PREPARATION:  Preparation is the key to successful microfilming.  It strictly follows the most basic archival principles of provenance and original order. 

Preparation includes first placing the folders in the correct order (generally from the top of the institution's hierarchy to the lowest levels, or from the most general and broadly useful information to the most detailed), then placing the materials of each folder in the correct order, unfolding and flattening pages to be filmed, and carefully removing all fasteners (staples, paper clips, rubber bands).  Chronological order is the most common arrangement within series, starting with the oldest records in each series, moving to the most recent records in that series.

Problem materials: Clippings should be trimmed of extraneous information (but retaining the newspaper name and date and page number), and notes inserted (to note a duplicate item to skip, or to note pages missing, or to note page numbers to film).  Crumbling, loose, or wrinkly pages may be placed temporarily in Mylar™ sleeves for filming.  When repairing items for filming, NEVER use methods that are permanently damaging; this includes never using non-archival tape. 

Archival microfilming is unforgiving; mistakes in arrangement and description cannot be undone and will be visible for (possibly) centuries.  Plan to spend half of the time of a given microfilming project on arrangement and description.  Preparation includes having the necessary releases (permission to reproduce, or gift agreement form) completed prior to filming.  It also includes roll programming; determining the contents of each roll prior to filming.  Ideally, each roll should end at a logical bibliographic or chronological break.  Having estimated what portion of the records will fit on your next roll, you will be able to prepare targets that state the contents of each roll.  We want to maximize our use of each roll of film, but we want to break in natural divisions of the material.  We can take about 2,600 to 2,800 exposures on one roll of 100ft. film.

Producing targets: Using Word and a LaserJet printer, create clean, bold, correct targets to help the user.  Remember, the bottom line is that most people dislike using microfilm, so we need to do all we can to make their experience a pleasant one.

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EQUIPMENT:  The Center of Southwest Studies uses a 16mm Alos microfilming camera which films at a resolution of 25X.  Familiarize yourself with the equipment prior to beginning filming.  Read the brief manual that came with the camera, and talk to someone experienced in filming with this camera.  Also, view a roll of the Center's archival microfilm to see how targets are used at the start and end and throughout a roll.

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FILMING: 

Film installation:  We store the unexposed film in the Center's refrigerator.  Take out the next needed roll in plenty of time for it to reach room temperature by the time it's installed in the camera.  Install the film in a dark windowless room, such as the Men's Room with the door ajar an inch or two.  Make sure that the shutter mechanism is retracted (i.e., to the right) when you insert the loaded filming unit, otherwise your work will be for naught!  Check for grit on the moving mechanisms (rollers, etc.) and use a clean Dust Bunny cloth and our little air blaster to clean the equipment.  A single piece of grit in the camera head can ruin a whole roll (and a great many hours of work!).

Exposure setting:  We film at the lowest exposure setting (i.e. .5, which on our first roll yielded a density of 1.3), in a room that is dark and that has no changes in the light levels or intensities during the filming.  Through our selection of exposure settings, we are aiming at an exposure density of 1.1.  The density must be within the .95-1.3 range; when the light levels or the nature of the items being filmed changes, we must take a test strip by using the following procedure:

1)      Set the exposure setting at the very lowest (i.e. .5) and take an exposure, half of a blank 20-pound white sheet of paper (on which you note that exposure setting) and half of a sheet of text.

2)      Move the setting up by increments of .5 and continue to take exposures for a test strip.

3)      Wait until the lab has told us what setting to use, before proceeding with microfilming. 

Blip marker: Re-set this counter (the left hand lower one, 0000) to zero at the start of each roll, and then don't touch it!  Position the pages so that this counter indicator (the six-digit numbers) is visible between you and the page filmed.

Orientation: We film nearly everything in the II B orientation, which means placing a single 8½x 11-14" page straight in front of you with the top furthest from you.  Exceptions are items that must be turned sideways to fit.  If you must do this, think about grouping items that you're filming sideways (if doing so won't mess up the chronologi­cal/alphabetical etc. arrangement), and place the top of the sideways item on your left.

Whenever doing so will not compromise the archival or bibliographic integrity of the collection, please group the materials by size.  For some records series, it will be sensible to film all of the large items at the end of the series or the end of the roll, inserting the OVERSIZE ITEMS FILMED AT END OF {ROLL}{SERIES} in the place where you encountered that item in the series.

When you're placing the sheets on the camera bed, always think ahead to what the user will see.  Flying through a roll of microfilm, it will look much more professional if the placement is standard--that is, the top of the page is the same distance down on every frame.  It's particularly important to be consistent in the top-to-bottom placement of a page that you must film in multiple frames.  Put yourself in the shoes of the person who is moving their eyes from the end of one frame to the continuation of the line of text in the following frame of microfilm.

