A History of Microfilm

[@edschermerhorn5415]

I remember as a kid going to my dad’s “office” -he was an aircraft mechanic for a major airline that is now history that deserves to be remembered… He had shelves of cartridges, organized by aircraft type, of microfilm for all the maintenance manuals. He showed me how he would refer to an index to guide him to the right cartridge, loaded it into his viewer, scroll to the right portion of the manual, and “print” on thermal paper the steps or diagram he needed! Amazing to think that the phone I am holding and watched this video on…could easily hold all of those cartridges! (And could probably be searched in a fraction of the time!)

[@davidneel8327]

One company I worked at had old drawings on microfiche cards.

[@51WCDodge]

Until the latest Didgital system renders yuour phone and files obsolete. Say two years? Your Dad's sytem would work with any bright light and a lens.

[@RemingtonArmy-]

Parts and Service Departments at automobile dealerships in the United States used microfiche for the very same purpose well into the late 1970s and possibly beyond. It was actually quite quick and simple to operate once you got the hang of it. Thanks for triggering that memory. Carry on.

[@TheOtherBill]

@@51WCDodge Phones may go obsolete but data can be transferred to more modern hosts in literally a fraction of a second.

[@ericjohnson9468]

From the early 70’s, I still have some microfiches of scientific papers & even a journal that I elected to receive by mail as microfiche, rather than the traditional paper subscription of that journal. I think one reason I still have them is their easy of storage & transport as I’ve moved widely. I had the ‘viewer’ as well then, which has long since gone missing.

[@jimmysgameclips]

I appreciate the history guy bringing us obscure pieces of history that are actually quite important to the modern day. This one was a nice surprise

[@robertbeermanjr.2158]

I am a Ford Parts Man and when I first started in the business, paper catalogs were still being used. The Microfiche was just making its debut. This was in 1984. We stopped using the Microfiche sometime around the early 1990's. We still have hundreds of cards and one functional viewer. I tell you, when I put a card in that viewer now I am instantly transported back to a simpler time. What great memories of my early career. Thank you History Guy.

[@-jeff-]

History in the form of microfiche occupied hours and hours of my time in the late 70's doing research backtraking years of articles in past journals. Which are for the most part still not available on the internet. Way to go THG! Showing how the history WAS remembered (deserving or not).

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

I have spent many many hours with both microfiche and microfilm. It all seemed so high tech at the time. And remember the Reader's Guide to Periodical Literature?

[@-jeff-]

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel Oh yes. But with myself it was purchasing entire technical journals on microfiche and after hours and hours of wading though index tables and watching the blur of pages rushing past and finally finding that one or two nuggets I was looking for that frames my microphotography experience. Afterwards usually donating the archive to whatever library whose microfiche machine I was using at the time.

[@onliwankannoli]

@@TheHistoryGuyChannel The Readers’ Guide to Periodical Literature!! Now, that’s a title I have not heard in a long time. Reminds me of my own history that deserves to be forgotten….

[@gus473]

@@onliwankannoli 👍🏼 Your name! 🤣 Sudden urge to head for Boston's North End! 😋😉✌🏼

[@patpierce4854]

Yep - me too! Both college and grad school had me spending hours and hours with the microfiche readers!

[@timmmahhhh]

I'm an architect and worked with renovating a restaurant last year. The village happened to have microfiche sheets of the 1976 building drawings which were very useful. I had to fill out an FOIA form to first review them.

[@bkirke]

My grandfather worked for Kodak for over 40 years following WW2, specializing in microfilm. From what I understand, he worked with NASA during the Skylab missions to research techniques for using or developing microfilm in zero gravity. I wish I knew more to share here, but thats about it. My family still has some old plaques he received from Kodak, NASA, and (presumably) the same microfilm association group mentioned in this video. Thanks for the context around his life's work.

[@maryrhudy9250]

Speaking of spycraft, I wish you would do a history of knitting as a tool of espionage. For as long as people have been knitting, there have been men and women who used the intricate patterns oftentimes invented on the fly - as it were - to transmit information. This was going on even in World Wars 1 and 2. It is also history that deserves to be remembered. Also, when are you going to come out with a History Guy bowtie in your merch? I want to get them for my grandsons. Merry Christmas/Happy Hanukkah!

