The digitization studio is forecasting an Indian summer. Our HID (high-intensity discharge) “cool” lights are blazing as I begin scanning a collection Spanish Civil War posters from NUL Special Collections. There are some amazingly beautiful, not to mention very large, posters, which are quite exquisite and artful, as much of the early to mid-century propaganda across the world seemed to be. It makes me wonder how such techniques could be employed in this day and age, when the designs of political signs and images seem to be so sterile and lacking in character. I expect to have a lot of fun working on this project, as the Betterlight scanner allows me to get up-close and personal with even the finest details of these prints. In other news, I have completed the digitization and delivery of the Evanston History Center’s copy of Alexander Hesler’s Picturesque Evanston. This album is a similar copy to the NUL version I digitized earlier this year, however, it was once owned by Dorothy Hesler, the photographer’s daughter, and it contains handwritten notes, loose photos, and newspaper clippings collected by her over the course of several years, beginning at the turn of the 20th century. All in all, we’re continuing to bring light (pardon the pun) to some very interesting historical stuff up here in the studio.