Genealogy

Preserve your family history by converting your photos, home videos, and paper documents to digital formats. The Legacy Lab at Emily Fowler Central Library is a self-service digital archiving and conversion lab that provides you with the tools and the training to digitize your family’s memories.

You can scan, access, or convert:
  • Documents up to 11”x17”
  • VHS Tapes and other camcorder cassette tapes
  • Photo prints, negatives, and 35 mm slides
  • 8mm or Super 8 film
  • Audio Cassettes and LPs
  • 3.5" floppy disks and other digital storage

What You Need To Know

Legacy Lab Equipment Instructions

*** Please bring your own portable media storage such as a USB drive, memory card, external hard drive, or writable (W or RW) CDs or DVDs. ***

Image of Epson Expression 10000XL Scanner

Epson Expression 10000XL Scanner

This flatbed scanner features an 11”x17” inch scanning area and also has photograph and negative scanning capabilities.

Image of Epson FastFoto FF-640 Scanner

Epson FastFoto FF-640 Scanner

This scanner uses a feeder as part of the scanning process. It will not accept Polaroid, self-processed, sticky or torn and wrinkled photographs. The photographs must be smaller than 8x10 inches and no thicker than 0.011 inch.

Image of TEAC LP-Cassette to CD Recorder

TEAC LP/Cassette to CD Recorder

This device will convert records, cassettes, and CD’s to digital files (flash drive needed) or to CD-R for Audio and CD-RW for Audio discs. Conversion of this media happens in real time. Be prepared to stay with your material to monitor the process.

Image of Toshiba DVR 620 VHS to DVD Converter

Toshiba DVR 620 VHS to DVD Converter

This machine will convert a VHS tape to a DVD-RW disk. Adapters are available for the small camcorder cassettes. Conversion of this media happens in real time. Be prepared to stay with your material to monitor the process.

Image of Wolverine MovieMaker Pro for Super 8/8mm film

Wolverine MovieMaker Pro for Super 8/8mm film

This scanner will convert Super 8 or 8 mm film to MP4 files. It will save to a SD/SDHC memory card up to 32 GB. Film reels need to be 9 inches in diameter or smaller. Conversion of this media happens in real time. Be prepared to stay with your material to monitor the process.

Image of Wolverine F2D Titan Film-To-Digital Converter

Wolverine F2D Titan Film-To-Digital Converter

This scanner will save 35mm (photo film & Archive), 127, 126, 110, APS Slides & Negatives, 8mm and Super 8 frames as JPEGs. It will save to SD/SDHC memory card up to 32 GB or a device that will connect through the USB port. Conversion of this media happens in real time. Be prepared to stay with your material to monitor the process.

Image of ClearClick HD Video Capture Box Ultimate

ClearClick HD Video Capture Box Ultimate

This device can record audio and video from HDMI video sources (up to 1080P and 60 FPS) and records from SD video sources such as VCR's, camcorders, DVD players, and so on. No computer is required - the device saves videos in MP4 format onto any USB drive (up to 4 TB) or SD card (up to 128 GB). Conversion of this media happens in real time. Be prepared to stay with your material to monitor the process. Please Note: This device will automatically split longer recordings into MP4 video files that are 4 GB each. If you wish to combine a longer recording into one file, this must be done on a computer after recording. Segments cannot currently be combined on the device.

Other Equipment and Software Available

  • DVD/CD Drive
  • Zip Drive
  • 3.5" Diskette Drive
  • Memory Card Reader
  • Smart Card Reader
  • Headphones
  • Light Box & Slide Viewer
  • Adobe Acrobat DC
  • Ashampoo (CD/DVD burning and conversion)
  • Audacity (audio editor and recorder)
  • Cyberlink Power Director (video editing)
  • EZ Grabber (video editing)
  • GIMP 2 (graphics editor)
  • Handbrake (video converter)
  • Adobe Creative Cloud (graphic design, video editing, web development)
  • Adobe Lightroom (photo editor and organizer)
  • Adobe Photoshop (graphics editor)
  • MS Office Products

Getting Ready

To make the most of your time in the library it is best to do a little ground work at home. Here are a few websites that will provide more information about personal archiving, how to get ready, and how to organize your files.

The Legacy Lab is self-service and not all of the equipment is “professional” grade. If you have reservations about doing it yourself there are companies in Denton that offer conversion services: