TECHNOLOGY FOR CHANGE

Tech Companies Embrace Higher Education

Dennis McCafferty | Date: 04-14-10 | Comments

Works of Winston Churchill and seminary scholars�even a legendary touchdown pass from Doug Flutie�are all getting digital makeovers.

When it comes to digitally converting college records and archives, Orlando. Fla.-based XOS Digital is hardly alone. But it may stake claim as having the coolest �stuff� to work on within this tech niche.

That�s because the company�s XOS Vault solution is in the forefront of digitalizing film, video, audio, photo and print assets for collegiate sports libraries. It�s literally taking tons of bulky boxes filled with tapes, dusty reels of film and miles upon miles of microfilm and transferring them into Web-accessible formats.

Among the highlights of what�s being captured: Rose Bowl game footage going back 95 years, including original chariot races that once took place before the game, as well as press conferences, network broadcasts, and historic luncheon events with coaches and players. Also being captured are immortal moments like Boston College quarterback Doug Flutie�s �Hail Mary� touchdown pass that nailed an improbable victory over the University of Miami on Nov. 23, 1984, and the thrilling 2006 national championship in which quarterback Vince Young and the University of Texas beat a favored USC squad featuring two Heisman winners, quarterback Matt Leinart and running back Reggie Bush.

XOS Vault is undertaking these conversion/preservation projects for dozens of top schools, including the entire Pac-10 and Southeastern conferences. The digital asset management system captures the content, then tags it with metadata so it can be indexed in a library that�s searchable down to a specific game play. The various versions of Vault allow for hosted solution products located in a Tier 3 facility, and turnkey digital asset management systems that allow for distribution onsite from the school to media partners.

�We�ve empowered college teams to enhance asset management for operations, as well as for fan distribution and access,� says Dan Aton, founder and chief innovation officer for XOS Digital. �Some of the greatest value here is making these assets indexed and searchable. The digital content management is also highly secure, as we�re partnering with Time Warner on data center support through an office that also provides managed network solutions for organizations like NASA.�

Other companies are also discovering ways to take advantage of the demand for digital records/archives among higher-education customers:
- In Hillsdale, Mich., Hillsdale College is taking original research papers�including those authored by former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill�and converting them to e-formats through ImageNow software from Shawnee, Kan.-based Perceptive Software. The project will also include student transcript archives that go back to 1844.
- Norwalk, Conn.-based Xerox is using its DocuMate and CopyCo products to convert student records at Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis, eventually allowing students there to retrieve needed forms via the Web instead of going to on-campus administrative offices.
- ImageSilo, from Greenwood Village, Colo.-based Digitech Systems, is converting a large chunk of student records at Wake Forest University through its Enterprise Content Management (ECM) solution. Many of the college's records, some of which go back to 1834, had been stored since the 1950s in a large walk-in vault where they were deteriorating. Others were kept via a microfilm process that was cumbersome to operate and unreliable when it came to producing records that were legible. To date, the university has digitally archived records from the 1970s to present.
- El Segundo, Calif.-based ScanDigital has gone from transferring family photos and home movies to digitizing old slides for the UCLA medical school, so the slides can be used for educational presentations and student research.