Microfilm and Microfiche Scanning Services

For many years, microfilms and microfiche were the preferred media for storing and archiving valuable information. They were the most compact storage solution—each microfilm roll could hold dozens of documents.

The world’s largest libraries, hospitals, banking institutions, government departments, and educational institutions stored valuable information on microformats.

These formats gained prominence because they could last for as many as 500 years if stored according to the suggested best practices. 

While this may be theoretically true, other forms of media storage have steadily proved to be more convenient and affordable storage options: first, it was floppy discs, then came CDs and DVDs, hard drives and flash drives, and now cloud storage is the preferred choice for most businesses.

It’s time to rethink if you are endangering your valuable legacy documents by maintaining archives on microfilm and microfiche.

Microfilm and microfiche scanning improves the safety and accessibility of legacy data

As businesses adopt digital technologies, employees need secure remote access to business data from anywhere. With the proliferation of data, you also need vast storage capacity. Digital storage on the cloud is the need of the hour.

Microfilm and microfiche scanning will incur a cost. However, this one-time investment will save a year-on-year cost of maintaining microfilms and microfiche and the associated cost of storage, retrieval, copying, and printing.

Benefits of microfilm and microfiche scanning

Let’s look at the benefits of investing in microformat digitization:

• Save money on physical storage costs by using cloud storage
• Store almost infinite amounts of digital on the cloud at an affordable cost
• Improve search and retrieval by deploying a document management system (DMS)
• Access data from anywhere and any device through a DMS
• Reduce compliance and legal risks
• Easy and frequent data backups on the cloud reduce the risk of losing valuable data
• Improve your commitment to sustainability by going digital

Challenges to long-term storage and retrieval of data on microformats

Micrographic formats have the same limitations and disadvantages as paper documents. Especially in light of new digital file formats and the conveniences of cloud storage, microformats cannot match up!

• Space:
• While microfilm and microfiche may be more compact than paper, they still take up physical storage space. Digital files, however, can be stored entirely on the cloud with no physical storage whatsoever.
• Prone to physical damage:
• Micrographic formats are similar to paper regarding the risk of physical damage. For example, microfilm and microfiche formats can be irreversibly damaged if not stored under the prescribed temperature and humidity conditions.
• Risk of loss or misplacement:
• Microformats are generally considered very safe for long-term storage—but technically, you can lose information stored on them. For example, if you don’t label the film rolls meticulously before storing them or don’t classify which documents are saved on each roll of film, you may not be able to retrieve the information when required.
• Cannot be searched or indexed:
• Digital files can be indexed, routed into an electronic document management system, and retrieved easily using a search function. But microfilms are not as easy to recover—you may still have to wade through dusty storage areas to retrieve that one roll put away a decade ago!
• Cannot be accessed by multiple and/or remote users:
• Times have changed—with hybrid workspaces, remote workers need to access documents from mobile devices. Sometimes, several users may simultaneously need to access the same document from different locations—how does one do that with microfilm?
• Special equipment needed:
• Finally, microfilm and microfiche need special reading equipment, which is expensive to maintain. Also, it would be best if you had special equipment to make photocopies or take prints from micrographic formats.

Unimaginable in today’s world?

• However, this means that only some of that valuable information archived on microformats is redundant or useless. On the contrary, microfilm and microfiche conversion to digital formats is a feasible and affordable alternative.

Daida: Expertise in microfilm and microfiche scanning services

Scanning microfiche and microfilm requires specialized scanners. Moreover, when you have high volumes of data or where the data is critical, you need the expertise of a professional microfiche scanning services provider.

Our scanning experts at Daida have the experience to convert microformats into digital files reliably.

Document Management

We recommend managing the scanned images via a robust content management system. Mercury, our enterprise content management system, is the ideal way to reduce IT storage costs, reduce compliance risks and make archived records accessible as well as secure.

It’s time to future-proof your information archives: Microfilm and microfiche scanning is the answer!

Contact Daida for a microfilm and microfiche scanning quote today.