National Microfilm Week in USA

The first practical use of commercial microfilm was developed by a New York City banker, George McCarthy, in the 1920's. He was issued a patent in 1925 for his Checkograph machine, designed to make permanent film copies of all bank records.

When compared to paper documents, microfilm can reduce space storage requirements by up to 95 percent. Microfilm is also virtually cost free once filmed while a digital archive does have maintenance costs associated with servers and upkeep.

Microfilm is comprised of a plastic support (nitrate, acetate, or polyester) with a silver-gelatin emulsion. It is typically unperforated 16mm or 35mm roll film. A larger 105mm was used for the transfer to preservation microfiche, but it is only occasionally found in collections.