Frequently Asked Questions

Select the category from the following list to jump to that FAQ.

General
Q: How long will it take to complete my project?
Q: How should I package/protect my items during shipping?
Q: How should I ship my documents/material?
Q: What standards do you follow in your filming, scanning and binding processes?
Q: Will our items be insured during shipment and while at your facility?
Q: Do my source documents need to be disassembled/disbound to be canned/filmed?
Q: Do I have to send my entire project in one shipment or can I send multiple smaller shipments to work within my budget?
Q: Are my documents secure at your site?
Q: What happens to my documents after filming/digitizing?

Filming
Q: How many frames fit on a 35mm or 16mm roll of film?
Q: What formats of film do you produce?
Q: What are your standard targets for microfilm?
Q: Can I store my masters at your facility?
Q: How do you assure longevity of the film masters?
Q: Can you handle the distribution of duplicates to my organization or customers?

Scanning
Q: Can you come to our library/facility to scan our materials?
Q: Do you offer on-site seminars on digitization?
Q: Can you disbind my original documents for digitizing?
Q: What are your standard metadata elements?
Q: What type of file formats should I consider when digitizing?
Q: What media options do I have?
Q: What if I need a replacement copy of my CD/DVD?
Q: Can you OCR my documents?
Q: What foreign languages are supported in the OCR process?
Q: What formats of film and paper can you digitize?
Q: How long are my CD-R’s/DVD’s likely to last?

Printing
Q: Can you reproduce large format images in color and grayscale?
Q: What type of paper do you use to create digital facsimiles?

Binding
Q: Can I have my originals rebound?
Q: What’s the largest case size you can produce?
Q: Does your binding material adhere to preservation standards?

Northern Micrographics: FAQs

- General -

Q: How long will it take to complete my project?
Generally, the turnaround time from receipt of your source material to shipment of the deliverables runs four to eight weeks. There are, of course, factors that influence the amount of time it takes to complete a project including the size and complexity of the project, where the project falls in our production schedule once it is received and whether paper facsimiles are to be printed and bound.

Q: How should I package/protect my items during shipping?
Please pack your items SECURELY! Individual objects should be wrapped in foam, bubble wrap or some other protective material to prevent damage during shipment. We suggest that the shipping boxes you use conform to carrier suggested standards e.g., single wall corrugated boxes with a 200 lb. minimum burst strength rating.

Q: How should I ship my documents/material?
Northern Micrographics has used the services of commercial carriers for more than ten years with excellent results. For your own protection, we suggest you use a carrier with whom you feel comfortable and one that provides a shipment method that offers traceability.

Q: What standards do you follow in your filming, scanning and binding processes?
Northern Micrographics follows the standards and guidelines published by AIIM – The Enterprise Content Management Association, ANSI (American National Standards Institute), LBI (Library Binding Institute) and RLG (Research Library Group). Compliance testing, if required, may be performed on an optional basis.

Q: Will our items be insured during shipment and while at your facility?
You should insure your material during shipment to and from our facility. Once in our facility, your documents are covered by a blanket policy that insures against loss or damage. If you have specific insurance requirements, additional coverage can be provided on a fee-basis.

Q: Do my source documents need to be disassembled/disbound to be scanned/filmed?
No – we have the ability to scan bound material up to D+ (24” by 36”) size and to film bound material to E-size (34” x 44”). While we can digitize and film bound material, it is sometimes desirable to capture the images in a disbound or loose state to avoid losing data in the gutter margins due to tight binding. Disbound scanning and filming is generally less expensive than bound scanning helping to keep your project cost down.

Q: Do I have to send my entire project in one shipment or can I send multiple smaller shipments to work within my budget?
We encourage you to send smaller shipments with more frequency if it falls within your timeframe and budget. Smaller shipments typically turn faster in our production process, which means you receive the digital images faster and the source material is out of your possession for a shorter period of time. There are, of course, economies of scale that will influence the minimum shipment size.

Q: Are my documents secure at your site?
Our administrative, production and warehouse facilities are monitored for both intrusion and fire. In addition, our production facility includes an ANSI-standard storage vault that is fireproof, waterproof, and temperature/humidity controlled conforming to the ISO 18911 international storage standard. All digital and microfilm masters are stored in our vault for safe keeping as well as work-in-process source documents per customer requirements. By special request we can store your documents in a locked room for added security.

