Evening star., 1936-12-12
ARCHIVES SETTING

will eventually be worked out by the
staff that is at present occupied with
that responsibility.
The stacks are built three levels to
a floor, so that there are 81 levels
through the center Of the building,
and it is planned to fill in certain
present courts to accommodate other
stacks as expansion becomes necessary.
They are entirely f1reproof, with hu-
midity control that includes air con-
ditioning for temperature, for humid
ity, and for the acid content Of the
air. There Is an automatic fire alarm
system and burglar alarm system that
gives immediate warning in the guard
rooms and the captains Office. Each
stack section is like a sealed room
and only employees of the National
Archives are allowed to enter. Shelves
and drawers are made Of steel as we'll
as floors and ceilings of the separate
levels. In the main, a system of fiat
filing is observed, under hinged, dust
proof covers of steel.
ONE of the finest equipped labora-
tories in the world for reproducing
documents is that of the Photographic.
Reproduction and Research Division
of the Archives, which is concerned
with preservation and restoration as
we'll
Here may be found completely
modern photostat machine that can
reproduce letter size sheets at the rate
of per minute when such copies are
needed in hurry for conference or
other purposes. Here too is O large.
modern studio camera that Is used
for delicate work, where documents
are damaged and must be filtered"
Fascinating indeed to the efficiency
expert is the card copying machine
that reproduces index cards or un-
bound documents on microfilm, for
all the world like a motion picture
reel. An almost incredible amount
of space is saved by this method,
which makes it possible to reproduce
case Of cards whose cubage is
1882 cubic inches upon SO cubic
inches of microfilm, at a cost of
.006875 cents each. To give an even
more graphic idea of space saved,
4,100 index cards can be contained,
in microfilm, in a box inches square
and one inch deep. Even colored
cards can be photographed by this
machine, after "densotometer" has
established an even quality or density,
in accordance with which the camera
is set.
The microfilm, when consulted for
reference, is inserted in a reading
machine" operated by handle, and by
means of which the card is reflected,
enlarged, in glass plate. The reader
turns the handle at will unit! he
wishes to stop at certain card. There
is reading machine in each of the
search rooms and in the library for
students who wish to refer to the con-
tents of any card file.
MOTION PICTURE films that fall
N under the cataloguing of "his-
toric" films, and as such have been
accustomed by the National Archives,
are shown to accredited students or
groups upon application to the archiv-
ist in the projection room on the fifth
floor.
This miniature theater is equipped
with perfect acoustic devices as work.
ed out by the Bureau of Standards, in
cooperation with the chief of the
Motion Pictures and Sound Record
ings Division, Capt. John G. Bradley.
This bureau has also co-operated, it
might be mentioned, with Vernon D.
Tate, chief of the Photographic. Re-
production and Research Division.
The projection room is paneled in
cathedral oak. and the seats supply
the one color note. They are up
holstered in beautiful shade Of green
velvet. Every precaution known to
science has been taken in this division
to safeguard stored films and records
against fire. The films are transferred
in steel trucks, under lock and key,
and are placed in stone and steel
vaults that are maintained at q TEN.
perature of 40 degrees and have air
vents leading directly out of doors, as
the fumes or gases generated by the
films cannot be returned through the
main air-conditioning system. A sys-
tenn of fiues for the escape of flames in
case of fire has also been established,
and each vault chamber can be sepa-
rated from the others, so that fire in
any one could Immediately be iso-
lated from all other chambers or any
other section of the building.
Insulated fire doors" separate the
vault chambers, within whose walls is
space for storage Of more than 5,000.-
900 feet Of film. Safety devices for
shutting on broken films and q water
cooling system that prevents the film
from catching fire under the heat OF
100-watt lamps are some Of the
features of the two ultra-modern pro-
jectors in the booth. This projection
room also contains turn tables for
transmitting recorded speeches and
for the transmission Of records. Also
in this division are rooms for editing
films and the laboratories.