Heather Jefferson pulls a journal from 1817 off the shelf. The journal is one of 147 that will be digitized.
Clermont County’s court history is in the process of being preserved one book at a time at the Clermont County Records Management Division office in Batavia.

The books are bound common pleas records that date back to 1817, and Barb Brown, records manager, said the historical records are more than just old books, they have stories.

“We have people from all over the US come look at the books,” Brown said. “We’re just going to make it easier for them using this grant.”

The records division received the $2,467 grant to digitize the records from the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, facilitated by the Ohio Historical Records Advisory Board, and it was approved by commissioners April 6.

“This is our most vital project to address,” Brown said. “If we were to lose this volume of journals it would be next to impossible to locate microfilms.”

Brown and her administrative support technicians, Heather Jefferson and Tracy Fischer, will be completing most of the project themselves. The process involves carefully unbinding each of the 147 books, scanning all of the pages onto the computer and then rebinding the books to be put in an archival box.

Although the books are stored in a climate controlled environment, the age of the books has left them in delicate condition. Most of the text in the books is handwritten and the leather covers and parchment-like pages make it hard for people to copy things from the older books without causing damage.

“The whole point is to preserve and protect the books,” Brown said.

Once the pages of the books are scanned, they will be loaded onto a database that will be digitally available at the records office as well as at the courthouse, so clerks can also have access. Brown said the records will be searchable, and eventually available online. The journals contain criminal appearance information, divorce records and any other common pleas information.

“It is going to be a very neat process,” said Jefferson. “And it’s going to save a lot of time for the common pleas employees.”

Brown said the scanned records will also be microfilmed. Microfilm is like a large, flat version of camera film. It holds tiny images of the scanned record pages that can be viewed and printed using special equipment. One copy of the microfilm will be stored at the office and the other at an off-site location.

Brown, Jefferson and Fischer are planning to begin the project May 5. Once this set of journals, from 1817 to 1969, is finished, Brown said she plans to move on to another section of records.

“This is our first phase,” Brown said. “I am committed to acquiring grant funds until every historical record is available for search and retrieval. It is our responsibility to protect and preserve Ohio’s culture and Clermont County’s culture.”