--- title: College Park Aviation Museum Digitizes Its Archive | Contex description: The College Park Aviation Museum, a Smithsonian affiliate, uses a Contex IQ FLEX flatbed scanner to preserve fragile photos, maps and documents since 1909. image: https://contex.com/hubfs/insights/case-studies-archive/Press-release_College-Park-Aviation-Museum_1920x640.jpg --- [Skip to content](https://contex.com/insights/college-park-aviation-museum#main-content) [Partner area](https://contex.com/partner-area) [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/contex-as/) [YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/user/ContexScanners) [![Contex — When imaging matters](https://contex.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Contex_Logo_R_RGB.png?width=225&height=48&name=Contex_Logo_R_RGB.png)](https://contex.com/) [Products](https://contex.com/large-format-scanner) [Applications](https://contex.com/) [Insights](https://contex.com/insights/all) [Support](https://contex.com/support-faq/) [About us](https://contex.com/about-us/) [CONTACT US](https://contex.com/contact-us/) [Products](https://contex.com/large-format-scanner) [Applications](https://contex.com/) [Insights](https://contex.com/insights/all) [Support](https://contex.com/support-faq/) [About us](https://contex.com/about-us/) [Contact us](https://contex.com/contact-us/) 1. 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College Park Aviation Museum preserves aviation history with Contex IQ FLEX Case study # College Park Aviation Museum preserves aviation history with Contex IQ FLEX [Part of: **Museums & heritage: Guides and cases**](https://contex.com/insights/tag/museums-heritage) In short The College Park Aviation Museum, a Smithsonian affiliate near Washington, DC, uses a Contex IQ FLEX flatbed scanner to digitally preserve over 10,000 photographs, maps, handbooks and newspapers, and to share fragile items online that are too delicate to display. ![](https://contex.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Contex_Logo_R_RGB.png?width=48&height=48&name=Contex_Logo_R_RGB.png) [Contex team](https://contex.com/insights/author/contex-team) Published August 16, 2019 · Updated November 10, 2026 · 2 min read Share [mailto:?subject=%3Cspan+id%3D%22hs_cos_wrapper_name%22+class%3D%22hs_cos_wrapper+hs_cos_wrapper_meta_field+hs_cos_wrapper_type_text%22+style%3D%22%22+data-hs-cos-general-type%3D%22meta_field%22+data-hs-cos-type%3D%22text%22+%3ECollege+Park+Aviation+Museum+preserves+aviation+history+with+Contex+IQ+FLEX%3C%2Fspan%3E&body=https%3A%2F%2Fcontex.com%2Finsights%2Fcollege-park-aviation-museum](mailto:?subject=%3Cspan+id%3D%22hs_cos_wrapper_name%22+class%3D%22hs_cos_wrapper+hs_cos_wrapper_meta_field+hs_cos_wrapper_type_text%22+style%3D%22%22+data-hs-cos-general-type%3D%22meta_field%22+data-hs-cos-type%3D%22text%22+%3ECollege+Park+Aviation+Museum+preserves+aviation+history+with+Contex+IQ+FLEX%3C%2Fspan%3E&body=https%3A%2F%2Fcontex.com%2Finsights%2Fcollege-park-aviation-museum) ![Historic aircraft at the College Park Aviation Museum](https://contex.com/hs-fs/hubfs/insights/case-studies-archive/Press-release_College-Park-Aviation-Museum_1920x640.jpg?width=1400&height=600&name=Press-release_College-Park-Aviation-Museum_1920x640.jpg) In this article **The College Park Aviation Museum, a Smithsonian affiliate near Washington, DC, installed a Contex IQ FLEX flatbed scanner to digitally preserve its collection of more than 10,000 documents, photographs and other historical materials, including items too delicate to put on display.** *Chantilly, VA, USA – July 23, 2019* Contex, the world leader in large format scanning, today announces that the College Park Aviation Museum recently installed a Contex IQ FLEX flatbed scanner. The College Park Aviation Museum, a Smithsonian affiliate, is a top aviation destination in the Washington, DC area. Located at the College Park Airport, the world’s oldest continually operating airport, the museum boasts a vast collection of local aviation history dating back to 1909, including over 10,000 documents, photographs, and other historical materials. The museum staff acquired a Contex large format flatbed scanner to preserve that history and make its collection, especially fragile materials, easily available to visitors, researchers, and other interested parties. The assets are also used for museum displays and marketing materials. > “Our museum collection has a large number of photographs, maps, handbooks, and newspapers, among other items, some of which are not on display because they are too delicate. With the Contex scanner, we can digitally preserve these valuable pieces and make them available online for interested parties.” > > **Laura Baker**, Curator of Collections, College Park Aviation Museum “Many museums choose Contex scanners for the important function of preserving history,” comments Steve Blanken, General Manager, Contex Americas. “In addition to producing museum-grade images for preservation, the scanner is also one of the most efficient, even with the most delicate material.” ## About the IQ FLEX The [Contex IQ FLEX](https://contex.com/product/iq-flex-large-flatbed-scanner/) is ideal for digitizing oversized and fragile originals, as well as scanning books, textiles, and artwork. The IQ FLEX also simplifies book scanning with the use of a wizard helper. Users can scan material up to double the size of the A2/C-size glass plate, including A1/D-size originals. With an optical resolution up to 1200 dpi, the flatbed scanner produces sharp images even at large sizes. ## Want to know more? - [Download the press release (PDF)](https://contex.com/hubfs/insights/case-studies-archive/Contex_Press-release_College-Park-Aviation-Museum_V1-1_EN.pdf) - [How the Talbot Historical Society preserves its collection](https://contex.com/insights/talbot-historical-society) - [How Thunder Bay Museum digitizes its newspaper archive](https://contex.com/insights/thunder-bay-museum-newspaper-archive) - [Scanners for books and fragile originals](https://contex.com/book-scanner/) ## Frequently asked questions Which scanner does the College Park Aviation Museum use? A Contex IQ FLEX large format flatbed scanner, with optical resolution up to 1200 dpi. Why use a flatbed scanner for museum collections? Fragile items lie flat and still on the glass, so photographs, handbooks, newspapers and maps can be scanned without being pulled through a feeder. How large can originals be on the IQ FLEX? The glass plate is A2/C-size, and originals up to double that size, including A1/D-size, can be scanned. What does the museum do with the scans? The images preserve delicate items, make them available online to researchers and visitors, and are used for displays and marketing materials. Topics [Case studies](https://contex.com/insights/tag/case-studies)[Museums & heritage](https://contex.com/insights/tag/museums-heritage) ![](https://contex.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Contex_Logo_R_RGB.png?width=64&height=64&name=Contex_Logo_R_RGB.png) About the author Contex team The Contex team shares news and practical know-how on large format scanning. Contex has made large format scanners for decades and sells them through distributors worldwide. [More from Contex team](https://contex.com/insights/author/contex-team) ## Keep reading [All museums & heritage insights](https://contex.com/insights/tag/museums-heritage) ### [![](https://contex.com/hs-fs/hubfs/insights/cbmm/HD-Apeiron-42_CBMM-scanning-drawing.webp?width=700&height=438&name=HD-Apeiron-42_CBMM-scanning-drawing.webp) Case study Workflow: How Chesapeake Bay Maritime Museum preserves history while enhancing access November 25, 2024](https://contex.com/insights/cbmm-scanning-workflow) ### [![](https://contex.com/hs-fs/hubfs/insights/talbot-historical-society/Talbot-Historical-Society_topimg.webp?width=700&height=438&name=Talbot-Historical-Society_topimg.webp) Case study Can a scanner support a whole community? 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