text files instead of larger image files.

Problem I've found with that is that there are usually errors that you cannot correct without having the original text to hand.

 

[shijing]

Re: Historical Events Database

Offcourse! I will send you my email address by PM.

Thanks, Bo -- I just sent you the files.