[@kleinjahr]

Look up the Inca quipa. Knotted cords used like written messages. Still hasn't been translated.

[@akizeta]

@@kleinjahr On a related note, there's the "rope memory" of the Apollo spacecraft computers, also known as "Little Old Lady memory", as the wires were sewn into place by sharp-eyed women workers.

[@highpath4776]

you could even put code in the knitting instructions.

[@stevedietrich8936]

Good morning Lance. Hope you weren't under the path of those tornados.

[@wellingtonsboots4074]

I was a Microforms Librarian for 23 years. The collection was huge with millions of titles in fiche, film and microcards formats. Despite digitalization it's still going well.love the stuff

[@heathergeorghiou9544]

I have been a local history librarian for well over twenty years. Thank you for taking the time to talk of the need for using and preserving microfilm. It will take many decades to digitize-not to forget to mention the expense- everything that is already on microfilm.

[@SeanBZA]

Banks used to store all returned cheques, along with copies of statements, as microfilm images, processed by some central facilities as they were processed. This film was then stored, undeveloped, for the required retention time, then recycled for the silver content. As the banks rarely had to retrieve any information off any roll, they left them in the canisters undeveloped, as the cost of developing them was pretty expensive, and thy relied on the fact that most of the time a query would come in while they still had a paper copy or the original around to use. If there was a need for one of the images they would then develop the film, and hope that the scan had been successful, or at least came out readable. IIRC less than 1% would ever need the processing and development, saving a lot of money on film processing, plus at the end of the retention process the film was more valuable as scrap silver, as it still had all the original active halide salt in it. Then the film would go and get stripped of emulsion, and the silver recovered from this residue.

[@disorganizedorg]

I'm doubtful about it being stored undeveloped. The chemicals are cheap and there are service bureaus (I used to work in one) that process miles of their own 105mm & 16mm film... and will process 3rd party film for a nominal fee. I can't imagine someone going to the expense of filming checks* and not spend the small additional amount to process it and make it safer from accidental destruction... not just from light exposure, but radiation and I think processed film would be less susceptible to water damage. In any case, if processed full reversal the vast amount of the silver will remain on the (negative image) film and can be recovered later. They already have to recover silver from the processing for environmental reasons. --- * both the machines to sort and film the checks likely require far more expensive human supervision than making some splices and letting a kilometer of film run through the processor in between other tasks.

[@danzaokid]

@@disorganizedorg agreeded, they had to process to ensure the pictures were in focus and the film was good. Latent images are prone to damage/light.

[@disorganizedorg]

@@danzaokid I used to work with computer-driven cameras designed in the 1960's that relied on an electro-mechanical solenoid to press the film into the focal plane, against the back of a lens assembly... emulsion pressed to hopefully flat, smooth metal. The biggest nightmare was the solenoid that was too slow or fast one frame in 10,000, resulting in a blurry page; blowing 6 hours of machine time. Processing mishaps were a close second; I've lost a kilometer-sized-run of 105mm film that way.

[@georgemckenna462]

Glad to see your still in one piece after the tornadoes and able to post.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

Lives were lost about 20 miles away, but we skipped by. The capricious power of nature is terrifying.

[@rogerw5299]

10:57 can't help but notice the "Glass Handle With Care" box has visible damage to it. As someone in the transport industry, I can't help but thinking "The more things change, the more things stay the same"

[@erictroxell715]

Us older folks remember, pre internet, this was how you did college research!! Memories of penn state in mid to late 80s.. man I wish we had today's internet then!!!!

[@GailGurman]

In the late 70s, I had a summer job working for the Army at Ft. Monmouth, creating microfiche from old files.

[@karelvvv]

I was introduced to microfiche in the late 1990's, having a job @Truckland Amsterdam as a junior warehouse employee during the summer holidays... Because computers were not capable enough to combine technical drawings with the warehouse information. And because revisions were never put in the drawer, I spend countless hours not the phone with importer helpdesk and the factory in Eindhoven...

