Metamorfoze is the Dutch national preservation program. It is financed by the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Sciences, and coordinated by the KB. The program aims at preserving manuscripts, books, newspapers and periodicals from the 19th and 20th centuries, which are threatened by acid-induced paper decay. The core bussiness of the program is microfilming, but it also involves digitisation of selections from the materials that have been put on microfilm.
The process of microfilming is not new. The first examples date from the second half of the nineteenth century. Large scale microfilming started in the thirties of the 20th century. Microfilming is proven technology. Over the years, there have been many developments. For example, there has been a shift from nitrate through acetate to polyesther film. New and better cameras were introduced, as well as new technical and chemical processes. And the microfilming process is still in development. By the end of the twentieth century, microfilms had reached such high quality that they could also be used for preservation purposes.
The present generation of preservation microfilms is generally regarded a a reliable surrogate for paper. If kept under good conditions they may last for centuries, requiring minimal technology at low costs. However, preservation microfilming is a difficult and delicate technique. It requires special equipment and chemicals, as well as high-skilled operators.
The demands for microfilming are quite strict: they require a high technical quality of the microfilms themselves, as well as a correct representation of the objects microfilmed. They also require secure handling of the originals, which are often rare and vulnerable. If strict quality demands are to be applied, instructions need to be clear and simple and the results have to be thoroughly checked. In the Metamorfoze Programme this is daily practice. Quality management is therefore essential. Mass preservation projects involve large numbers of objects, which are often rare and irreplaceable. Consequently much attention needs to be paid to logistics in order to prevent material from getting lost or damaged.
In large scale microfilming projects, this focus on quality needs to be maintained. For current users of microfilms, who are often no longer allowed to consult the originals, and who therefore demand a good surrogate, high-quality microfilms are essential. Future users of microfilms, who need to be able to read these documents in years to come, also need films of high quality. And finally, high quality is required if we wish to use microfilms as an intermediate for digitisation. At this moment we live in a hybrid age. No digitisation without microfilming, and, increasingly, the other way around. Future developments may change this approach. If digitisation proves to be the final answer, we will need high-quality microfilms. For the originals may not be there anymore.
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