Even in an age when more and more emphasis is being placed on preservation through digital
imaging, microfilm remains the most widely acceptable medium for the long-term preservation
of records. Its benefits are many and obvious. Microfilm is a space saver; suit records that take
up shelf after shelf in our storage area can be transferred to a single roll of film. Large, very
heavy minute and docket books which are difficult to retrieve and even more difficult to
use can be reduced to an image easily read on a microfilm viewer. Microfilmed records are
readily accessible in the reading room, where patrons may retrieve them and view them without
the aid of staff members and without having to wait for the records to be retrieved from storage
and then humidified. Copies can easily be made--both photocopies from the film and actual
reproductions of the film itself for wider distribution. And using microfilm is much
cleaner than using mud files!
Some people dislike microfilm and prefer to use the original records. But we will require you to use the film of any court record that has been transferred to microfilm. The originals of filmed records have been retired from use and are retrieved only under very special circumstances.
