Microform - Advantages

Advantages

The medium has numerous advantages:

• It enables libraries to greatly expand access to collections without putting rare, fragile, or valuable items at risk of theft or damage.
• It is compact, with far smaller storage costs than paper documents. Normally 98 document size pages fit on one fiche, reducing to about 0.25% original material. When compared to filing paper, microforms can reduce space storage requirements by up to 95%.
• It is cheaper to distribute than paper copy. Most microfiche services get a bulk discount on reproduction rights, and have lower reproduction and carriage costs than a comparable amount of printed paper.
• It is a stable archival form when properly processed and stored. Preservation standard microfilms use the silver halide process, creating silver images in hard gelatin emulsion on a polyester base. With appropriate storage conditions, this film has a life expectancy of 500 years. Unfortunately, in tropical climates with high humidity, fungus eats the gelatin used to bind the silver halide. Thus, diazo-based systems with lower archival lives (20 years) which have polyester or epoxy surfaces are used.
• Since it is analog (an actual image of the original data), it is easy to view. Unlike digital media, the format requires no software to decode the data stored thereon. It is instantly comprehensible to persons literate in the language; the only equipment that is needed is a simple magnifying glass. This eliminates the problem of software obsolescence.
• It is virtually impossible to mutilate. Users cannot tear pages from or deface microforms.
• It has low intrinsic value and does not attract thieves. Few heavily-used microform collections suffer any losses due to theft.
• Prints from microfilm are accepted in legal proceedings as substitutes for original documents.