Microfilms
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Microfilms are films that contain black and white
micro-reproductions of records. Microfilms are usually stored on reels
containing hundreds of images. They are usually viewed
amplified on a monitor or a special projector. Digital photographs can be made from microfilm images projected onto the monitor screen, but these usually require some post-photography processing in Photoshop Lightroom or another program before viewing or printing. These can later be converted to PDF or any other format and posted to a website for the client to download quickly. Photocopies of varying quality can be made from the images on the monitor using a machine with an attached photocopier at 50 cents per page. These can then be scanned at home with a flatbed scanner/feeder combo and then posted to the Internet. By far, the best quality microfilm images are produced by digitizing microfilms directly on a machine specifically designed to do that - the output being stored to a thumb drive. The Library of Congress has one of these devices available for use by researchers. The National Archives in College Park, Maryland possesses such devices - however, these machines are not made available to researchers for reasons that remain unclear. For a comparison between the results of digitally-copied, camera-copied and photocopied microfilms, please click here. Unfortunately, microfilms at the National Archives can be digitized by that institution only. These involves copying the whole microfilm onto a on to DVD or another microfilm. This provides the best images, which can be printed out on any computer/printer combination. The drawbacks are that it costs the client $135.00 per DVD copy, and it may take up to ten weeks for the client to receive them, who must then search through hundreds of images to find the responsive record. If the client has plenty of time and can identify the correct microfilm to be copied, this is by far the best option. A link to NARA microfilm order form can be found here. The Library of Congress offers prints of microfilms, but it is a complicated process partially described here. In this case it may be better all around to photograph, photocopy or make digital copies of these microfilms as described above. |