Atiz

Book Digitization Movement Takes Center Stage

Atiz Innovation Offers Freedom of Choice as Movement to Digitize Bound Content Gains Momentum

While the spotlight is clearly on Google and its headline-making Google Book Project, the stage has been set for a small, innovative company that is quietly enabling the freedom of choice when it comes to the digitization of books. Focused on placing the power in the hands of the people, Atiz Innovation, Inc., is offering a book scanning alternative to a significant portion of the market who would like to digitize their content but have been unable to afford to do so or unwilling to hand it over to Google — to the tune of more than three million books scanned to date.

Atiz’s book scanners help librarians, private collection owners and others decide what will be scanned and digitized, instead of leaving the decision in the hands of entities such as Google — all at a price point that they can afford. It is both expensive and time consuming to make information readily accessible, searchable and preserving and protecting it for generations to come.

While Google’s Book Project will scan books at no cost, the price is paid by having to give up the rights to the scanned materials to Google — who will then profit due to the potential ad revenue tied to these books. “In the digital age we are living in, content is king, in fact you might say it is the currency of the Internet,” noted Nick Warnock president of Atiz Innovation. “A massive gold rush is underway — one that trades on digital or electronic versions of bound paper books. At Atiz we believe that everyone should be able to control their own content — by digitizing their own collections. Thanks to the visibility Google has given the issue, just about everyone has some type of book scanning project going on — and Atiz is well positioned to fill the digitization needs of those who don’t want to turn their collections over to Google.”

Atiz’s powerful, cost-effective book digitization solutions are opening doors for portions of the market who might not otherwise be able to join the mass book digitization movement, due to its cost prohibitive nature or the desire to control the rights to their works. Many rare, niche materials are being overlooked, as they are not within the parameters of Google’s Book Project.

Atiz’s innovative approach utilizes high performance SLR cameras as capture devices, making their book scanners the best value proposition in the industry, as they will never become obsolete. When new, improved camera models become available, users need only to replace their cameras — not the entire scanning system as is the case with other offerings. Atiz scanners also incorporate a V-shaped book cradle and transparent platen that sets up the book in an angled position for scanning by hi-speed, hi-resolution digital SLR cameras. This unique design guarantees sharp, flat-looking pages in every scan.

With a mantra of ‘leave no book behind,’ Atiz addresses a broad spectrum of books with their BookDrive Mini which is priced under $6,000 to their BookDrive DIY at $7,000 and BookDrive Pro for under $14,000. Atiz offers book scanning solutions that are priced at one-third the cost of other offerings, and that are specially designed to address the design and execution flaws seen in conventional book scanners. These common flaws eliminated by Atiz’s solutions include book spine damage and curved page images. Reflecting on today’s surge to digitize books, Warnock comments, “It is so rewarding to play a role in today’s book movement and provide options that give people choices. When it comes to digitizing books, popularity doesn’t have to drive access.”

From : Global Print Monitor