Ironically, in many cases the original paper copies were destroyed in the process. Bindings were often cut from books to allow the pages to lie flat for scanning. In many cases, no further original copies of these publications are known to exist. This destruction is a crime, says Baker, and one that has to stop. These days, archivists no longer rely on microfilm to the extent they once did.
Digital media is the rage among today's librarians.
But Baker isn't too optimistic about that, either. Nor should he be. We who are accustomed to using PCs in our daily lives tend to think of digital media as the perfect form of storage. Digital documents are infinitely reproducible, can be stored in very little space, and are easily transmitted. Just as microfilm was once said to last for centuries unchanged, similar longevity claims have been made about digital media.