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Types of Microfilm and Microfiche

Libraries have been storing documents on microfilm for over a hundred years. It is an efficient method to store large volumes of documents. Microfilm images are very stable and have a long shelf life if stored correctly, estimated at 500 years. Microfilm is just a picture of a document stored on photographic film.

The drawback of microfilm is that it requires physical proximity to the documents and special equipment to reproduce them. As the cost of digital storage has continued to plummet it makes sense to not only scan in archives of paper documents but also digitize the microfilm.

Digital records can be shared seamlessly across organizations and geographies. Documents can be found quickly without the need for a physical search. It is easier to backup digital records offsite with a cloud service or tape rotation. The side benefit is that access control is also easier for electronic records.

The three common formats of microfilm are:

Microfilm Rolls

Microfilm – This is a roll of photographic images, similar to a roll of movie film. The standard sizes are 16mm and 35mm. 35mm is generally used for engineering drawings and 16mm for letter sized documents. The storage capacity for a roll of film is 2,400 letter sized pages or 600 drawings.

Aperture Cards

Aperture Cards – They are also known as Hollerith cards. This is a 35mm chip of microfilm embedded in a punch card. The most common use is for engineering drawings. The punch card is coded with the indexing information for the image. Using a punch card allows for mechanically sorting of the drawings. The capacity is one drawing per card.

Microfiche

Microfiche – This is a flat sheet of microfilm. The standard format is four inches by five inches. The average sheet of microfiche holds 98 letter sized pages.

All three formats can be converted to digital formats using specialized scanners. They are generally better indexed than their paper document cousins. This reduces the cost per image to scan with less manual preparation required.

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