[@ThePlayerToBeNamedLater]

Could we get the History Guy and Mark Felton to do a Collab? That would be historical overload and I for one would love it!!!

[@RCAvhstape]

And Drachinifel.

[@zelphx]

@@RCAvhstape Don't forget Indy Neidel!

[@robinj.9329]

My Grandmother, born in 1903, had inherited a Cruifix with a tiny lens at it's center. If you look through it, you found the "Lord's Prayer"! Obviously another example of micro photography.

[@TheHistoryGuyChannel]

Crosses with a hidden stanhope of The Lord's Prayer are among the most common types that were sold.

[@WhaleGold]

It seems my mother had a regular 2 X 2 slide that that had the entire Bible you could read through a microscope. She passed little over 10 years ago and I still have not gone thru a lot of her stuff, I probably have in now, but my microscope from from the 1950's no longer works.

[@kenthepen4857]

Great video once again, thank you. Very informative. I'm a big fan of microfilm. Here in the UK, every week, I trawl our local paper (all the way back to 1860), on microfilm, for local history stories, in our local library. I'm glad someone had the foresight to copy them all, what a treasure trove!

[@iammrmat]

I worked at University Microfilm International from the 1990's until 2008. Scanning using computers and the internet essentially put an end to the micofilm business.

[@dmrr7739]

I worked there in the late 80s to about 1990 when the electronic publishing department was just getting off the ground. It was called epub at the time and proQuest was a product we were developing. At one point, we were running 24 hours a day, making black-and-white scans with super-slow scanners. Even with three shifts, we were no match for the throughput of the microfilm department, which was filming the New York Times everyday in addition to everything we scanned and the dissertation business.

[@dougterhune9364]

I tried to explain going to the library and using this in my college research projects to my children. They were confused why I would do that. No internet inthose days. This was a great video.

[@loke6664]

I do enjoy these episodes focusing on some kind of technology that in a large or small way changed the world. :)

[@allanlank]

Polyester film - shelf-life 500 years. Cuneiform - shelf-life 5000 years and counting. Digital format - shelf-life depends on the proximity of nearest fridge magnet.

[@orangekayak78]

Depends if the digital format is stored on a magnetic media. Yes I have no life.

[@davidhealdjr.513]

No currently popular digital storage media would be destroyed by a refrigerator magnet.

[@rabbi120348]

@@davidhealdjr.513 I can remember bulk erasing reel-to-reel takes when I worked at my college radio station in the mid-60's. We would wave the reel in a complex pattern over a magnetic field producing device and all information on the tape would be scrambled.

[@ramblerdave1339]

The woman that tried to prove that she was magnetized by vaccination, by sticking a brass (LOL) key to her face, must have spent too much time at her refrigerator door. 🤣

[@SydBat]

@@rabbi120348 - we still did this in the 80's at the university station I worked at. Had to make sure you were doing it to the right reel/cart. Only messed up once. Thankfully, it wasn't something important.

[@jovanweismiller7114]

Absolutely fascinating! I graduated from high school in 1965. My first job after graduation was as a microfilm camera operator for the Kansas State Historical Society microfilming mostly old newspapers, with some State records occasionally thrown in. My boss was a WWII veteran who had learned the trade in the Army. Nice to learn its history.

[@wanderingteacup39]

This was fascinating. I had no idea photography started so early. The part about V mail is especially interesting because I hadn’t seen the details of this in WWII movies or WWII history books.

[@marbleman52]

Wandering Teacup....I knew about the early efforts in photography such as the Daguerreotype but not the early 'micro' photography...very interesting. And like you, even after watching hundreds of documentaries and movies about WWll, I do not remember ever seeing anything about the V-Mail...amazing..!!

[@shaider1982]

Mark Felton did a video on V mail a few days ago.

[@georgehill8285]

I had a keychain that had microfilm images of Star Trek aliens in it. Must’ve been made in the early 90s, as it had late season Next Generation ones too. It was made to look vaguely like a film camera.

[@ajnormandgroome]

I had that too!

[@stevedietrich8936]

From reading that homage to William Sturgeon, it looks like he could be the subject of a future episode.

