In less than two years, Chester County expects to have its most historic documents available online. Thanks to improved scanning equipment, Chester County's Archives & Records Services has accelerated the process of scanning and digitizing documents dating back to 1681. The project's goal is to make the collection publicly available on the county's website so that people can easily acquire historical information.

The county installed a new scanner in January 2020, just before the pandemic, making this project possible. To date, about 40% of the Archives' collection - which includes both microfilm and physical documents - has been digitized.

A climate-controlled room at the county's Government Services Center in West Chester houses the documents and keeps them stable. Temperature and humidity fluctuations degrade paper, so the storage room temperature always remains roughly 65 degrees with 45% relative humidity.

The upgraded scanner has a superior lens and creates images faster than the model it replaced, purchased in 2007. The new technology scans documents in color and at a higher DPI (dots per inch), so the image quality is sharper. In addition, technology has made storage space much less expensive, allowing easier storage of larger files.

Cliff Parker, who served as the county's archivist for 20 years before taking on his current role of Archives & Records director, noted that one of the documents to be scanned is the first Chester County court docket documenting the county's earliest governmental activities from 1681 to 1697. A second corresponding volume spans 1697 to 1710. The docket records every function of county government, including row offices, administrative functions, and court activity. Parker noted that some of the documents date to before William Penn first came to his colony in October 1682.

Commissioner Josh Maxwell added that the records include a variety of documents, such as tax records, Poor House records and property records. Chester County's Poor House was established in 1800 in West Bradford for the employment and support of people in financial difficulty in the county. The facility served poor and elderly people with physical and mental disabilities.

Chester County Commissioners chair Marian Moskowitz explained that the records being digitized are those considered to be historic, permanent records. While the county preserves every existing physical record created before 1920, retention policy changes meant that only certain documents were maintained after that time. Today, less than 10% of the records created by the county each year are considered a permanent record of historical value.

Commissioner Michelle Kichline said this conversion project is about access. The problem with storing records on microfilm, she said, is that the user needs a machine to look them up, and nobody is selling or repairing those machines as they break down. In addition, most of the county's microfilm is stored off-site. The Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission has a microfilm security storage program. If a user wants to view a document, the commission must make a duplicate and send it to Chester County, making for a lengthy process.