microform.mdwn (1219B)
1 **Microform** is a miniaturized version of a document used for 2 [[non-digital]] archival purposes. The most common formats are **microfilm** 3 reels, **microfiche** sheets and **aperture cards** (punched cards that 4 contain a piece of microfilm). 5 6 Compared to digital storage, microforms have the following advantages and 7 disadvantages: 8 9 * Longevity. In proprer conditions, a microfiche may last ~500 years. 10 * Simplicity. Microforms are simply miniaturized photographs of readable documents, so viewing them only requires optical magnification technology. The obsolescence problems of digital formats are nonexistent. 11 * Lossy copies. Like in many non-digital formats, some information is lost every time a copy is made, reducing the image quality. 12 13 A lot of early history of computing overlaps with that of microforms. 14 Visionaries like [[Paul Otlet]] envisioned things like "a library that fits 15 in a suitcase" storing thousands of books and a microform viewer in a small 16 space. Also, "Memex", the influential 1945 idea from Vannevar Bush, was 17 presented as an application of microform technology. [[Emanuel Goldberg]] 18 produced the first aperture card system, i.e. a microfiche storage system 19 with an automatic search.