Opening a drawer, he selects a labeled box, carefully removes the roll, then holds the film up to the light. It s an original negative of a registry record from Germany, filmed in 1968. Crosby leads the tour from the protective storage area to the vault s production center, where skilled staffs are busy inspecting and cleaning film. They re also making copies of microfilm and microfiche records. On any given day, workers create nearly 1,000 rolls of microfilm and 1,000 sets of microfiche.
Originals remain in the vault.
Although the copies are used primarily by the Church s Family History Library in Salt Lake City, they also are distributed to other nonprofit organizations, including family history societies and academic institutions. Even without the reproduction of microfilm and microfiche, the number of records in the vault is constantly growing. This global effort by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints includes working closely with governments and archivists to secure permissions and to strictly observe privacy laws and accepted standards for filming and records preservation. For example, the Church does not pursue the filming of records of living individuals. Records are generally of persons who have been deceased for 100 years or more.