Digitising collections of microfiche - Re: Looking for opinions...

On Fri, Mar 30, 2018 at 9:17 AM, Toby Thain via cctalk < cctalk at classiccmp.org> wrote: It is virtually guaranteed that what you have are diazo duplicates. This is fairly easy to determine. First, are they blue or translucent black in color? (Or, is there a colored stripe behind the title?) Second, are both sides of the film relatively shiny, or is one side obviously dull? If both sides have a shine to them, this is diazo film. If one side is dull, is it black, or colored? If it's black, you have silver film, which may be cleaned with 99% isopropyl alcohol and air dried. If it has color to it, but is dull, it's probably vesicular film, which should be carefully cleaned the same as diazo film. I would exercise extreme caution when cleaning duplicate film. Diazo film is not as stable as silver film in the presence of solvents. Distilled water is much safer, and is what we used on diazo in the lab. Also, you don't want to wipe film (dry or wet), as diazo duplicates are fairly easy to scratch. Wash with water, air dry. (Source: >20 years in the microfilm industry.) --Shaun