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Microphotographing Bound Milwaukee Newspapers
RECOGNIZING that some form of reproduction was necessary to preserve the newspaper as a valuable source material, The Milwaukee Newspaper Index, a Works Progress Administration Project, has microphotographed the bound volumes of selected Milwaukee newspapers for the period 1837 to 1920. Although the newspaper was accepted at an early date by outstanding scholars as source material, the destructive effects of age, use and the change from rag to the less permanent wood pulp paper makes newspaper preservation and reproduction a major problem. The Works Progress Administration recognized this problem as it applied to Milwaukee newspapers and, on January 9, 1937, approved a project "to make a digest of Milwaukee newspaper files between the years 1880 and 1890." While the digest experience was very successful, especially in classifying urban trends and problems, it lacked complete coverage, it was not infallible in accuracy, and the time and cost involved were too great to allow completion of the 100-year period from 1816 to 1916. As an alternative to digesting, indexing was suggested, and a time study, revealed that an index would require less time to complete and would cost less than a digest. However, the index did not solve the problem of preserving the files. Without some form of reproduction, the original files would still be necessary, and the index would have to be kept in the place where the original source was preserved, thus limiting its use to persons having access to these files. Microphotography came to the rescue and solved the problems of both the digest and the index. The weaknesses of the digest, as previously indicated, were eliminated. Microphotography offered complete coverage of every page and every item in the newspaper; accuracy was no longer a problem since errors of omission became an impossibility; and a great number of pages could be photographed per hour. The inadequacies of the index were also solved. The original files now could be stored under special conditions suitable to their preservation. Everyone could have access to the reproduced source through the medium of the film and the Recordak Library Projector, which is simple to handle and reasonably foolproof. The index would not have to be centralized since positive prints of the microfilm could be purchased at a reasonable cost. Besides solving these problems, microphotography offered additional advantages which include: The microphotographing contract was let to the Recordak Corporation, a subsidiary of Eastman Kodak Company, and the equipment was furnished on a rental basis. The project furnished the personnel which was trained by a technician from the Recordak Corporation. The question of what newspapers to photograph was already solved since it was necessary to photograph those which were being indexed. The major problem was to prepare the volumes for photographing. A continuous flow of work to the Recordak machine was essential since any delay on the part of the project would increase the total rental cost of equipment. The method of obtaining this flow of work was referred to as "setting up" the volumes and such work was given precedence over all other operations, including indexing, so as to keep several days ahead of the Recordak crew. This process should be considered as one of the indirect labor costs of microphotography. The importance of "setting up" the material to be photographed cannot be too highly stressed, for on this preliminary set of functions depends the accuracy and completeness of the microfilm record. With this in mind, a page by page survey was made of all volumes to be photographed in order to provide a complete and continuous flow of material to the Recordak operators. This was accomplished by the use of two duplicate sets of volumes. One set, because of its more generous binding margin and generally better condition for photographing, was selected as the master file, and the other, as the alternate, was used when the master volume was faulty. The master copy was carefully checked for completeness and proper chronological sequence of bound issues. If pages or issues were not bound in their proper order, notes to that effect were placed in the volume to guide and instruct the operators. Where issues, pages or parts of pages were missing in the master copy, slips were placed in that copy instructing the operators to use the alternate volume. Similar notes, giving date of newspaper, and number or numbers of pages to be photographed, were placed in the alternate volumes with the edge of each slip protruding from the proper pages of the file, to enable the operators to locate the substitute page without loss of time. Another note in the alternate volume instructed the operators when to return to the master copy. This same system was used to guide the operators in photographing the proper editions when two or more appeared, or when for any other reason, it was deemed advisable to substitute the alternate for the master copy. When title plates or mastheads were found to be in error a typewritten caption bearing date corrections was placed on a white page size insert sheet and photographed just preceding the misdated issue. Captions were also photographed to show that certain issues were unavailable or that other irregularities could not be corrected. If a page was partially missing and no alternate volume was available, slip sheets were inserted under the page as