Filming sequence:

1)      First wind the film 20 revolutions (watch the white line to count the turns) and insert the filming unit into the top of the Alos and insert it.  Make sure that the shutter level in the      filming unit is all the way to the right when you're inserting the unit.

2)      Film a blank sheet of 20-pound white letter size paper.  Make sure (now and throughout your    filming that the film movement indicator, the white X, is turning (clockwise), and listen          for the faint shutter click each time you make an exposure.  It is essential that you hear           the machine as you work, to detect operational problems; for this reason, headphones      should not be worn during filming.

3)      Take one frame blank (by holding your hand under the lens). 

4)   Shoot the initial targets, in this order:

     (* = Eye-legible target, i.e. a target that we'll be able to read on the film without using the microfilm reader)

     *START

     MICROFILMED [year] Center of Southwest Studies

     TECHNICAL MICROFILM DATA [date updated for each collection filmed]

     Reproduction Permission Form [signed, dated and completed]

     Project funding source info {if applicable}

     *Master negative storage number {if needed}

     Some pages in the original contain flaws...

     *Primary bibliographic target [title of collection, abbreviated to fit eye-legible page, and accession number]

     TITLE TARGET and AUTHENTICITY CERTIFICATE

     Guide to Collection [container list/ boxes and/or volumes]

     Generic reference to other materials available

     Specific references to other materials available

     Originals...in the possession of the owner {if applicable}

     References to supplemental indexes and/or bibliographic data {if applicable}

     These Materials are Provided for Reference Use Only

     Note of restrictions on reproduction specific to this collection {if applicable}

     Copyright statement/ copyright notice

     Citations format

     The User Agrees to Give the Center...a Complimentary Copy

     *ROLL [#]

     *Roll contents {beginning only, if you can't be sure of the end}

     Technical target (=Resolution target, filmed with end of ruler showing inches and mm)

     *Star page

     Record Group title {if appropriate}

     *Series [#]

     Series title

     Folder title or volume title

5)   Begin filming text

     {Use instructional targets as appropriate}

     Film the star sheet before every series target

6)   At the end of each roll:

     Primary bibliographic target [title of collection]

     *ROLL [#]

     Roll contents target {this time, you can be sure to note the series/page number of the last material filmed}

     Center of Southwest Studies

     Technical target

     *CONTINUED ON NEXT ROLL target {as appropriate}

     *END OF ROLL - PLEASE REWIND target

     *Star page

     Blank frame (hold your hand right below the lens)

     Wind film 20 revolutions, then follow procedures for unloading film

7)   At the beginning of second and subsequent rolls:

     *START

     MICROFILMED [year] Center of Southwest Studies

     TECHNICAL MICROFILM DATA [date updated for each collection filmed]

     Reproduction Permission Form [signed, dated and completed]

     Project funding source info {if applicable}

     *Master negative storage number {if needed}

     *Primary bibliographic target [title of collection, abbreviated to fit eye-legible page, and accession number]

     TITLE TARGET and AUTHENTICITY CERTIFICATE

     Guide to Collection [container list/ boxes and/or volumes]

     Generic reference to other materials available

     Specific references to other materials available

     Originals...in the possession of the owner {if applicable}

     References to supplemental indexes and/or bibliographic data {if applicable}

     These Materials are Provided for Reference Use Only

     Note of restrictions on reproduction specific to this collection {if applicable}

     Copyright notice {if applicable}

     Citations format

     The User Agrees to Give the Center...a Complimentary Copy

     *ROLL [#]

     *Roll contents {beginning only, if you can't be sure of the end}

     Technical target (=Resolution target, filmed with end of ruler showing inches and mm)

     *Star page

     *Series [#]

     *Series [#] CONTINUED {if appropriate}

     Record Group title {if appropriate}

     Folder title or volume title

    

8)   At the end of the last roll:

     Primary bibliographic target [title of collection]

     *ROLL [#]

     Roll contents target {this time, you can be sure to note the series/page number of the last material filmed}

     Technical target

     *END OF ROLL - PLEASE REWIND target

     Blank frame (hold your hand right below the lens)

 

 Use of targets within the text:

1)      Use instructional targets (i.e., best copy available) liberally; film them just before the problem or materials they describe.

2)      Film the star sheet just ahead of every eye-legible series target.

 

Filming legal size: Leave small equal amounts of the page overhanging the arrow pointers at top and bottom.  Whenever possible, however, i.e. if the top of the page is blank and need not be included in the frame of film, place the sheet so that the bottom of it just clears the blip marker so that the frame number is included in the exposure.