The Basics of Scanning Microfiche and Microfilm to Digital Formats

Microfilm and Microfiche have been a reliable alternative to hard copy file storage since the mid-1800s and have a long and storied history. Both are considered Microformats and have proven essential to efficient information management for nearly two centuries. However, with advances in technology, converting legacy data from Microfilm to a more usable format, such as TIFF or PDF images, has become a requirement for many organizations.

The Challenges of Storing Microfilm/Microfiche

Many companies and government organizations have significant amounts of information stored on Microfilm rolls or fiches. Some of the challenges of storing these files are:

  • Often, these rolls are not easily accessible and cannot be shared between multiple people within the organization.
  • As time passes, the equipment used to search for data on these rolls is either damaged or unavailable, making access to the information virtually impossible.
  • The film or fiche condition: If there is any disaster or improper storage, the information can be lost entirely.

The Solution

Shoreline helps clients to convert rolls to digital images and saved them into a Document Management Solution or into any portable media. With an increasing demand for immediate access to information, Shoreline offers clients an easy, outsourced method of converting this legacy information to any kind of format.

SRM has the flexibility to convert:

  • Films that are either 35MM or 16MM, Blipped or Unblipped.
  • For Microfiche, we can accommodate either Jacketed or COM Fiche. 

Our Process Includes:

Free Onboarding Consultation

We will meet with a member of your team and assess the number of rolls, fiches, etc., that need to be converted and planned all the logistics of pickup and delivery.

Specialized Indexing

Shoreline indexes the Film or Fiche with keywords, or index values, to help users quickly search and retrieve the data they’re looking. The Index values could include: Title, Date Created, Format, Author, and many more according to your need.

Document Upload

We will ensure that your imaged data will be delivered to your Document Management System efficiently, or we will save your information into a portable media of your choice.

Explore the Benefits:

Effortless Retrieval

Eliminate outdated Microfilm and Microfiche readers and save time. With a single click, you’ll be able to access any file.

Immediate Access

Images can be printed, faxed, or e-mailed in less than one minute.

Shared Access

Multiple users can access images at the same time over a network. No need to wait for another person to finish using the readers.

Improve your Search

By converting the images, we can provide full-text searching capabilities within the contents of the documents.

The Results of Converting Microfiche and Microfilm

By providing immediate access to information that was previously stored on Microfilm or Microfiche, organizations are able to address the needs of their end-users communities’ better. Information can be searched and retrieved in seconds without the need for any specialized equipment. In addition, data availability is improved to help with audit and compliance requirements, such as the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).