[@kcthecowboy]

My aunt helped run the Vmail office in San Francisco for the Navy in WW2.

[@brucematthews6417]

Always a pleasure to learn of these little bricks that make up the big walls and by extension the big building that is history.

[@evanspivack2714]

Amazing how microfilm was such a valuable part of the war effort during WWII. So many little pieces of information that contribute to a better understanding of the world around us. Thank you for educating us!

[@WhaleGold]

Great episode. Microfilm is also used for engineering drawings. In the '70's and '80's I worked as a mechanical and piping designer at the Hanford Nuclear reservation. All the original drawings were kept, but they were also microfilmed looked like on 35mm and mounted in a little window on an IBM card. A number of copies were made and kept in big trays in a large machines located throughout the site. You could rotate the trays and find the ones you were looking for. Then we could make a half sized photo copy of the ones we needed as reference for whatever we were working on instead of ordering a big full-sized copy of the original.

[@JamesKirkWilkinson]

My dad had little viewers that we used to view his photos from off shore. It has been about 25 years since I've seen microfilm in a library. Research was a bit more organized in library files than sorting through articles on the internet, but now we can browse from the comfort of home any time of day.

[@VroomBox42]

I owned a Polaroid land camera that had been modified for photographing documents. It came with an interesting array of lenses and a set of stands for the camera. I kept it in my collection of oddities for a couple of years, loaned it to a local museum for a year before finally donating it to another museum for their collection.

[@J.n.A.1993]

I can remember the first time I had to do research for a project in 5th grade, I was looking around our small local library for the old newspapers, then the librarian said, "Oh you need to use the microfiche reader." Within minutes, 11-year-old me knew the value and importance of microfilm.

[@goodun2974]

At work (electronics repair shop), we still have a microfiche reader, and some old schematics on microfilm, though I've never used it.

[@mikek3979]

In the late 1970’s, I served as a volunteer researcher for an author writing a biography of Oregon Senator Wayne Morse. Microfilm and microfiche - newspapers, magazines, congressional committees testimony, etc. - became my life for several months. Without the microfilm and microfiche, it would have taken years. Mike

[@makerspace533]

There is something to be said about the advantage of a fairly low-tech storage medium like micro-film. Try to recover the data from a Zip Drive of only 20 years ago for instance.

[@LuvBorderCollies]

Totally forgot about Zip Drives. Recall the first PC at work had a tape backup which could not be relied upon to backup when it was supposed to. The "clock" was confused between day/night and at times would start backup in mid day, irritating everyone in the office. Plus it emitted a high pitched noise. I don't miss that old PC stuff.

[@1906Farnsworth]

Yes, I have zip disks I can't read. One must migrate data to newer media from time to time. It's a pain in the butt, and easy to forget.

[@robertpierce1981]

I can remember using microfiche in Elementry school in Maryland in the mid 1970’s

[@richarderion4611]

Used it in the Navy for looking for parts in supply. 1974 into 1980s. I have a copy of my service record on microfiche.

[@dewiz9596]

From 1979 to 1986, I worked as a programmer for a printing company that was an early adopter of the Xerox 9700 laser printer, which could print 2 pages per second, and in later models, double sided, with the input source being 9-track magnetic tape. There was an option (we did NOT acquire it) to produce microfiche from the 9-track tape. . . We watched a demo. . . but with the laser printer costing $500,000 by itself, the company decided to not go in that direction.

[@woodwaker1]

The company I worked for had both. We had at one time 12 - 9800 and 10 COM units. We printed mutual fund documents and provided the companies a copy on microfiche. In January 2000 I think we produced over 1 billion pages on paper and more on microfiche.

[@woodwaker1]

Very interesting history. I spent 40 years in the microfilm industry, starting in 1973. I was hired as a computer technician to repair Computer Output Microfilm systems (COM). These could take computer tapes and "print" them onto roll microfilm or microfiche. This was a very sophisticated system for the time, they cost about $200,000 each. The main use was to convert computer printout to microfiche which could be duplicated quickly. The original microfiche took about 90 seconds to film 268 pages, the copies would take less than 5 seconds each. We had many customers because we could produce large number of copies much quicker than they could print them on paper.

