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Yes, because in the digital revolution the magic word is “hybrid”.
Conventional wisdom holds that in the current digital era college students --- even graduate students in information science --- are uninterested in, or unaware of, the advantages of microforms in specific situations. Is it fact or fiction?
Both. But at institutions where the teaching staff exposes students to multimedia (including microforms) records management planning, there is still recognition that microfilm has an important role to play in life cycle management of records in the 21st century. A case in point is the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Texas at Austin. There Dr. Susan L. Cisco teaches a course in imaging and document management. This past semester she gave an assignment that asked students to answer the following questions: “What role (if any) will micrographic systems play in the life cycle management of records in the 21st century? Why?
The 16 students in Dr. Cisco’s graduate course, therefore, were exposed --- through individual research that included readings, contacts with leaders in the library, records management, and microfilm fields, and personal experience --- to the current state of micrographic systems and the pros and cons for their future. Dr. Cisco told MN, “In general, the student’s research shows (they consider) there is an important future role for micrographics.”
For example, grad student Sarah Canby Jackson noted, “Mass (was) the single greatest problem for institutions dealing with records in the second half of the 20th century Micrographics, employed in an active records management program, can help to manage and control that mass.”
Conscious of microfilm’s drawbacks (user’s dislike, sometime difficulty in using readers, indexing and access limitations, etc.) she commented, “With the advent of the microcomputer and digital imaging, the negative aspects of microfilm were competitively addressed….. Digital imaging gained an immediate competitive edge in that IT’S NOT MICROFILM.” However, Jackson added, “In reality that was more of a perceived advantage than a real one. The major problem with digital is the question of long term, reliable storage.”
Unreliable Digital Media
Taking a look at the real world, as opposed to that of digital hype, she found, “With the rapid changes in the computer industry….. information that was accessible becomes unreadable with new software versions….. Advertised with a life of 100 years, CD-ROMs have proven to be unreliable in as few as five years. Magnetic tape has a life of only 10 – 20 years….”
She cited the well publicized fact that more information from the census of 1860 is available than information from the census of 1960, a classic paper versus magnetic tape example. Another such horror story is that “The National Archives and Records Administration lost 80,000 e-mails in the summer of 1999 when a contractor accidentally pushed the wrong button and, rather than backing up the e-mail files, deleted them….. “Digital information must be refreshed and migrated, usually every 7 – 10 years or sooner ….. the hidden costs of refreshing and migrating information can be up to 50% of the storage cost.”
Weighing these considerations, Jackson commented, “Given the fragility of digital, even with technological advances, to depend upon digital for long-term storage at this time would be a certain mistake.” She also lauded the marriage of micrographics and digital at the best of all possible worlds. Within that marriage, she joined others in seeing microfilm having a bright future in the 21st century.
A Dark Age of Lost Information
James R. Lynch, another student, concurred that “Micrographics is a tested and proven preservation medium. Utilizing hybrid systems to create both microform storage and digital access… permits secure preservation and widespread access…” Still he acknowledged an ongoing problem in the information and records management world.
“Managers appear unwilling to consider new micrographics applications. Instead, they seek to shift ongoing micrographics programs to digital technology, making no provision for long-term preservation of information. This short-sighted decision-making may well result in major information loss, causing lack of documentation of (the current) period of history for the future…..”
Lynch speculated it mat result in future historians regarding this a “Dark Age of lost information…” In that regard, he cited Stewart Brand, creator of the Whole Earth Catalog, and Danny Hillis, super-computer designer, who commented the digital revolution is resulting in art, science, news and records being “created and stored on media that we know can’t outlast our lifetimes.”
Challenges for Librarians, Records managers, Micrographics Industry
Hannah Frost, looking at the present and future of micrographics, argued, “As storage for record information in electronic form, digital media are not a reliable, long-term preservation option. Micrographics continue to offer the only practical means to achieve preservation goals.” Like Lynch, and other students who looked at the problem, she saw a hybrid systems approach as an answer to both digital and micrographics problems.
“There have been substantial and significant studies conducted at major research libraries investigating how hybrid imaging can be implemented in order to best serve the needs of such institutions.” She cited the well-publicized advantages of hybrid systems but she also advanced cautions. “The micrographics industry must educate their customers that digital is not archival, per se. The challenges facing the library, archives and records management communities lie in the affordability of the sophisticated systems emerging onto the market and ascertaining which systems best meet retrieval and storage needs.” Frost predicted “Digital and film are complementary and should co-exist for many years through the use of storage and retrieval systems tailored to organizations specific.
Mutual Disadvantages
Another supporter of hybrid systems is student Christian Kelleher. “Both micrographics and digital formats come with certain inherent disadvantages,” he said. “The primary disadvantage for microforms is that they are ultimately viewed as a medium of storage rather than access….. Many people have never encountered materials in these formats before and feel intimidated …..despite (the media’s) obvious usefulness. This intimidation is a severe detriment in practice. This is particularly true since microform’s particular strength, their long-term preservation potential, is the weakness of digital formats….”
The result is a current trend that Kelleher sees likely to continue well into the 21st century. “Use the two technologies together in a mutually supportive rather than mutually exclusive fashion…..
The utility of micrographics as a preservation medium and digital technologies for access and manipulation will be realized in tandem, dictated by each individual record application.”
With such convictions --- at least in the minds of some of tomorrow’s records and information management professionals --- the future for micrographics applications may not be as bleak as some predict. Now the micrographics/hybrid imaging systems community’s mandate is to enlarge the circle of such future professionals. In short, get the word out and let it sell itself.
Reprinted From:
MICROGRAPHICS & Hybrid Imaging Systems Newsletter
