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Re: Is it possible to get digital copies of select items from a microfilm roll (to avoid having to buy the whole roll)?
Rachael Salyer
Oct 18, 2017 3:13 PM
3 people found this helpfulDear Ms. Baxter,
Thank you for posting your question to the History Hub.
The easiest way to obtain copies of individual frames or selections from a single microfilm reel is for you or your representative to visit the National Archives. You can use a phone or camera to take photographs of the relevant pages free of charge, or you can use one of our microfilm scanners to create a digital copy (with a small per image fee). This previous post details some of the options: Microfilm Made Easy.
The National Archives does not provide reproductions of individual frames or selections from microfilm publications. Entire rolls are available as microfilm (silver-halide positive film) or to be digitized and placed on a DVD. You can find more information here on our website.
You can also contact the Textual Reference Branch at the National Archives in Washington, DC. with questions about reproductions of the records you are interested in. Their email address is archives1reference@nara.gov.
Thank you, again, for sharing your question with the History Hub, and best of luck with your ongoing work.
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Re: Is it possible to get digital copies of select items from a microfilm roll (to avoid having to buy the whole roll)?
5 people found this helpfulHi Cindy, This collection is available online at the Internet Archive.org https://archive.org/details/compiledrecordss0027unit The internet archives is an interesting collection of stuff and it may take some time to develop the skill in scrolling through this item to find a particular record, but it is fun to see the historical records. Post again if you cannot find specifically what you are searching.
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Re: Is it possible to get digital copies of select items from a microfilm roll (to avoid having to buy the whole roll)?
Ohmygosh, Sara Sullivan, you're amazing. Thank you, thank you, thank you! I was able to drill down right to the frames that included Co. E.
I'm so glad you linked to the Way Back Machine; I often forget it's out there (and, admittedly, need to spend more time learning my way around). Consider this your "good deed for the day," well done.
Cinda
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Re: Is it possible to get digital copies of select items from a microfilm roll (to avoid having to buy the whole roll)?
This is fascinating. I had no idea this kind of resource was out there. It makes me wonder if people at NARA know about this, or if they were as surprised to read about it as the rest of us. . . ??? (This is a serious question!)
In my various research quests, I find that individual volunteers in the private sector nearly always have "the answer". I've come to rely on these unknown volunteers (largely found on moderated internet forums which turn up on google searches) to unearth obscure knowledge. I've found stuff online this way that everyone else said I had to travel to DC to view (for example, I needed to see some SS personnel records from a microfilm collection at NARA, and someone pointed me to a resource where I could download hundreds of them, saving me a trip.) The depth of knowledge out there in the hinterlands (many posters on this particular forum are from eastern Europe and Australia) is astonishing.
A lot of institutions and individuals have purchased thousands of copies of microfilm reels over the years, and presumably it's all still out there, minus a few fires and floods - and thankfully some of it has been uploaded onto obscure corners of the Web. Kudos to Sara Sullivan for pointing this one out.
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Re: Is it possible to get digital copies of select items from a microfilm roll (to avoid having to buy the whole roll)?
I was going to add a link in the relevant catalog.archive.gov comments section to that scan so researchers would know it was available, but I can't seem to find a catalog entry matching that particular description...
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Re: Is it possible to get digital copies of select items from a microfilm roll (to avoid having to buy the whole roll)?
1 person found this helpfulnaid is 300398 title is "Carded Records Showing Military Service of Soldiers Who Fought in Volunteer Organizations During the American Civil War, 1890 - 1912"
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Re: Is it possible to get digital copies of select items from a microfilm roll (to avoid having to buy the whole roll)?
Rachael Salyer
Oct 20, 2017 12:09 PM
2 people found this helpfulWe recommend that you contact the Textual Reference Branch at the National Archives in Washington, DC (Archives I) to confirm which series in the Catalog correlates to Microfilm Publication M594. Their email address is archives1reference@nara.gov.
Also, you can find more information about adding comments and tags to the National Archives Catalog here on our website.
Thank you for posting on the History Hub!
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Re: Is it possible to get digital copies of select items from a microfilm roll (to avoid having to buy the whole roll)?
I went to look at that page. It hasn't been updated since July (has notice about planned maintenance event in July). It says that one can "
- Add your comments on digitized records, descriptions, and authority records
but that sentence has no links in it. It's difficult for a novice like me to see exactly how one would do this. The link mentioning citizen archivists is not helpful. The following sentence leaves me (a novice, as I said) totally in the dust:
- Add data from scanned records to your developer toolbox with increased API functionality
I wish I knew about API functionality, but sadly I do not. (Advanced Protocol Initiative? Allocated Proportional Investments? Amphibious Polymorphous Invertebrates?) And I certainly don't (yet) have a developer toolbox, or any other kind of toolbox. (Does a sewing kit count? No? Oh, well.)
Perhaps adding a paragraph for people who are new to all of this might help? A significant minority of people using archives are older people who, like me, are discouraged when instructions include terms like "API functionality".
So, how exactly does one go about adding these comments and tags? I love adding tags but am often stymied in my attempts to do so. I'm still trying to figure out how to add tags on flickr.
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Re: Is it possible to get digital copies of select items from a microfilm roll (to avoid having to buy the whole roll)?
Rachael Salyer
Nov 2, 2017 4:28 PM
1 person found this helpfulHi, Judith,
Thank you for your comments. It looks like some updated information and resources became available just after my last post. I apologize for my poor timing and any confusion it might have caused.
You might find this recent post by Meredith Doviak more helpful than the link I initially provided: Introducing: Citizen Archivist Resources!
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Re: Is it possible to get digital copies of select items from a microfilm roll (to avoid having to buy the whole roll)?
You're right, that post is very useful. I'm going to spend some time exploring it. Thanks for the pointer.
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Re: Is it possible to get digital copies of select items from a microfilm roll (to avoid having to buy the whole roll)?
Meredith Doviak
Nov 6, 2017 4:18 PM
Hi Judith Haran,
I'm glad you found the post about the Citizen Archivist Resources helpful. Yes, please take a look and let us know if you have further questions - you can always reach us at citizenarchivist@nara.gov with any questions or comments. We are here to help!
And thank you Rachael Salyer for sharing the link!
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