The ability to scan microfiche is but the latest advance in a long history of record capture and retention. Over the years, methods of capturing and storing data have changed significantly. Originally, paper records, reports, documents and images were preserved in sometimes massive warehouses with rows of file boxes sorted into varied systems, according to the nature of the data and the quirks of the person or people doing the sorting. Over the course of time, the documents might be pulled from the storage boxes, reviewed for various reasons and returned to the same box or sometimes misfiled in nearby boxes. The sheer volume of paper made accurate record-keeping a near impossibility.

The volume of paper meant that increasing amounts of space were required in order to maintain accurate records of the history of an organization, governmental agency or other business. It has been only relatively recently, that individuals and businesses began to explore other methods of maintaining data. Photographing the paper documents was a first step. This allowed for the information on deteriorating paper documents to be captured and stored. Some improved types of paper made the documents in recent years less likely to deteriorate due to acid in the paper itself.

A further development of the technology was a special camera. The images were saved on tiny pieces of film. The individual images sometimes were placed in holders for easy handling. A special reader was required to view the captured documents. Accounting records, genealogical documents and thousands of other types of information were saved and stored in this way. A single fiche card might hold dozens of images and measure only four inches by six inches. A card could be placed into the reader-printer and a hard copy of one or more documents printed out to take away.

The major advantage of using a fiche system is in the space-saving aspects. An entire two-cubic-feet box of records might be reduced to a few four by six-inch opaque sheets. The sheets could be stored in a small safe instead of a large warehouse. This allowed for better climate control over the records. The disadvantage was in the sheer labor involved in transforming acres of paper into a shoebox of sheets. The tedium of the work meant that the lowest of unskilled labor was hired to do the transformation of paper to film. There may be only limited quality control, so if the imaging device jammed, records might be irretrievably lost.

Today, many of these same firms who have vast quantities of records stored on fiche are wondering about the next generation of imaging products. The ability to scan microfiche to capture the information in digital format is that next generation. Getting the job done is often contracted out in order to maintain quality control. If a business firm or governmental entity with extensive microfiche records wants to convert to a digital format, it certainly makes sense to hire a firm with the equipment and skills to ensure the accurate capture of the information.

A microfiche scanner is an expensive piece of equipment and many small to mid-size entities cannot justify the cost of such a machine to convert microfiche to digital images. At the same time, digital conversion offers some advantages that are impossible with the most sophisticated microfiche devices. For example, digital storage is an even more efficient use of physical space than microfiche. Backup of the information for security and safety is possible easily. Searching for information using a computer file is much simpler than trying to pinpoint an exact document on a microfiche reader in a library somewhere.

Although the ability to scan microfiche and convert the images to digital files is a common use of the technology, you can also convert paper files directly to digital storage at present. These images, derived from either source are easily stored on a hard drive or on external storage of some type. This includes the use of CDs or DVDs. As technology continues to evolve, it is likely that the newer capture-and-store devices will be made available.

At present, there are mountains of paper that still must be captured digitally in order to have any hope of saving the information contained. A similar situation with boxes of fiche exists. Being able to scan microfiche ensures the retention of records safely and in readable format. Better methods of indexing and identifying contents make searching for an item buried in past files and collections of documents much easier.