• "Without archives many stories of real people would be lost, and along with those stories, vital clues that allow us to reflect and interpret our lives today." ~Sara Sheridan

  • "Man's history has been graven on the rock of Egypt, stamped on the brick of Assyria, enshrined in the marble of the Parthenon-it rises before us a majestic presence in the piled up arches of the Coliseum-it lurks an unsuspected treasure amid the oblivious dust of archives and monasteries-it is embodied in all the looms of religions, of races, of families." ~Charles Thomas Newton

  • "The archival document is a tear in the fabric of time, an unplanned glimpse offered into an unexpected event." ~Arlette Farge

  • "We do not remember days, we remember moments." ~Cesare Pavese

Services

Digitization

I specialize in converting physical items into various digital formats. This includes but is not limited to: documents, photographs, slides, negatives, VHS tapes, 8mm film, vinyl and cassette tapes (full size, mini, and micro cassette tapes).

Editing & Clean Up

Standard editing for documents, photos and slides involves color touch-ups, tearing, tape and age marks clean up*. Standard editing for audio and visual consists of volume leveling and distortion removal, static and background noise reduction/removal and color enhancement*.

*The more severe the damage, the more time and effort it takes to clean the item(s) which does increase the cost. Extreme damage cannot be entirely removed.

Metadata

Metadata is data that describes other data; it tells the who, what, when, where, and why, and allows an item to be searched by and located using that information.

I use the Dublin Core Standard for descriptive metadata and the Library of Congress Thesaurus for Graphic Materials (TGM 1) when creating metadata for projects for Museums, Archives and private clients.

WWII Navy bootcamp photograph with severe damage from folding, tape, age and tearing.
WWII Navy bootcamp photograph with all damage except the tape cleaned up.
WWII Navy bootcamp photograph color edited to black and white to fix the aged look.
WWII Navy bootcamp photograph with the tape lines slowly being edited out.
WWII Navy bootcamp photograph completed.
Copy of a print of an 1898 Prussian Regimental photograph showing damage from age and minor tearing.
Copy of a print of an 1898 Prussian Regimental photograph color edited to black and white and with the age and minor tearing fixed.
Cursive handwriting transcribed from the loose leaves out of a document from the 14th Iowa Regiment from the Civil War held at Fort Vancouver.
Cursive handwriting transcribed from the loose leaves out of a document from the 14th Iowa Regiment from the Civil War held at Fort Vancouver.
Cursive handwriting transcribed from the loose leaves out of a document from the 14th Iowa Regiment from the Civil War held at Fort Vancouver.
Cursive handwriting transcribed from the loose leaves out of a document from the 14th Iowa Regiment from the Civil War held at Fort Vancouver.
Cursive handwriting transcribed from the loose leaves out of a document from the 14th Iowa Regiment from the Civil War held at Fort Vancouver.
Cursive handwriting transcribed from the loose leaves out of a document from the 14th Iowa Regiment from the Civil War held at Fort Vancouver.
Cursive handwriting transcribed from the loose leaves out of a document from the 14th Iowa Regiment from the Civil War held at Fort Vancouver.
Cursive handwriting transcribed from an 1849 Quartermaster's Ledger from Fort Vancouver.
Cursive handwriting transcribed from an 1849 Quartermaster's Ledger from Fort Vancouver.
Cursive handwriting transcribed from an 1849 Quartermaster's Ledger from Fort Vancouver.
Cursive handwriting transcribed from an 1849 Quartermaster's Ledger from Fort Vancouver.
Cursive handwriting transcribed from an 1849 Quartermaster's Ledger from Fort Vancouver.
Cursive handwriting transcribed from an 1849 Quartermaster's Ledger from Fort Vancouver.
Cursive handwriting transcribed from an 1849 Quartermaster's Ledger from Fort Vancouver.
Cursive handwriting transcribed from an 1849 Quartermaster's Ledger from Fort Vancouver.
Cursive handwriting transcribed from an 1849 Quartermaster's Ledger from Fort Vancouver.

Institutions I have worked with over the years:

  • Washington State University-Vancouver Archives

  • Clark County Historical Museum

  • Cowlitz County Historical Museum

  • Numerous Private Clients

Projects I have worked on over the years:

  • Digitally restored a black and white WWII Naval photograph that had severe damage and had it professionally mounted

  • Transcribed the cursive writing in an 1849 Quartermaster's Ledger from Fort Vancouver

  • Transcribed the cursive writing from loose leaves out of a document from the 14th Iowa Regiment from the Civil War

  • Scanned a collection of over 100 journals a client's late father wrote over his lifetime

  • Digitally restored a family photograph showing a great-grandfather in a Prussian Regiment

  • Created a spiral bound hard back cookbook from a recipe box

I started volunteering in the archives of my local community college white completing my undergraduate degree, and then worked as a digital archivist for various patrons in the community while finishing my Masters.

Mnemosyne Archives was started in 2023 after ten years of experience working with specialized equipment and programs. Today, I work with museums, archives and private clients alike.

Contact

rintouls@mnemosyne-digital.com, (360) 355-7289

Meet Mnemosyne

Neh-mow-zeen (American pronunciation)

Greek Titan Goddess of Memory and Knowledge, mother to the Nine Muses

She encapsulates the essence of cultural continuity and intellectual heritage, representing individual and collective memory.

Mnemosyne's dominion over memory also played with the concept of time. Remembrance transcends normal constraints of time, as what is recalled and memorialized endures beyond the present moment. Through her, ancestors lived on in tales recited at gatherings, their legacies preserved for eternity.

The term "mnemonic" is derived directly from her name, immortalizing her influence in helping us remember things like complex formulas and historical dates.

Mnemosyne's legacy is preserved through myths and the arts, and underscores the timeless relevance of remembering our past to inform our future.