[@lorenzoboyd6889]

At 9:35 an aperture card is depicted. These were usually employed for large quantities of engineering documents. Microfiche is a piece of film 105mm x 148mm, usually for rapid retrieval of file (8.5" x 11") documents. 16mm roll film was often used for 'deep archival' files of historical documents. 35mm roll film was used for slow retrieval of archived engineering documents. Yes, I maintained (and used) these formats. Shortly after dinosaurs roamed the Earth.

[@constipatedinsincity4424]

I have an authentic Dagurreotype made in 1839. The French lady who gave it to me said that I need brown eggs 🥚 white to make the pictures clearer and lasting!

[@jarekmace1536]

I never knew the name of this film display process, but I recall that in the 80's I could get a souvenir keychain at amusement parks like Disneyland. They were about 1.5" long and had a lens on the small end. The other had a photo, usually taken at the top of a roller coaster. I wonder if they are still made?

[@michaelfisher6354]

The Mormons did a service to genealogists by microfilming many genealogical records in the mid 20th century. It captured images before the originals deteriorated further or were lost/stolen or destroyed. It has allowed millions to trace their ancestral birth, marriage and death records.

[@ajnormandgroome]

Microforms are still used in libraries that need to own, preserve and disseminate information. Thank you for this video- warms the heart of a government information librarian

[@alkberg2140]

I remember researching in college using microfiche. Not an easy process. Thanks for the memories.

[@williamhesprich9040]

For years my mother told me I was born on Friday the 13th. I think I was still less than 30 when I went to my local library and looked it up on microfilm of our local paper. I know now if this was after the internet was established along with personal computers I could have gone that route. But sure enough the local paper on that date showed it was Friday the 13th. On page two there was an article about worrying about the state of the Japaneese economy as they were still recovering from the second world war. That gave me a chuckle.

[@mathewritchie]

One big use that you seem to have missed is a system developed by the U.S.navy in the late 1930`s as built blue prints of war ships were converted to microfilm and when any warship sustained damage beyond what could be fixed under way a Microfilm copy was sent the the nearest shipyard ,in many cases ships arived at the yard to find a replacement modual already built and if the damaged modual had been cut away the new one could be installed as soon as the ship was secured in a repair slip often saving weeks or even months of yard time.

[@larrybomber83]

Fascinating stuff. I used the microfilm when I was in High School, but did not know all this was involved. Did know about V-Mail, but did not know it was microfilm. Thank You.

[@stevevanvalkenburg5449]

I still have in my shop office several microfiche packs and a reader I used in the 1970's and 80's teaching agricultural mechanics in our local high school. The fiche were used by several small engine manufacturers for parts look-up and repair instructions as well as several tractor manufacturers for parts and technical information on their products. Computers and the internet have largely replaced these but they were state-of-the art at the time. Great program as always, THG!

[@HM2SGT]

Enjoy listening as I drive to work, but this one I am going to have to save until I can watch the screen and enjoy the imagery.

[@truthsRsung]

Are you still enjoying those pineapples?

[@MegaJessness]

I'm actually just old enough to remember microfilm and particularly microfiche in libraries. My mom would research news articles all the time using that, and I always thought it was pretty neat to have so much on one single piece of film. Pages and pages before she had to change out the microfiche and search on. The viewers had an enormous screen, too, about the size you'd see on an arcade cabinet.

[@cpklapper]

I remember the state determinations which I reviewed at FERC being reduced to microfiche in the early 1980’s. I also remember doing genealogical research from microfiche of newspapers during that same period of 1979-1983. Thank you for this blast from the past! C. P. Klapper

[@Alan_Hans__]

I have used microfiche a number of times with my mothers genealogy research over lots of year. I had no idea about how extensive it's use was dating back pre WW2.

[@Kimberly-dt4ko]

I enjoyed learning the history of microfilm. I remember sitting in the library digging through the microfilm to find the articles I needed for my term papers.

[@cunard61]

I remember doing that too, searching through the New York Times on microfilm. Thank God the Times had an index for each year in order to find articles that applied to subject being searched.

