Heritage Microfilm
 | This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. (Learn how and when to remove these messages)
|
 | |
| Founded | 1997 |
|---|---|
| Founders | Cristopher Gill |
| Headquarters | |
Heritage Microfilm, Inc. (est. 1997) is a preservation microfilm and microfilm digitization business located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.[1]
History
[edit]The company began in 1996 when the microfilm division of Cedar Rapids-based Crest Information Technologies was sold to Christopher Gill. The microfilm division was responsible at the time for preserving newspapers and for microfilming business documents. The business document filming portion of the business was soon dropped in favor of the newspaper microfilming division. Crest in 1999 sold the remaining portion of the company to Lason.[citation needed]
In 1999, Heritage Microfilm began digitizing newspaper microfilm and launched NewspaperArchive. Soon after, it began creating smaller "branded" newspaper archive websites in collaboration with publishing partners.
The firm works with ANSI/AIIM standards for preservation microfilming. It has a humidity and temperature-controlled storage facility. It is a Kodak ImageGuard facility. One of its specializations is damaged microfilm recovery. It has an Extek 3441 microfilm duplicator, which duplicates at low speeds to prevent damage to Redox or Vinegar-Syndrome microfilm. It uses Kodak silver halide microfilm for master film and primary duplications. It discontinued the use of vesicular film for duplications, due to the poor quality film available from distributors. It claims to use Kodak BrownToner, a polysulfide film treatment, on every reel of silver-halide microfilm that they produce.[citation needed]
NewspaperArchive
[edit]NewspaperArchive is a commercial online database of digitized newspapers launched in 1999 by Heritage Microfilm,[2] which claims to be the world's largest newspaper archive.[3]
Criticism
[edit]In a 2005 Association of College and Research Libraries paper, Bernard F. Reilly, Jr. expressed concern about the extent of Heritage Microfilm's involvement with stewardship of historical resources otherwise assumed to be held in the public trust. Reilly wrote, "until 2002, the Library of Congress and the Center for Research Libraries regularly microfilmed the principal daily newspaper of Jamaica, The Gleaner. In 2002 the Gleaner Publishing Company executed an agreement with Heritage Microfilm, Inc. giving to the for-profit firm exclusive rights to reformat and distribute The Gleaner, in both microform and digital format. Because Heritage now holds exclusive digital rights the agreement effectively shifts control of back files to the commercial sector, where it is marketed primarily for genealogists and family history researchers."[4]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ Iowa Secretary of State. "Heritage Microfilm, Inc". Business Entities. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
- ^ Heritage Archives, Inc. "About Us". Newspaperarchive.com. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
- ^ Heritage Archives Inc. "Newspaperarchive.com". 855 Wright Bros. Blvd., Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Retrieved 10 January 2015.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: location (link) - ^ Bernard F. Reilly Jr. (2005). "Knowledge Biodiversity: The Perilous Economics of World News Heritage Materials". Association of College and Research Libraries, 2005 national conference. American Library Association. Retrieved 2 May 2012.
- Online archives of the United States
- Companies based in Cedar Rapids, Iowa
- Companies established in 1997
- Information technology companies of the United States
- Photography companies of the United States
- Digital preservation
- Mass digitization
- 1997 establishments in Iowa
- Newspaper companies of the United States