Johnson County Genealogical Society
Johnson County
Genealogical Society
and Library, Inc.
Nelson family
Keeping the Memories of Family History Alive.

Memory Lab

 
Thank you for your interest in using our Memory Lab to digitize your memories.The Memory Lab is located at the Central Resource Branch of the Johnson County Library. It is staffed by volunteers from the library and JCGS. The Memory Lab is extremely popular, with available dates being reserved as quickly as they are made available.  Currently reservations for available dates will be posted 30 days in advance.  We recommend checking in on a regular basis as we will also re-open spaces when there are cancellations.  Thank you for your support!
 
 
The following orientation video is required viewing before using the Memory Lab.  We recommend watching before booking your appointment.
 
 
 
 
 
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Reservations:
Appointments are for 2.5 hours, although you may not need that much time for what you bring.  If you bring more than what can be done in 2.5 hours, you must make another appointment to finish your work.

The Memory Lab currently supports two or three patrons in each time slot.  The equipment is provided to each patron as outlined in the table below.  By reviewing the information about the Memory Lab, you will determine what equipment you wish to reserve.  The chart below describes the equipment that will be available for each session.
 
NOTE:  We cannot digitize, Betamax, Video 8, or DV cassettes without patron provided player equipment. 
 
 
To book an appointment for our Memory Lab,
please click here.

 

 

Session: Option 1

Equipment: Wolverine MovieMaker 
8mm and Super 8 Film (silent only) converted to .mp4 files. 
3" Reels require about 30 minutes. 5" Reels require about 2 hours. 

Equipment: Epson V600 Scanner
35mm and medium-format slides, film, and prints into high-resolution files.  
Negative sizes: 35mm, 120 and 620. Documents or prints: 8.5” x 11.7” maximum size

Equipment: Wolverine Titan F2D Scanner
35mm, 110 and 120 slides or negatives. 
8mm or Super 8mm film can be scanned by the frame. 
Items scanned on this device are suitable for screen images, not paper printing. The default resolution is about 72 dpi. 


Session: Option 2

Equipment: Epson FastFoto
Scan multiple photos in an automatic feeder in a short period of time.
Feed tray capacity: up to 36 photos.
Photo sizes: 3 x 5” • 4 x 6” • 5 x 7” • 8 x 10” • Polaroid photos. Document Size: 8 x 10”
It will also do panoramic photos up to 36" long. 
Document Size: 8.5" by up to 36" long. 

Equipment: Epson V39 Scanner
The following items will be scanned on the V39 flatbed scanner (not the FastFoto scanner):
Fragile photos or documents,  Photos that are curled, Photos thicker than .011 inch, and  Photos with
tears. 


Session: Option 3

Equipment: ClearClick 3.0
Supports multiple video and audio devices.
The lab has a VCR that will play VHS and VHS-C video cassettes and DVDs.
Other video players (provided by user) may be connected to the ClearClick. Examples being
Video 8, Betamax and DV. Patrons should bring their device and necessary AV cables to connect to the ClearClick. 
Audio files may also be digitized. The lab has an audio cassette player.


Miscellaneous Notes and Equipment:

  • The Canon copier/scanner can be used with any appointment. It will scan up to an 11 x 17” photo or document. 
    The patron should bring a USB drive for storing scanned items. 
  • The lab uses two Windows 11 HP laptops to run scanner programs or to transfer files from SD cards to patron-provided USB drives. 
  • A CD/DVD external player may be attached to either of the HP laptops to move media to a parton-provided USB drive. One such example would be patrons who have CDs of early digitized pictures but no longer have a CD player. 
  • A 3.5-inch floppy drive reader is also available for the laptops. Some patrons have files on this type of media but need a means to transfer them to a USB drive. 
  • A slide viewer device is available to view individual 35mm slides. 

 

 

Here is some information on our equipment and what it can do. 
 

Equipment & Description Video
 
Wolverine Movie Maker Pro: 
8mm and Super 8 Film on reels up to 7 inches. Silent only.
 
 
Epson V600 Flatbed Scanner:
Converts 35mm slides and 35mm, 120 and 620 negatives. Up to 8.5" x 17" photos or documents. 
 
 
 
Epson FastFoto: 
Scans multiple photos or documents in an automatic feeder. The capacity is 36 photos. Size range from 3" x 5" to 8" x 20" including, polaroid photos. This machine is not for fragile or curled photos.
 
 
 
Epson V39 Flatbed Scanner: 
Perfect for fragile or curled photos. Also good for odd-sized photos and documents. Up to 8.5" x 11.7" photos or documents.
 
 
Large flatbed scanner: 
Can scan up to 11" x 17" documents or photos. 
 
(Video to be added soon.)
Wolverine Titan Slide and Film Scanner: 
35mm slides and 35mm, 127, 127, 110, and APS negatives
 
 
ClearClick 3.0 Scanner
Supports multiple video and audio devices. 
 
 
 


 
 
Anything brought into the Memory Lab must be clean, with no dust on the items, no staples, no glue residue on the back, and mold-free. This helps ensure the best possible scans and keeps our equipment in good working order. 

 
Please bring a newer USB 3.x drive to store your digitized items. The USB 3.x versions will transfer content much faster than older drives. A portable SSD hard drive may also be used to store your content. However, sometimes, these drives are not recognized by the Memory Lab HP laptops running Windows 11. Bringing a USB drive as a backup device is recommended.
 
 
Please send any questions you have to info@jcgsks.org