Archives

Digital archives

Document scanning has been taking place for a long time at the Departmental Archives of Seine-et-Marne: the first operations date back to 1998.

Archives scanning

Why ?

Archive documents are scanned for ease of consultation: multiple people can view the same document at the same time (in the reading room and now online), zooming is possible, printing a reproduction is easier etc.

The original documents can also be preserved: in fact consultation of documents causes degradation due to handling, exposure to light, breakdown in the stability of thermohygrometric conditions.

Scanned documents are therefore the most consulted documents.

How ?

Large-scale scanning operations on many documents of the same type are usually outsourced under public tender arrangements. The Departmental Archives also have their own scanning workshop. There is a device for scanning microfilm reels and another for original black and white documents up to A2 format (40 x 60 cm).

For satisfactory scanning, many tasks need to be completed before the actual scanning and before the images are made available :

  • restoration of certain documents that could not withstand the handling required for scanning, unbinding of registers where tight binding makes the information inaccessible ;
  • development of the viewing mechanism and preparation of required documents (e.g. for the ten-year tables, linked by canton: physical identification of different municipalities to enable joint viewing) ;
  • quality control of scanned views and index matching; creation of digital indexes to make the chosen consultation format active ;
  • loading of views and creation of the computer links necessary for consultation.

Scanned documents

Civil registration

Parish registers from the sixteenth century to the Revolution and the civil registers until 1885.

Scanning has been carried out from microfilms created in the 1980s (shelf mark 5 Mi): this is the court administration records collection. Just over 1.56 million digital views, produced by an external service and the Departmental Archives Workshop.

TOTALS

In total, there are 11,017 scanned civil registers and 304 volumes of searchable tables in digital format in the reading room of which 10,290 registers and 286 tables are on the Internet.

Civil registers 1885-1937

The scanning was carried out by an external service and by the Departmental Archives workshop from original records (shelf mark 6 E): this is the court administration records collection.

Some of the original civil registers prior to 1885 have been digitized to fill any gaps identified on the microfilms.

Ten-year tables 1792 to 1937

Scanning was carried out based on the original documents (shelf mark 7 E).

Wedding publications 1793-1897

Scanning was carried out by the workshop of Departmental Archives based on the original documents (shelf mark 8 E).

Population censuses (1836-1936)

Lists of names from censuses (shelf mark 10 M) over sixty years old were scanned from the originals by an external service.

Tables of inheritance and absences (1814-1907)

Tables of inheritance and absences more than one hundred years old were scanned through a partnership with the Coutot-Roherig genealogical society.

Alphabetical tables of recruitment registers 1 R (1867-1935)

The alphabetical tables provide access to records of military recruitment (shelf mark 1 R) for the period 1867-1935 and were scanned in partnership with the Coutot-Roherig genealogical society from the volumes of complete tables.

Some tables are not complete volumes but were later linked to the registers themselves. They are currently being scanned by the departmental archives workshop. These files will soon be available online.

Stewardship plans

The scanning was performed by an external provider using transparencies of the plans.

Municipal monographs

The municipal monographs were scanned from the original documents. The records were scanned by the departmental archives workshop; scanning of maps and illustrations was outsourced.

Napoleonic cadastral surveys

The Napoleonic cadastre monographs were scanned from the original documents by an external service.

Postcards

The scanning was performed by an external provider using the original postcards.

Scanning takes place in the departmental archives workshop as new acquisitions regularly arrive and are added to the collection.

Prints

The scanning of the prints was outsourced and was based on the originals.

Additional descriptions are being developed to facilitate searches.

Posters from the Taboureau collection

The posters of the Taboureau collection were scanned from transparencies by the Departmental Archives.

Photographs from the Taboureau collection

The collection consists of original glass plates dating from the Great War which were loaned to the departmental archives for scanning. The task was performed in the departmental archives workshop.

Performing arts posters and drawings

The Performing Arts collection, containing drawings and posters of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, was scanned externally (posters) and in the Departmental Archives workshop (drawings).

Decorated manuscripts

Decorated manuscripts dating from the twelfth to the nineteenth century were scanned by the Institute of Textual Research and History (IRHT) of the CNRS to enrich the "virtual library of medieval manuscripts".