Most people (but certainly not you, dear reader) probably think Librarians deal mostly with books. That's not entirely true; in fact, the truth is much more abstract. Librarians prefer to deal with
information -- both in its physical and metaphysical format. The physical format is fairly self-explanatory, i.e. books, magazines, etc. But the metaphysical form of information requires a bit more thought. With the advent of technology, information has taken on an entirely new persona. After all -- information published on the Internet is technically physical (because it can be seen) but contradictorily, it cannot be held in your hands, cataloged, or shelved. At the most we librarians can classify the information found on the Web (but not the Web itself). There are new methods in libraries that will soon replace the way librarians handle classification but we won't bore you with the details -- especially since most of you will probably never even notice it.
Right now, we CBC Librarians are more concerned with one format of information -- the microform. Today's library usually has two types of microform: microfiche and microfilm. Back in the 1930s, when the American Library Association first endorsed their use, microforms were supposed to save the world. Libraries were running out of space at a rapid rate but Hallelujah! existing information could suddenly be converted into film that took up much less space and could be preserved infinitely. Fast forward to present-day and you'll still see microfilm and microfiche being added to library collections. The CBC Library adds over a thousand sheets of microfiche a year to our shelves. This both allows us to have additional journal titles but also frees up sorely needed space on our periodical shelves.
And now we question this practice.
Why, you ask? Because a few weeks ago, a very lovely gentleman visited our library and provided a demonstration of the fanciest microform reader and printer we've ever seen. (If you are familiar at all with microforms, you know they have special readers to view them). We've always been happy with our perfectly serviceable reader and printer; but this new machine blew our minds. It was easy to use and it made our microfiche look fantastic. The catch? The price tag. At a whopping $10,000 this reader and printer was way out of our price range; but what we were left with after the salesman had gone was perhaps something more important -- unprecedented questions.
Questions such as this: how widely used is our microfiche and film? Reluctantly, we admit that both forms are rarely used. And how much longer can our current reader last? Will we be able to replace it when it goes? And should we? What then happens to the information contained on the fiche and film?
We like to think we keep current with innovations and trends in libraries. Which is why we know that a lot of libraries are digitizing their information. We could do that -- it would take LOTS of time, but it's doable. But we don't want to go down that road unless its necessary. So we resolved to research the issue of microforms. We wanted to know what other libraries were doing with their film and fiche. Was digitizing the only option left? Is the microform industry dying a natural death? How could we adapt?
You know what we found?
Nothing.
Well..hardly anything. Certainly nothing with which to base such a major decision upon. Yes, some libraries are digitizing their information but no one mentions what happens to the microforms afterwards. We are at a loss to explain this lack of information and a bit disheartened that our resources have failed us. We feel in our guts that microforms as a type of information format are on their way out of style and usefulness; that digital information will someday replace a good bit of physically formatted information. But we can't find the research to support this theory.
So for now we'll keep supplying this type of information to our users. It might not be as easy to use as the Web but it's still viable information and it's our job to meet your information needs regardless of the format. This is our job -- we're librarians and we just can't help it.
