{"id":3138,"date":"2026-02-04T13:33:24","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T13:33:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ohioerc.org\/?p=3138"},"modified":"2026-02-04T13:33:27","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T13:33:27","slug":"a-world-without-microfilm-how-local-governments-are-leading-the-charge-in-digital-preservation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ohioerc.org\/?p=3138","title":{"rendered":"A World Without Microfilm: How Local Governments are Leading the Charge in Digital Preservation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>In October 2025, the National Association of Government Archives &amp; Records Administrators (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nagara.org\/Web\/iCore\/Events\/Event_display.aspx?EventKey=FOF2025\">NAGARA<\/a>) hosted an online forum centered on Advocacy for Archives. Two Ohio Electronic Records Committee members, Tina Ratcliff and Elise Kelly (along with Stephen Badenhop, Director of Archives and Records Manager for Union County, Ohio), co-presented on the future of microfilm and how Ohio\u2019s local governments are adapting to these changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The presentation centered on three phases: \u201cHow did we get here?\u201d \u201cWhere are we now?\u201d, and<br>\u201cWhat are we doing to face a future without microfilm?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For this blog post, we are going to focus on the first phase, \u201cHow did we get here?\u201d, and the subsequent blog post will center on phases two and three. Phase one touched upon the usage of microfilm for historical preservation purposes of permanent records. Since the 1950s, Ohio and its local government repositories have utilized microfilm for preserving historical and permanent records.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The obsolescence of microfilm and the emergence of digital records have been frequent topics of discussion among archivists and records managers across the nation for the past couple of years. In addition, supplies and the production of microfilm have become more tenuous in recent years. In 2025, Fuji Film, a major microfilm supplier, announced that it would no longer manufacture microfilm.\u00a0 Discussing these issues became a focal point at a Spring 2025 Ohio County Archivists &amp; Records Managers Association (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.ohiohistory.org\/research\/local-government-records-program\/county-archivists-records-management-association\/\">CARMA<\/a>) meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It was determined at this meeting that a committee (the Digital Initiatives &amp; Standards Committee (DISC)) would be formed to create a guide on how to transition from microfilm permanent record preservation to electronic permanent record preservation. DISC\u2019s goal is to \u201cestablish best practices, guidelines, and consistent standards for the creation and maintenance of electronic records and to ensure they are retained in a trustworthy, accessible, and reliable manner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In next month\u2019s blog post, we will discuss the DISC committee\u2019s current work and projects, and outline the next steps for the digital preservation guide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In October 2025, the National Association of Government Archives &amp; Records Administrators (NAGARA) hosted an online forum centered on Advocacy for Archives. Two Ohio Electronic Records Committee members, Tina Ratcliff and Elise Kelly (along with Stephen Badenhop, Director of Archives and Records Manager for Union County, Ohio), co-presented on the future of microfilm and how &#8230; <a title=\"A World Without Microfilm: How Local Governments are Leading the Charge in Digital Preservation\" class=\"read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/ohioerc.org\/?p=3138\" aria-label=\"Read more about A World Without Microfilm: How Local Governments are Leading the Charge in Digital Preservation\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[16,40,70,53,77,76],"class_list":["post-3138","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-digital-preservation","tag-digital-preservation-systems","tag-guidelines","tag-microfilm","tag-policies","tag-standards"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ohioerc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3138","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ohioerc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ohioerc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ohioerc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ohioerc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3138"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ohioerc.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3138\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ohioerc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ohioerc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ohioerc.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}