by Anessa Olson

The IDEA Center is the Ames Public Library’s new digital conversion and editing lab. The purpose of the space is to provide free access to the equipment and software needed to preserve your family’s history by transferring treasured memories from vulnerable analog formats into digital files that can more easily be shared and saved. The IDEA Center has three stations, one each for video and audio conversion, scanning, and editing.

The video conversion station will be able to convert VHS, S-VHS, and VHS-C tapes into digital video files that can be burned onto a DVD or saved on a flash drive. This station will also be able to convert cassette and microcassette tapes.

The scanning station has a powerful scanner that will be able to make high-resolution scans of documents, photographs, slides, and photographic negatives. The scanning software allows you to scan things like slides and negatives in batches to save time.  It can scan a whole array at once and separate it all into individual image files. 

The video conversion and scanning stations both have a Mac computers with software for editing images, audio, and video files. The dedicated editing station is a separate Mac computer with all of the same editing software as the other two, available for people who have finished converting their memories into digital files and now wish to edit or restore them.  The available software includes iMovie, Final Cut Pro, and the Adobe Creative Suite. IDEA Center users are invited to learn about the software they wish to use before beginning their project. Library staff can help you find tutorials or instructions for what you wish to do. 

The library invites everyone to celebrate the opening of the IDEA Center at our open house, 10am to 2pm on December 2. Visitors will be able to tour the space and see the equipment in action. Our friendly staff will be available to answer questions and help you make a reservation.  

You can also sign up to use the IDEA Center on the library’s website, or by calling the library. Reservations should be made at least 24 hours in advance. Any stations that are not reserved are available to walk-ins on a first come, first served basis. To use the IDEA Center, you will need to bring your library card, and to complete a short tutorial. 

The IDEA Center can convert these analog formats into digital files:

• Video:
  • VHS
  • S-VHS
  • VHS-C
• Sound:
  • Cassette Tapes
  • Microcassette Tapes
• Images:
  • Documents and photographs
  • Slides
  • Photo negatives