The Crowley Company

The Crowley Company is an analog and digital preservation firm that consists of four divisions: imaging services; capture equipment manufacturing; capture hardware systems and supplies resales; and technical support.

History

The late Jerome F. (Jerry) Crowley, Jr. started the firm in 1980 under the name J.F. Crowley Inc. Representing manufacturers in the photographic, graphic arts and micrographic industries, Jerry began by selling hardware and later put the machines to work between demonstrations. In 1986, he changed the firm name to Crowley Micrographics to better reflect his expanded offering of image conversion services. Sons Christopher (Chris) and Patrick (Pat) Crowley joined the family business following their college educations.

In October 1996, Chris, filling the role of company president following his fathers death, and Pat, as vice president, assumed the company’s ownership and leadership. As client interest in, and the archival/preservation necessity of, digital imaging technologies increased, the company has expanded product and service offerings beyond micrographic services and is now known as The Crowley Company.

Manufacturing

The Crowley Company purchased Mekel Technology, HF Processors, and Extek Microsystems in 2003, creating a manufacturing branch. Since then these firms and their products have been further developed under the Crowley brand. Product lines include:

Mekel Technology

Mekel Technology introduced the first microfilm scanner to the world in 1989, followed closely by it't first microfiche scanner. Today, Mekel continues to engineer [...]-edge products for the future of data preservation. Products include:

  • Microfilm Scanners
    • Mekel Technology Mach III
    • Mekel Technology Mach IIIQ
    • Mekel Technology Mach V
  • Microfiche Scanners
    • Mekel Technology Mach VI
    • Mekel Technology Mach VII
  • Aperture Card Scanner
    • Mekel Technology M400
  • Universal Microform Scanners
    • Mekel M200 ViewScan

Extek

  • Film duplicators for the micrographics industry including 16mm and 35mm silver halide duplicators and diazo film duplicators.

HF processors

  • Deep-tank film processing equipment for the microfilm and movie industries

Conversion services

Since 1986, The Crowley Company has converted tens of millions documents, books, records, maps and other media into digital and analog images, specializing in high-volume records management and archival projects. This division operates from two U.S. facilities and also provides on-site services when required.

  • Aperture card scanning – A through E
  • Archive writing (film output from digital) to 16mm, 35mm and bi-tonal
  • Archival preservation microfilming
  • Bound-book scanning – color, bi-tonal and grayscale
  • Data field indexing
  • Digital document imaging
  • Document and image reformatting
  • Large-format scanning – newspapers, graphics, maps, charts, etc.
  • Microfilm and microfiche digitizing
  • Microfilm duplication
  • Photographic media digitizing – reflective photo prints and art, filmstrips, plates, slides, color and black & white negatives and color transparencies

Capture Equipment/Software/Supplies(Dealer)

In addition to manufacturing, The Crowley Company represents a number of front-end capture equipment, software scanning and processing, and supply products. Current product lines include:

  • AGFA microfilm
  • InoTec high-volume document scanner
  • I.R.I.S. scanning products
  • Qidenus robotic book scanning solutions
  • S-T Imaging small-to-mid-volume microform scanners
  • Zeutschel large-format book scanners, book copiers, archive writers, table systems and software
  • Parts and supplies for all Crowley-manufactured and distributed products

Technical support

Crowley’s technical support team operates from both California and Maryland, covering the US and Caribbean. Primarily serving customers who have purchased or leased equipment from The Crowley Company, the technicians concentrate on hardware installations, system training, periodic inspections and maintenance, emergency repairs and providing parts and supplies.

Markets served

The Crowley Company serves a wide range of markets mainly:

  • Archives
  • Conversion/Service Bureaus
  • Government Agencies/Public Institutions
  • Healthcare/Pharmaceuticals
  • Libraries/Universities
  • Life Insurance/Legal/Financial Entities
  • Title Companies