a background so as to block out printed matter on the following page. Failure to do this would cause confusion in reading the microfilm since the print on both pages would appear as one page. Realizing that the speed attained during photographic operations would be proportional to the condition of the bound volumes as well as to the efficiency of the Recordak operators, all possible repairs were made by the groups of persons assigned to these preliminary inspection activities. Transparent Scotch cellulose tape proved to be the most effective and an indispensable aid in mending pages, as it did not obscure the printed matter. During the page by page survey, record books were set up, giving the name of the paper, the year, month, source of volume and the number of pages, indicated in ruled squares, which were to be photographed in each issue. A number of blank spaces marked date photographed, reduction ratio, film roll number, operator and checker were to be filled in by the checker during photographic operations. When material for at least 10,000 exposures, considered sufficient for the first two days of filming, was prepared, attention was turned to the Recordak equipment which was to be operated at the project by three crews working in five-hour shifts. The equipment consisted of one microfile camera mounted on a vertical. hollow aluminum beam, directly above and facing a two-piece movable metal table designed to hold a bound volume during photographic operations. Proper lighting effects were obtained by means of four reflector type lights, mounted on vertical supports two on each side of the table, in such a manner as to afford a uniformity of lighting over the entire page to be photographed. The camera [Fig. I ], mounted on the beam by means of a slide arrangement, could be raised or lowered very easily by virtue of a counterbalancing weight inside the beam, suspended from the camera by a chain. This feature served several purposes, as the camera could be lowered for film loading or to change the reduction ratio. The latter was accomplished by sliding the camera up or down the beam until a marker attached to the base of the camera was directly in line with the desired ratio, which was found on the beam with other ratio settings, ranging from 12 to 27 diameters. The platform on the copyholder was divided into two sections, mounted on hinges and springs, thus providing a cradle effect which tended to equalize the volume in the photographic plane. A connecting rod between the copyholder and the electric motor assembly moved the cradle back and forth, enabling the camera to photograph each adjoining page. Seven hand controls and one foot-controlled electric button type switch enabled the operators to perform all the functions necessary in photographing bound volumes. The first hand control switched the reflector lights on and off; the second operated a rheostat which varied the intensity of the lights; the third was used to advance or reverse the copyholder when it was desirable to do this without automatically making an exposure; the fourth was a master switch which opened the line circuit, thus rendering the entire equipment inoperative; the fifth was a mechanical hand adjustment which spread the binding of the bound volume in order to obtain a full-page impression on the film; the sixth permitted the volume to be shifted several inches in the same direction in which the copyholder moved and was instrumental in maintaining complete coverage at times when the binding spreader forced the volume into a position slightly off center; and the seventh raised or lowered the copyholder, thus maintaining the proper proximity of the page to the camera regardless of the thickness of the volume. The foot control, when used in conjunction with the reflector lights, made an exposure, set the copyholder in motion and caused it to stop in the position in which the next exposure was automatically made, and then started the copyholder back to its original position while the operator turned the page. Thus, to photograph continuously it was necessary for the operator merely to hold his foot on the electric control button and turn the page after every second exposure had been made. When the reflector lights were off and the foot control button was pressed, the area covered at any given camera setting was clearly indicated by an ingenious device whereby light was projected through the camera lens onto the copyholder. The operators had received preliminary instruction on the technique of camera operation and devoted several hours to practice with the equipment minus film. The camera, loaded with a 100-foot roll of 35mm. non-perforated safety film, was set at the proper reduction ratio and the volume was placed on the copyholder. The proper focus was obtained and the volume secured in position by means of two horizontal clamps which fastened the covers to the copyholder. The operator, seated before the controls, turned on the lights and placed a photoelectric exposure meter upon the page to be photographed. The rheostat was adjusted until the amount of light reflected from the page registered 20 foot candles, a reading predetermined by tests to be most suited to this particular project's immediate needs. The checker was seated next to the operator in a slightly elevated position which afforded him a clear view of each page in the process of being photographed. He filled in the blank spaces in the record book and was prepared to check each square in which a mark, made during the