PRESERconVersATION

Why do we Microfilm? or 'When Harry Met Deirdre' Part 2

The trip to the microfilming bureau went smoothly. Harry, safely packaged up with some other lucky handbooks, was off on a big adventure.

"Well! What have we here?" asked Bob, the camera operator assigned to film Harry. "A messy little handbook. Boy, you've had a hard life. It looks like we've got to you just in time. Don't worry, they always assign heavily used handbooks to me, I'll look after you". Harry felt instantly at ease with Bob.

"Deirdre has decided I should be microfilmed because I'm part of a series," Harry confided. "She told me to tell you that I am complete, with copies of pages from other handbooks."

"Well, said Bob carefully opening the fat little handbook, before I film you I'll just check Deirdre's written instructions to make sure and take some test shots".

"Lights! Camera! Action!" Harry thought as Bob started filming. "This is easy. All I have to do is lie in this special book cradle and have my pages turned." He noticed Bob making some adjustments to the camera head. What are you doing Bob?" Harry asked.

"Just making sure we've correctly reduced the image size to suit the microfilm." Bob explained.

"That's it! Its a wrap!" exclaimed Bob after a few hours. "Now we'll send your film for processing. You can just relax Harry. You've done a fantastic job." The thought of relaxing felt wonderful to Harry. If the film was OK he would be able to rest for the first time in his heavily used life.

Soon Bob returned and quietly lifted Harry again. "What? Where are we going?" asked Harry.

"We found some problems with a couple of your negatives during inspection and testing. Just a couple of blurred pages, so it's off to the studio to refilm them. We're lucky!" Bob said "We can splice these frames in but if there were more than 3 we would have to completely refilm you."

"Harry, we've got some little friends for you to meet" Bob said. "This is your master negative, printing master and your service copy." Harry remembered the NLA Staff Bulletin article explaining these generations. "You mean all my information is on each of these?" exclaimed Harry.

"They sure are!" Bob said as he carefully packed Harry and his new friends for shipping back to the library.

"Welcome back Harry," Deirdre said warmly as she unpacked him. "Let's check you over to make sure you're complete and there is no further damage."

"I'm glad to be back. What an adventure!" Harry said as Deirdre sat him back on her desk.

Harry carefully watched while Deirdre and her trusted assistant Bronwyn quality control checked his service copy for clarity and errors. "This is OK!" Deirdre proclaimed. "Now we can send it off for cataloguing. When we know the call number we will send the master negative and printing master to our cold store to preserve your information permanently."

The moment of reckoning had come. Quivering, Harry plucked up the courage to ask Deirdre THE question. "What happens to me now?"

"Because you're an Australian handbook the National Library has a policy of shrink wrapping and storing you with a notice referring staff and readers to your microfilm. Don't worry, we won't throw you out," Deirdre told the relieved little handbook.

Harry the heavily used handbook sat back on his shelf in the Library's book stacks. Snugly wrapped in his plastic enclosure he rested for the first time in his heavily used life.

Back to the top