[Genealib] Re: Looking to the Future/microfilm

[Libby Feil]

Hi, all--
	My library still buys microfilm, particularly of newspapers. 
We view it as a preservation format and, for newspapers in 
particular, the only practical way to provide access over the 
long-term.  We also purchase microfilms that relate to our county, 
such as city directories and church records, from LDS or other 
institutions.  We do not have the equipment or budget to microfilm 
our own materials, but for the most part when we find microfilm that 
relates to our county, we buy it.  All of our microfilm collection is 
heavily used.
	Except for censuses.  Typically, only one or fewer of our 
extensive census microfilm reels gets used every month, so we are 
actually in the process of moving our census microfilm to a storage 
area to make more room for our newspapers and other records on 
microfilm.  It doesn't make economic sense for us to add to this part 
of our microfilm collection when it sees so very little use, so if we 
buy the 1940 census on microfilm it will only be the part for our 
county.  Usually, we guide our patrons to the census on Ancestry, and 
in the four years I've worked here I've only run into a handful of 
short-term (a few minutes) problems with access to the census on 
Ancestry, so our patrons seem very satisfied with accessing the 
census in this way.
	We have digitized some of our materials and made them 
available online.  (See the first four entries on our "Digital 
collections and databases" page, 
http://www.libraryforlife.org/localhistory/digitallibrary.html, for 
instance.)  But we do not view this as a preservation format; as 
others have mentioned, long-term storage and access are issues that 
haven't been solved for digital files.  Digitizing materials creates 
more access; microfilming them preserves a copy.  We'll continue to 
rely on both strategies.  It pains me that LDS, NARA, etc. have 
apparently decided not to do the same.
Best wishes,
Libby Feil
-- 

Elizabeth "Libby" Feil, Librarian
MA, MLS
Manager, Local & Family History Services
St. Joseph County Public Library
304 S. Main St.
South Bend, IN  46601

574-282-4621
l.feil at sjcpl.org
AIM:  sjcpllibby
http://www.libraryforlife.org/localhistory/
Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=47449051655
To subscribe to our monthly Local & Family History
e-newsletter, email me at l.feil at sjcpl.org

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