page by page survey, indicated that an exposure was to be made. The operator, after removing the exposure meter, proceeded to photograph the file, and the speed of photographing this volume was interrupted only when insert directions made it necessary to substitute the alternate file. If only a few exposures were to be taken, the alternate file was merely opened over the master copy, the copyholder being lowered to maintain the proper focus. After approximately 800 exposures had been taken, an automatic buzzer in the camera indicated that the film had nearly reached the end of the roll. The film roll was then removed and placed in its original container; the camera was reloaded and photographic operations continued. At the end of each day the exposed film was shipped to the Eastman Kodak Company laboratories to be processed and inspected. A positive print of each roll was returned to the project. The negative rolls were and are stored under special conditions suitable to their preservation at Rochester, New York, by the Eastman Kodak Company. The project now has received a complete and accurate microfilm record covering the period 1837 to 1920. The photographing was done with incredible speed and at a low material and labor cost when compared with other methods of newspaper reproduction and preservation. Approximately 271,475 pages were photographed in 583 hours, an average of 465 pages per hour. A projector [Fig. 2], loaned by the Recordak Corporation to check completed films, is still at the project, the company permitting it to be used for indexing certain issues available only for photographing. Workers for the most part find it easier to read from the projector than from the original volumes, except where high reduction ratios were used. No awkward neck stretching is necessary to read the top of the newspaper page, and the print reflected on the opaque screen of the projector is larger and easier to read than in the original source. Workers assigned to setting out books for indexers find it easier to locate, handle, and place the film in the projector than it is to carry 25- to 50-pound volumes, many of which had to be handled with special care because of their deteriorated condition. Files in an extremely poor condition were repaired and sent back to the original owners in better condition than they were when received. The courtesy of the Recordak Corporation in loaning the projector has enabled the project to index these volumes from the microfilm and thus save the damaged files from any further wear and tear. It is too early to comment definitely upon the permanence of the microfilm, but several rolls have been used for weeks at a time on two continuous eight-hour shifts and have not disclosed the least sign of wear. The project has no fear regarding the permanence of its microfilm, for according to the United States Bureau of Standards the acetate cellulose film used has a permanence equal to the best 100-per-cent rag paper provided it is kept under proper conditions. It is also less of a fire risk than the original files, since the film is not as combustible as paper. 1 l Microfilming means a great saving of space as evidenced by the fact that the entire film for the period 1837 to 1920 takes up only 12.23 cubic feet, while the bound volumes covering the same period would require a minimum of 115 cubic feet. Naturally the space saved is the inevitable result of microphotography. The reduction ratios used by the project varied between 12:1 and 22:1. A summary reveals that approximately 1 year and 6 months were photographed at 12:1; 3 years and 10 months at 14:1; 70 years and 11 months at 16:1; 10 years and 6 months at 18:1; 11 years and 11 months at 20:1; and 1 year and 4 months at 22:1.13 Where possible, high reduction ratios should be avoided. Project experience demonstrated that a 22:1 reduction is rather difficult to read, the print having a definite blur that is characteristic of a third and fourth typewritten carbon copy. Queries from persons using files at the project led to experiments in making copies of articles, photographically, by laying photographic paper on the screen of the projector so that the sensitized surface of the paper received the image. Excellent results were obtained with both negative and direct positive paper, much to the interest of research workers who saw in it an opportunity to obtain their own copies of desired articles without the time consuming and irksome labor of note taking. In conclusion, it must be pointed out that excellent results were obtained in microphotographing the volumes with Recordak equipment. All the objectives and advantages of microphotography, as previously indicated, have been obtained. The very careful preliminary work carried on by the project has paid high dividends, for the final product is better than any one original set of files. Appreciation must be expressed to the Milwaukee Public Library, the Milwaukee Sentinel Company, the Milwaukee Journal Company and the State Historical Society of Wisconsin for their cooperation in furnishing the project with their files. The State Historical Society at Madison made it possible for the project to photograph the very first issue of the Milwaukee Sentinel. The excellence of the new results of Milwaukee's experience in newspaper reproduction is perhaps best reflected in the fact that after the original period had been completely microphotographed, the sponsors decided to continue from 1899 to 1920.
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