Evening star., 1940-04-14
Books Reproduced
by Filming
BY Frederic J. Hnskt1,.

libraries. This activity consists Of the
reproducing Of priceless volumes on
microfilm, the process which makes it
possible to make q record in very small
compass Of great mass Of printed ma
terial. This film, by means of a projec-
tor, similar to the ordinary motion pic
ture protector. can reproduce the print
ed matter in its original size or even
larger. Meantime, the film requires very
little storage space.
To what extent microfilm books will
be used by the public in the future is
doubtful, but people do have q facility
for adapting themselves to all new
things, and 1t is conceivable that .
man, being asked for some bit Of infor-
nation to settle an argument, might
take the "a volumes Of the Encyclopedia
Britannica from his vest pocket, step to
q small, compact machine or even pick
up magnifying glass and turn to the
reference sought. For it is literally true
that. on microfilm, it would be possible
to tuck the entire Britannica or any
other large work into a pocket.
OF the new achievement, DR.. Vernon
D. Tate of the National Archives says:
'Microphotography has been used in re-
ducing the physical bulk of documents
for storage. Up to the 18th century the
production Of archives was limited to
manual transcription or in some cases
to the technique of printing. Paper and
writing materials were generally expen-
sive. With the invention and adoption
of methods Of duplication, far different
situation arose. It is now physi-
cally impossible to retain all archiv-
al originals produced in the regular man.
ner, and it would not in all probability
be desirable to do so, yet the number
which must be selected for preservation
either by reason Of historical, statistical,
economic, legal or other importance Is
so large that the physical facilities avail
able for preservation are hopelessly in
adequate. To cite a specific example,
100000 pages Of a filled-in tabular
statistical form weigh 300 tons and oc-
cupy about 5000 cubic feet of storage
space. If placed on microfilm the stor-
S per cent of the original bulk, or roughly
$50 cubic feet, and the weight would be
perhaps ton and half. If the cost Of
housing this material per year were COM
puted at from so cents to 81 per cubic
foot, in a very few years the savings
effected in housing costs alone would
more than defray the entire cost Of
microdlming the series. It has been
demonstrated that the microfilm copies
would actually be easier to consult than
the originals, and If at any time their
reproduction back to original size became
necessary, full-size paper reproductions
can be produced on automatic machines
at low unit cost"
The reduction process can be adjusted
to variety of sizes, but the standard
size now being employed is one which re-
produces the contents Of the ordinary
newspaper page on a piece of paper no
larger than some postage stamps. A
newspaper page, If solidly printed In the
usual type, presents approximately 10000
words. 1t is possible to make the con-
densation still greater.
The process has been known for some
years and there has been a steady ad-
vancement in the fields of literature on
the part of libraries for some time. The
war in Europe has brought about q spe-
cial stimulus and now every effort Is
bent toward the reproduction Of every
important work to forestall possible de-
struction.
The world of today has not forgotten
the destruction of the great Library Of
Alexandria by the Caliph of 'Baghdad at
the time of the rise of Islam. When the
commander in Egypt, in doubt as to
whether so remarkable collection
should be destroyed, sent courier back
to Baghdad for definite instructions, he
was told that if the Alexandrian Library
contained the same lore that was in the
Koran 1t was superf1uous, and that II It
contained anything else, 1t was per-
nicious and should be destroyed. Works
OF Homer, odes Of Sappho and great
stores of early Greek and Egyptian
learning were destroyed. Many other
libraries besides that at Alexandra also
were annihilated, so that for centuries
afterward, indeed as late as the time Of
Erasmus. it was possible for man, dur
ing his lifetime, to read everything ex-
tant in the Occident that had been
written.
1t is problematical that the Nazis or
other enemies will utterly destroy the
British Museum, the Bibliotheoue Ma
tionale or other great libraries, but sci.
ence Is taking no chances 50 the more
important works are now being repro
duced on microfilm. The tiny rolls of
film-for long books are rolled on spools
or reels-can be safely stored far under
ground or easily mailed to distant places.
Microfilm first was used half a CEN
tury ago. A Frenchman named DaRron.
during the siege of Paris in the Franco
Prussian War, sailed out of the city in 4
balloon and came down in Tours. He
had started with two balloons, but the
other descended within the Prussian
lines. But Dagron had taken with him
q large number Of carrier pigeons. He
produced long messages of military and
political importance on microfilm and
sent them back to Paris by the pigeons.
Since then there have been important
improvements in the medium, although
the principle remains the same. Not all
the books are reproduced on rolls of Aim.
Some are reprinted on cardboard. These