Microforms join the digital age

With this equipment our vast collection of microforms can be not only viewed but digitised, emailed and printed,” said Music and Multimedia Librarian, Georgina Binns.

Library users who access the microform collection will have greater flexibility and more options for utilising microform information for their studies and research.

“For example users can now extract photographs and engravings from old newspapers and include them in research output by saving images digitally and inserting them into their documents.”

The machines, known as ‘Microscanners’, have the same functions as old microform readers with the addition of in-built digital scanners.

“Each microscanner is hooked up to a PC so it's just a matter of selecting the appropriate settings on the PC and hitting the ‘scan’ button, and a digitised image of the microform appears on the screen of the attached computer,” explained Ms Binns.

“Users can then manipulate the image to suit or print it, email it to themselves or save it onto a storage device like a floppy disc or a memory stick.”

Eight microscanners will be available to library users; six are already installed in the Music and Multimedia area in the Sir Louis Matheson Library on the Clayton campus and two microscanners are due to be installed at the Caulfield Library.

Installation of the machines on level two of the Caulfield Library, due to take place soon after Easter break, will prompt co-location of the branches’ microfilm collection.

15 April 2004

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New equipment with in-built digital scanners brings microforms into the digital age.