Microfilm Magazines

[lb_lee]

Today, at the sci-fi library, I discovered a mysterious box labeled MICROFILM MAGAZINES.

When I asked, one of the old veterans said, "Oh yeah, I think it's mostly Analog, someone donated that."

"Can we... READ microfilm?"

"No."

Are we going to catalog it? That remains to be seen. There are boxes of (non-microfilm) magazines lying around, including Ye Olde Star Trek Fanfiction, and when I asked if we were going to catalog those, I got looks of dread. Well, if we don't catalog them, then when we finish the big push, I'm going to at least ORGANIZE them. There are tons of magazine boxes lying around in untidy piles.

The librarians have cataloged over 22,000 items altogether. Dunno how much of that is me, but it does make me feel good to have contributed, over the past year. A lot of things are scary right now, but at least I can make it so people can find books (and add queer speculative fiction to the collection).

Comments

[armiphlage]

Modern cellphones are good enough to read microfilm, and even automatically convert to text!

https://rootdig.blogspot.com/2014/05/using-cell-phone-to-take-pictures-of.html

[lb_lee]

Heyyyy, I didn’t know that! I’ve never worked with microfilm before, thanks for the info!

EDIT: I have let my fellow librarians know! We’re coming to the end of the big cataloging push, so this might be a fun project for me to try next!

[frameacloud]

Wow, cool, I didn't know that either!

Now that I think about it, a microfilm reader is mostly a light table plus a magnifier. It's easy to rig up a cheapskate version of a light table out of a piece of glass or plastic with any sort of light behind it. When the film is backlit, you can photograph it without a flash or glare. It should be a step better than the method in that blog post. I doubt it'll be as crisp or convenient as with a microform machine, but perhaps it will do in a pinch?

Aren't there any nearby libraries or universities that will let you use their microform machines to read film that you bring with you?

[lb_lee]

I mean, we HAVE a light table that's portable; lugging it to the library would be a little annoying, because it's a bit bulky, but it's not heavy. The magnifier would be the problem.

Maybe, if they're okay with it, I'll crack into the box today, see just how tiny the film is and how much magnification would be required. (And to see if they're organized in any way or just a heap of film rolls.)

And I'm POSITIVE the Boston Public Library has a microfilm machine that probably doesn't see much use these days. Maybe I can go over and ask!

[frameacloud]

Librarians get really excited if you ask to use their microfilm machine! It makes their day.

[lb_lee]

I may have to go over and ask! The librarians are discussing it, so that’s at least not a no!

[conuly]

Wow!

[thishouse]

woah! a whole library just for science fiction? that's awesome

[lb_lee]

Haha, yeah, we've been volunteering there for the past year, helping catalog the collection. (Before this, there was just a big paper binder you filled out.) It's been really stabilizing! They feed me snacks and I get to be surrounded by tawdry paperbacks of my youth and do something useful for my community, and I get to wear whatever I want and everyone's nice to me.

[thishouse]

that's fantastic! i've got to plan a trip there soon.

[lb_lee]

We're open 12-7 on Wednesdays and Saturdays! Feel free to tell us when you're swinging by, we can say hi! (We aren't totally out here, but we don't exactly hide it either.)