The director of our local library came to our museum two weeks ago, to
ask if we had any early editions of the local paper. He explained that he is
seeking a grant to transfer the newspapers to (searchable) CDs. Since the
library has a more complete run of that newspaper on microfilm, I asked why
he wouldn't prefer the ease of transfering those microfilms instead. He said
they were so badly scratched, from years of heavy use, as to be virtually
unusable. The microfilms date from the 1930s to the present day and, of
course, I had assumed that a master copy of each film was kept out of
circulation, but that was apparently not the case.
   We were given numerous bound volumes of the local paper and according to
the library director, if he can get the grant for this transfer, the volumes
will only need to be held in a cradle, to be copied, and do not need to be
unbound or in any way damage the pages.
   Nonetheless, the lesson I am learning again and again at our tiny museum
is that printed photographs (at least the earlier ones) and original paper
'ephemera' seem to be the most dependable form in which to store
information.
Lynne

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