---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 22 Jun 1999 10:07:46 -0400
From: Eduardo Gil <GilE@MAIL.MONTCLAIR.EDU>
Subject: microfilm

Vani,

Yes, the durability of the microfilm reel lasts for a long time.
However, my main problem with microfilm or microfiche is not the format
but the less than reliable and pain in the neck to use micro
reader-printers.  I was the Head of a Department several years ago where
I was in charge of housing microfilm and overseeing the reader-printers
and let me tell you it was not a pretty sight.  Users from all walks of
life hate using micro-
film and the machines to produce copies.  They use microfilm because
there is no choice especially for newspapers.

The technological development and improvements of pdf full-text articles
will improve in the coming decades. For the user do you think is more
convenient and less stressful to use microfilm and its reproduction or
to be able to access full-text (pdf or html) articles from anywhere in
the Library, from a computer lab on Campus or from home?  I think the
choice is obvious.  Our purpose as librarians is to assist users in
their research and make their research lives as convenient as possible
whether we provide paper, micro or electronic formats.

Ed Gil
Periodicals Librarian
Sprague Library
Montclair St. University