This week, I ventured to the fourth floor of Ellis Library for the second time in my college career. But this time it was different. I was seeking out the mystical microfilm room I had only read stories about online. Frankly, I was terrified. But I had chosen Rolling Stone for my historical perspectives assignments and the library only offered it on microfilm. Unfortunately, when I got up to the creepy wing with the microfilm, the office that helps people like me who are clueless about the tiny film, was closed. I was on my own. I walked into a room and faced pullout cabinets from the floor to the ceiling. Somehow, locating the first volume of Rolling Stone was the easiest part of my day.
Then the fun really began. In the room with the microfilm readers, half of them had signs across the screens indicating they no longer worked. You mean no one knows how to fix these ancient machines? Shocking. I selected the machine that was able to convert the microfilm into pdfs that I could save on a flash drive. To use this machine, not only was there a 15+ step hand drawn infographic on the wall, but also a 25+ page manual on how to use this specific machine. Woof.
Long story short, I spent four hours flipping through slides and converting them, but it was pretty fascinating. I might go back and look and old magazine on microfilm for fun sometime. Plus, at the end of the day I felt unbelievably accomplished for having learned to use microfilm by myself.
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