Example: United States—Enlisted and Officer Muster Rolls and Rosters, 1916–1939 [Part R][M3LV-P8C]
This has been a difficult project almost from the start. 1) Imagery out of Focus. 2) Streaks on the page, full length.
I do not know how these records are imaged, but as a Photogrammetrist I have encountered problems similar to this before. Generally these are the result of the imaging lens being out of focus and scratches on the copy drum or foreign particles stuck to the drum or both. The original document may have been damaged and without very specialized recovery equipment there is not much that can be done to overcome that problem.
Depending on how the imaging is done there may not be much that can be done to improve the situation on future projects. High volume and slight bumps of the imaging equipment may result in this type of a problem. Most of the records were probably not originated or saved to acid free paper and if the records were saved on film that can have its own share of problems.
Perhaps if a review of the first few pages of a project show signs of degradation, the imaging equipment could be reviewed for problems before the complete project run is committed to imaging.
Just some thoughts and observations on this project in particular. Thank you