A box of VHS tapes or slides can hold years of memories in formats many people no longer own the equipment to view. Iowa City Public Library’s Digital Media Lab has tools for converting several of those formats yourself.
The Iowa City Public Library Digital Media Lab is built for projects like these. The lab supports digitizing VHS tapes, audio cassettes, 8mm and Super 8 film, scanning artwork, slides, and negatives, along with audio, video, and graphics work.
Some specialized equipment requires reservations. The lab lists digital converters and film converters among reservable equipment. The Sony DV/MiniDV conversion option is currently listed as unavailable, so projects using that format should not be planned around that service.
Bring external storage for completed files. The lab notes that files are removed when computers restart, so saving work elsewhere is important.
The equipment and software are available at no cost, but optional supplies or printing-related costs may apply. The lab is designed for people using the tools themselves rather than a drop-off digitization service.
