And the process takes various amounts of time to preserve the Village of Lakewood’s pieces for future use.

“To preserve the pieces for future use, we are digitally restoring as many pieces as possible. That means color correcting to make fading text readable, filling in flakes, missing pieces, faded areas, and damage,” Derby said.

She added that depending on the extent of the damage to each piece, she often has to do a little research to determine how to correct a piece.

“This includes figuring out what type of paper or film the original document was produced on, how that material ages and reacts to acid and light exposure, what the content should say according to other supporting documents,” Derby said.

The entrance to the Lakewood Historical Museum. P-J photo by Michael Zabrodsky

Derby noted that after a diploma, from the 1900s, was scanned and corrected, she still had trouble detecting whether the name was spelled with an “a” or an “o”. After looking at old yearbooks in the village’s collection, she found the name and confirmed the spelling.

The historian added that after she has a high-resolution visual file to work with, she then must provide the metadata of the digital file.

According to Cornell University’s data services, cornell.edu, metadata is the information needed to discover, use, and understand data. Metadata describes the who, what, when, where, why, and how the user’s data in the context of the user’s research, and should provide enough information so that other users know what can and cannot be done with the user’s data. Metadata can also facilitate search and retrieval of the data when deposited in a data repository.

“This often takes a good amount of research as well,” Derby said “When the image is finally paired with enough data to catalog, the whole process can sometimes take several weeks.”

So far, with the help of about 25 volunteers, Derby has digitized more than 150 items.

The Lakewood Historical Museum is located in the lower section of the village hall, 20 W. Summit St. P-J photo by Michael Zabrodsky

Derby added that in August, Lakewood will be represented at the Chautauqua County History Expo that will be held in Mayville.