[@ramblerdave1339]

Skeptical about this being interesting enough to spend a quarter hour on, but once again, THG wins! Thanks for spending the time to bring us this obscure history. 😊👍

[@johntabler349]

The history guy paradox the less interesting the subject sounds the more interesting the episode is

[@tygrkhat4087]

I always remember the comment on the video on the history of ketchup: Why do I need to know the history of ketchup? Wait...what is the history of ketchup?

[@thomasb1889]

@@johntabler349 Maybe I am weird but I found the episode on the first Presidential Unit Citation rather interesting although the ship that got it was rather pedestrian, the USS Pigeon.

[@cliff8669]

As a Communications Center Operator (2542 MOS) in the Marines in the early 80's, I was using microfiche on a day to day basis. Also in use at the time ... paper tape and IBM data punch cards used for military communications. No PC computers, OCR scanners etc. If you were to see old pictures of Western Union Offices and the large pieces of equipment that was in use, that was what we had to use. Our field communications gear was not light weight by any means.

[@johntaylor-lo8qx]

I'm 45 now. I remember the day when there was no internet. Just hundreds of hours looking through microfiche..... Bravo History Guy and Wife. Kids today will never know the hours of research we did when we were teenagers. Well at least me. History Guy's wife is too young to remember 🙂

[@davidtaylor8688]

There's a whole host of newspapers that have, for whatever reason, never been digitized. The Los Angeles Express is the one that I can remember, that you can only find at the LA Central Library, and its only on microfilm.

[@rong1924]

In 1989 I worked for Anacomp Micrographics (in silicon valley) which was at the time, I believe, the world's biggest supplier of microfilm products. They made the microfilm products sold by Kodak, Bell and Howell, etc. There was nothing 'micro' about the process. Rolls started out 5ft wide and miles long. There were two different film emulsions, the conventional silver film and "Vesicular" which was developed using heat. Film was sold as microfiche and in bulk rolls for industrial data printers. The factory is gone now.

[@disorganizedorg]

I worked for them from 1988 to 1995 in both Belmont and Marlborough MA running Bell & Howell 3800 & 6700 COM recorders, both 16mm and 105mm. The front end for each camera was a PDP-11. Things went downhill after Anacomp sold their micrographics division to First Image ca. 1993 and FIMC wanted to become entirely Datagraphix rather than B&H.

[@Friender14]

We still have a Xidex 1260 (formerly Canon 800) in use in our Microfilm Lab. We are down to our last case of vesicular film and then I think that will be it for the 1260.

[@michaeldelvecchio41]

I had a science teacher in junior high school that had microfilm with the entire King James Bible on it. I believe he said it had been used to get bibles printed in the Soviet Union.

[@LuvBorderCollies]

Highly doubt the King James was used in the Soviet Union. They probably did use microfilm but it certainly was in the Russian alphabet and language. Think he was repeating a myth. I do remember a long time effort to smuggle Bibles through the Iron Curtain into a variety of countries and languages. English would be hard enough without throwing on archaic KJV lingo into the mix.

[@RÅNÇIÐ]

So, the invention of image compression basically?

[@jonadabtheunsightly]

I think every single person who grew up in North America in the latter half of the twentieth century, at one point played with a toy that consisted of a (typically red white and blue, or some subset of those colors, but I saw one once that was black) plastic device that you held up to your eyes, and into which you inserted one of several circular paper-card discs each of which contained a dozen or so small transparent pictures; the pictures on each card were related to a specific theme (e.g., birds, animals, flowers) or sometimes they all featured licensed cartoon characters from a given franchise, or scenes from a given movie, or whatever. The toy shone light through the pictures, and the eyepieces were lenses, and you pulled a lever to rotate the card by a fixed amount, advancing to the next picture. Since the card was circular, you could just keep going indefinitely, or change out to a different card whenever you wanted. I don't remember what the toy was called, but it was *extremely* common, for decades. This may arguably be the single most widely used application of microfilm technology, because I'm certain there were a *lot* more of the things out there, than library-style microfilm machines.

