Genus

Genus is a private family-owned Heritage Digitisation Company which was established in 1974 and is based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. We have 3 digitisation studios specifically designed for the capture of both heritage and modern material. All digitisation and storage takes place in a humidity and temperature-controlled environment to ensure the best possible handling and capture of material. The studio has seen some amazing specialist documents pass through, including Births, Deaths and Marriage registers, WW2 Trench Newspapers, Save the Children Archive, Vehicle Build Cards, Eighteenth-Century Maps, the whole Archive of Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, Soldiers Postcards, Engine Component Drawings, Royal Navy Diaries, Parts Manuals, WW1 Letters from the Front, Photo Albums and Police Gazettes.

Working with several independent consultants and major archives and libraries across the UK and Ireland has helped us to devise a robust methodology, supported by our ISO 27001 Information Security and ISO9001 Quality Management System certifications, which allows us to focus on the conservation of material through to the final digital output. Our methods of capture have been approved by our clients, who include The Wellcome Trust, Imperial War Museum, British Library, Country Life Magazine, Getty Images, Rolls Royce, Sandwell Register Office, Scottish Fisheries Museum, Foyles Book Shop and Personal Archive, Guild Hall Museum Looe and more. Specifically in relation to the Federation of British Historic Vehicle Clubs, we have conducted and are in the middle of a number of Digitisation projects for BRM, Rootes, Riley, British Motor Industry Heritage Trust and Jaguar Heritage.

Our Digitisation Studio

Our studios, based in the Midlands, have been specifically designed for the digitisation of specialist content. Our purpose-built 13,000sqft building is fully owned by ourselves and benefits from solid brick and block construction to first floor level.

The Genus building is protected by a monitored alarm system which automatically informs keyholders the instant a sensor is activated.

Police response is maintained 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and there is a back-up GSM phone transmitter in place in case of telephone line failure. The protection of the production area is further enhanced by a card entry door system at all points of entry which is backed up by a CCTV system including hard disk recording with full playback facility. There are no external windows in any of our studios or storerooms.

Conservation

We operate handling procedures and capture methodologies which are designed to place the protection of material as the highest priority. We know our clients need to have total confidence in our ability to safely digitise their content to a high standard with minimal impact.

We have successfully delivered many projects to high-profile clients and seen some incredibly interesting and unique items through our studios.

Transportation

Transportation is carried out in one of our plain, non-sign-written vehicles. Our vehicles are fitted with air-sprung suspension, GPS tracking (live data available) and climate monitoring within the load area. A permanent bulkhead is always specified and the load area is further protected by deadlocks. Transit boxes and dollies can be provided to reduce the handling and carrying of content to a minimum.

Infrastructure

We have invested heavily in technology to assist in all aspects of the digitisation process. From capture devices and handling equipment, through to server technology, we have an unrivalled infrastructure to support our projects.

Where masks, holders or other specialist items do not exist, we manufacture them in-house. This ability ensures that we are perfectly able to approach any project with confidence.

In addition to traditional DSLR devices, coupled with prime lenses wherever possible, we have invested in best-of-breed capture devices from Metis, SMA, Wicks & Wilson and Zeutschel. We have the largest microfilm capability in the UK covering Microfiche, Roll Film and Aperture Cards. With the ability to run multiple shifts we have the capacity to offer large scale conversion from all formats of microfilm within very short lead times.

Digitisation Equipment

Genus also sells a complete range of Book, Photo, Document and Film Negative Scanning equipment, fully supported by our six engineers. This allows Genus to help you set up your own digitisation facilities, thus allowing your volunteers to contribute to your digitisation project.

In conclusion, Genus can either digitise your unique content for you at our Nuneaton studios or we can either sell or rent you the necessary equipment for you and your volunteers to conduct the digitisation at your premises. For either option you would have our free of charge consultation, help and advice, as a fellow Federation member. Our free consultancy offers you the opportunity to be visited by a digitisation specialist who can discuss your aims and objectives for the future. They will review your current collections and help you set out a future plan to turn your originals into a digital library, using the most suitable digital capture techniques.