Tag Archives: School

3 Reasons to Convince Your Boss to Digitize Microfiche

Convert Microfiche to Images

If you work with microfiche and pull records as part of your job, you may have fantasized about a more efficient way of doing that. Perhaps you even use a microfiche reader printer or microfiche viewer to locate documents. Well, there is a way, and it is called microfiche scanning.

Converting analog media to digital image (i.e. microfiche conversion) has many benefits. Here are three obvious microfiche scanning benefits:

Immediate retrieval of your documents on your computer- I mean, seriously, you can have a little contest with your co-worker to see who can bring up a fiche document the fastest; you just use your mouse and she has to go digging through filing cabinets and use a microfiche viewer or reader. Microfiche scanning allows this quick retrieval.

No more losing microfiche- No longer will you be worried about your documents getting lost due to a misplaced fiche or small frame falling off. As someone who has working with microfiche for three decades I can attest to how one must pay close attention to where one leaves a microfiche card. With microfiche scanning, all of the images will be saved and you can make unlimited backups and copies, so you will never lose a card again.

Quick response to resolving issues- Imagine if you work at an insurance company or school and someone is requesting their records. In some cases your organization has been forced to give a 5-day turnaround time because someone has to find the fiche and use an old, faulty reader printer to print out on paper or create an image. With microfiche scanning all you would have to do is…use your mouse and keyboard to type the fiche ID or use your eyes to find a folder. Which method is more efficient?

reader printer

OLD School is not FAST

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Myths About Transferring Microfiche to Digital Image

Microfiche Myths

There are a few misconceptions about microfiche in general and microfiche conversion. Here are some good ones:

People don’t use microfiche anymore

Do people still use microfiche? Actually, yes, they do. Schools still use 16mm microfiche files which contain your dreaded permanent record. City or country land records and blueprints are stored on 35mm microfiche. Electronic payroll records are exported to COM microfiche. The U.S. government gives veterans their service records on microfiche. Automobile and vehicle manuals exist on microfiche and are used by mechanics and part order companies.There are many industries which still use microfiche.

Microfiche scanning is expensive

Converting microfiche to digital images is not expensive if Generation Imaging is performing your project. Pricing is based on volume and larger volume microfiche projects are very cheap per image.Even if you only have one card or a one batch, the cost to convert microfiche is much lower than you would expect if you send the work to a microfiche scanning company. Now, if you buy a microfiche reader printer or scanner, you need to invest thousands of dollars in the microfiche machine alone.

Microfiche is microfilm

roll film

Microfiche means “little card”. Microfiche are flat plastic sheets with small images. Microfilm are rolls of film, which look like small movie reels. Confusing microfilm and microfiche is common. The less frequent all-encompassing term is “microform”, which covers all micrographic media. To make matters even more confusing, something microfiche was actually microfilm- cut into strips and placed in microfiche jackets.

Microfiche is not produced anymore

Believe it or not, but a quick look at government bids reveals that microfiche generation still happens today. Many states have data retention laws which require microfiche as hard copies for legal reasons and for disaster plans. (For example, imagine if one day an EMP bomb destroys our digital computer systems or the cloud.)

Microfiche lasts forever

microfiche vinegar

Although microfiche was originally created to preserve history and civilization, depending on how they are created, they can deteriorate if not stored correctly. There are many industry standard preservation techniques. The basic assumption of microfiche preservation was that they had to be stored in a climate controlled room and kept away from the elements. Unfortunately, because so many people do not follow these strict standards, microfiche can fade, smell like vinegar, become brittle, or actually lose their images. CONTACT US