[@truthsRsung]

Kodac has had such a close relationship with the DOD that they were given times and locations of Nuclear Tests so that they could produce uncontaminated films and photo papers for the government. Only after Kodac bought every paper company that supplied them to figure out what was causing the contamination in the first place. The nuclear contamination was found to be from the water sources the mills used (rivers).

[@RCAvhstape]

*Kodak. With a K.

[@kesslerrb]

Didn’t The History Guy do an episode about that relatively recently?

[@truthsRsung]

@@kesslerrb ....Are you having trouble remembering? The important parts? Like espionage and nuclear fallout? Edit: They sold jewelry to women to advance the technology for the military's purposes. That's if you choose to read between the lines.

[@truthsRsung]

@@RCAvhstape ....Nuclear Fallout with alpha, beta, etc...??? Distracted again by another minor detail?

[@RCAvhstape]

@@truthsRsung Attention to detail is important. So is being able to take criticism. Good luck.

[@jarnoldp]

Thank you for this video. I just wanted to let you know that I’m 37, and my first job was at a library. Among others duties, I had to help patrons lookup and show how to use microfilm and microfiche. 😊. I’m a physicist, a teacher, professor, and am working to become a power engineer for the grid. But I’m always proud that I still know how to use those. 😄

[@fflweb]

My first "real" job back in the 80s when I started in Accounting at the largest bank in Virginia. My job was to film all the GL tickets to microfilm and spent too many hours reeling through the machine researching all kinds of items. We've come a long way. You never forget the sound those machines made. Thanks for the video...really enjoyed it.

[@Donteatacowman]

I know digital storage itself can be unstable, so I hope that the digitized versions of microfiche are still also being kept. Thanks for the video!

[@mikewilson3169]

When I started in the insurance claims business in the early 1980s, we regularly used micro-fiche sheets to read historical policy data. You would be surprised how important that is in the claims business. While my company was on the the leading edge of computerization and digitization of policy, payment, and claims information, it was the decades of historical data the the micro-fiche records preserved that was vital. I spent many an hour using the machine that allowed me to view the 3"x 3" sheets (may have been a different size, I never measured them) on which the information of tens of thousands of policies on each sheet was stored.

[@josephteller9715]

Microfiche, the tool every decent librarian and researcher eventually learns to use the viewing and printing devices for. I didn't realize it went back quite as far as it did in practical application. Thank you for this presentation, definitely worth watching.

[@zelphx]

Surprised at no mention of the vast microfilm collection that the LDS Church created to record ancestral records. This collection gave rise to the "Ancestry" craze (and the later DNA testing) that is a big money-earner today.

[@geoben1810]

Unbelievable! Simply amazing history. I was well aware of microfiche and it's use and was curious as to it's invention but as always the H.G brings the whole subject into the present and puts it into perspective. Thanks H.G ! 👍

[@onliwankannoli]

From that title I thought that sounded like the most boring subject imaginable - I was sure your video on it would be fascinating. I was not disappointed. Thanks History Guy!!

[@jimparsons6803]

Liked the clip. What the 'Guy' might have mentioned is that many of the techniques were applied or are applied to the microlithography needed to manufacture chips.

[@milestonowheres]

Without microfiche Hollywood would be with one of their best and most used plot devices. How many movies have the protagonists look for clues under microfiche

[@roycsinclair]

When I was working for Cessna we had one group of people who spent their days retrieving engineering documents that were stored on microfilm and microfiche and scanning those images into the digital system. That was done as an on demand service for a long time before the effort shifted to getting all of the remaining drawings that had not been requested yet scanned as well. It's nearly a decade later and that group is probably still at that job because there were a LOT of documents.

[@kelso2969]

worked at hanford in washing state I filmed all annual health records on 16mm, plus our team filmed in 35mm wide format. after i processed the films two originals one was for storage other we copied making five copies for the library.

[@rebeccawoolfolk5377]

Librarian here. We're being forced to move to a new building with a much smaller space than we currently have. Since much of the information we have on microform is now available online, we're finding ourselves having to get rid of what we have on fiche. Unfortunately you can't just send it to a landfill due to its chemical components. Microform has to be kept in a special climate controlled environment. Normally our fiche room is very cool, but last time I was in there it was very warm. I suppose we've given up calling technicians to adjust the environment since it will have to be discarded anyway.

