Archiving information is so important. Many of us have information that is almost impossible to find in this day and age. It is so easy to lose that information by accident. I had a 25 year collection of information on a type of antique airplane. Much of which was probably the only copy. A forest fire wiped it all out. I think building up the library is a great idea.

Grant.

I suggest you contact archives and museums to get recommendations. I have gone the route of hiring it done and have generally been dissatisfied. I think a good part of that came down to my selection of the firms to do the work. One place I used was not overly careful with the material and did some lousy cropping. The other was OK, but really overpriced for what I got. It was long enough ago that those places are long gone now.... and I wouldn't have recommended them anyway. You will see a wide variety of pricing but don't do what I did and necessarily choose the lowest bidder. In the end, it was better for me to get my own scanners (I have three types... four if you include a bought-used fiche scanner... which no longer works) appropriate to the type of material I archive and did it myself. That may not be feasible in your case but that's what I've been doing for about 20 years now. Good scanners (Epson in my case) last a long time. It has meant a lot of extra time and therein lies the rub.

Would Caterpillar, Inc. participate in the effort?

bernie wrote:

Would Caterpillar, Inc. participate in the effort?

 

That's a good idea!

you never know what cat has in their own archives. they may be willing to share some of it. they certainly could recommend professional services or the methods they use.

ask your local library many large library would have conservators so would museums.