I have a collection of topography books for the area where my one-name originated. I have decided to digitise the contents list and selected pages in the form of searchable pdf files and have experimented with different ways to do this. The easiest method so far has been to photograph ("snap" would be a better description) the page using my mobile phone (Galaxy 3) with flash on and without any other lighting. The jpg file was then sent from the camera via my laptop to the free onlineocr.net internet site. The resulting pdf file was sent back almost immediately and it appears to be 100% accurate which I thought very impressive. I picked a page at random for the tests and on reading it I thought the 150 year old words apply equally well today for our ONS if you replace topography with genealogy. The message could be "publish as soon as you have a reasonable amount of material.." The OCR pdf (unchanged from that received from the website) has been converted to plain text for this email. The page was from Moorhouse writing about the Holme valley in Yorkshire: Although it must be admitted that by this plan, many documents of no real importance have been noted, still, on the whole, he believes much interesting matter has been preserved which otherwise might have perished. What was, therefore, first begun to satisfy his own curiosity, at length so far rewarded his researches, and enlisted his sympathies, that at the desire of some of his friends, for whose judgment he felt great deference, he was led, in 1844, to issue a prospectus, with the intention of laying before the public the result of his labours. The public did not then evince much interest in the undertaking, and it was therefore postponed, if not abandoned. It was not till the autumn of 1858 that some of his friends again urged upon him the importance of supplying such a desideratum, and kindly undertook to interest themselves to obtain subscribers among their acquaintance. The question of the intrinsic value of the materials here laid before the public, the Author leaves to the decision of his readers, feeling more solicitous himself respecting a judicious selection and appreciation of them for topographical purposes. While thus engaged, he has experienced much inconvenience and serious disadvantage in being so remote from a good topographical library, to which he could, consequently, only have an occasional access, and for very brief periods. This circumstance must necessarily have rendered his work deficient in literary research and taste, although he believes it has had the effect of stimulating his enquiries, and leading him to rely more upon the result of his own collections of local evidences, which perhaps may be accepted by those of his readers in the district, as compensating to some extent for the deficiency in artistic merit. Humble as his efforts have been, the Author is free to confess that as his enquiries and researches advanced, the subject itself rose in interest and importance ; he trusts that something of this feeling may be excited in his readers; and if the work should in any degree contribute to increase the taste for such enquiries in districts where little has hitherto been done, the Author will feel satisfied. Another remark the Author takes leave to make respecting himself in relation to his topographical labours. He first began to arrange his materials and to give them an historical character, during a period of protracted ill health, when..... John Coldwell 2172