[@rssemfam]

Worked in Admissions and Records at SIU-C. Microfiche was kept in huge bins. They included a transcript for Clark Kent from Metropolis Illinois High School. He was born in Smallville, IL. His grades were respectable but excelled at physical fitness classes.

[@mrsurdeo2michaelkennedy221]

I worked at a Waldenbooks in the early nineties and we used the microfiche system for special ordering books. About once a month we would get updated fiches and throw out the old ones. While i was there they upgraded to an early computer system that was a little easier to work with.

[@kevinconrad6156]

Found memories of doing research for my High School History Term Paper at the Library of Congress in the 1970's. Most of what I got there was on microfilm including Congressional testimony.

[@tadroid3858]

When I was a kid, I'd walk to the library just explore old newspapers they had on microfilm, and then microfiche.

[@CDRaff]

Thank you for finally clearing up the difference between microfilm and microfiche for me.

[@TheHylianBatman]

The way that we remember history is one of the most important things to consider. I'm all for the lowest common denominator, which seems to be tiny photographs. I enjoy that a lot.

[@Artur_M.]

That's certainly an interesting topic.

[@KevinFields777]

In the late 80s and early 90s microfilm archives was my peek into the past of my city. It was fascinating and I loved going to my high school library and the local public library to indulge my inner history geek.

[@misterflibble6601]

Thanks!

[@FlickLives7]

In 1941 Dmitri Shostakovich wrote his Symphony No. 7 in C major, Op. 60 while the Soviet city of Leningrad (today St. Petersburg) was under siege by the Germans. His hand written score was microfilmed and smuggled out of Leningrad, via Tehran to the West. The microfilmed score found it way to Arturo Toscanini who led the NBC Symphony Orchestra in a radio broadcast performance on July 19, 1942.

[@yourmaninlondoncollecting5749]

Great video about something most of us know little about 🙂👍

[@justme.9711]

Half a millennium, 500 years and all you need is a lens, some ground melted sand.... that's an interesting and wise pitch for micro film.

[@ldmitruk]

This episode brought back memories of my early career, going half blind reading survey plans from microfiche. The reader was a standard piece of equipment right next to my light table.

[@dirtcop11]

I remember that little cubes with tiny pictures and a magnifying lens were popular in the 1950s. Most of the pictures were nice but some were not suitable for children, which made them popular with young boys.

[@tygrkhat4087]

In one episode of M*A*S*H, while in the Swamp, Maj. Houlihan finds a small cube with a nude picture of General MacArthur inside.

[@jamesragsdale8851]

I had no high expectations but this one turned out to be very interesting.

[@matthewhunting7526]

I swear this guy has the most interesting topics. His channel has replaced the hole in my heart that history channel left back in 2009

[@DawnOldham]

I had never heard anything about this topic! I was especially interested in “Vmail”! And we thought we were so clever to begin using Email! Lol

[@pitsnipe5559]

Extremely interesting! Had no idea the process was that old. Remember seeing my old Navy records on microfiche.

[@debracasseday4960]

I worked as a microfilmer, feeding a machine the documents as it snapped a photo. It was the coolest job I ever had. I am the type satisfied to be set in a corner and left alone.

[@cromagnatron7155]

I have fond memories of being in elementary school in the 70’s and using Microfilm to look things up for reports and projects. I can remember being amazed at how much information would be on one roll.

[@v.e.7236]

I've used microfiche for a few different jobs over the years, as a librarian's assistant, another as a bank teller and another as a paralegal researcher for a law firm out of San Diego, CA. Invaluable stuff for keeping records, as long as they're stored properly. I've had a few instances where the microfiche was completely useless due to water/moisture damage. Sad to hear Harley Davidson suffered the loss of their original drawings and other important documents. They may never be recovered and certainly could never be re-produced. smh

[@maxM38383]

I minored in photography in college and like to shoot with 35mm black and white film and I learned more about the history of photography from this video than I ever did in college or from my own studying.

[@Valtrach]

Thank you for your time and work Prof. Now, where did I put that apple again?