Q: What happens to my documents after filming/digitizing?
Generally, the source items are returned to you shortly after the digital images and paper facsimiles have been shipped. Items that have been disbound are shrink-wrapped for return shipment. The original source documents are always sent separately for security purposes. Upon request, Northern Micrographics can dispose of the original source documents or arrange for third-party document destruction of sensitive material.
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- Filming -

Q: How many frames fit on a 35mm or 16mm roll of film?
The density of frames on a reel varies depending on the size of the source document and the reduction ratio at which it is filmed. A one hundred foot roll of 16mm film will usually hold 2,000-2,500 frames of 8.5” x 11” documents filmed at a standard reduction ratio of 24x. A one hundred foot roll of 35mm film will hold 1000 frames of the same size document at 12x.

Q: What formats of film do you produce?
We produce 16mm, 35mm and 105mm (microfiche) master and duplicate films in silver halide and 105mm duplicates in diazo film.

Q: What are your standard targets for microfilm?
Northern Micrographics follows RLG guidelines for archive and preservation microfilming with respect to target applications. Standard targets such as START, END OF REEL, LAST REEL and uniform density will be supplied if requested. Custom or project-specific targets can be produced and filmed per your requirements.

Q: Can I store my masters at your facility?
Yes. All digital and film masters are stored in our ANSI-standard vault that is fireproof and temperature and humidity controlled.

Q: How do you assure longevity of the film masters?
Improper development is but one of the factors that can lead to the damage and deterioration of microfilm. Northern Micrographics uses deep tank processors to assure that, after the film has passed through the fixing process, the film is washed sufficiently to remove residual chemicals that might cause long-term problems. In addition, we can provide both Methylene Blue testing to test for residual hypo (fixer) as well as polysulfide treatment of film masters per RLG guidelines. If required, Methylene Blue tests can be verified by an independent laboratory.

Q: Can you handle the distribution of duplicates to my organization or customers?
We can ship duplicate roll film and microfiche directly to your customers or to separate distribution points within your organization. This service provides cost-effective and expedient delivery of time-sensitive information.
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- Scanning -

Q: Can you come to our library/facility to scan our materials?
We prefer that you ship your materials to our production facility for a number of reasons. In our facility, we have complete control of the project, from receipt of material through shipment of the deliverables, via our job tracking database. We also have the ability to produce digital imagery in a stable environment and on a variety of equipment giving us greater flexibility than on-location production can offer. Digital production in our facility also allows us to control costs which will make your project more economical. In special circumstances we will scan at your site.

Q: Do you offer on-site seminars on digitization?
Northern Micrographics’ personnel regularly participate in imaging seminars, conferences, and educational workshops. We would be happy to talk to you about conducting a seminar on digitization at the location of your choice. We can provide a unique perspective on a broad range of imaging issues and services.

Q: Can you disbind my original documents for digitizing?
We prefer to disbind your original documents. Disbinding a book correctly for scanning or filming requires great care and attention to detail. We have the experience necessary to assure the disbinding is done correctly to produce the best possible images. Extremely fragile material is disbound by hand.

Q: What are your standard metadata elements?
Our standard metadata depends on whether the source material is a serial, monograph or serial monograph. The minimum container level metadata carries basic Dublin Core information that can include title, volume, issue, author, publisher, date and resource type. Other metadata elements can be captured upon request for an additional charge. Technical metadata is recorded in the TIFF tags as specified in the TIFF 6.0 specification.

Q: What type of file formats should I consider when digitizing?
One of our sales representatives would be happy to discuss the options and best alternatives depending on how the images are to be distributed and used. We can provide your digital data in formats for archive, for storage on CD for in-house viewing or for mounting on Web sites for the widest possible access. Your digital images can also be printed to create facsimile circulation copies allowing fragile originals to be stored under secured conditions. We are strong believers in using widely implemented open standards for archival storage.

Q: What media options do I have?
We can return your digital images on CD-R, DVD, various tape formats or on an external hard drive. For projects over 25 GB of images, we recommend using a portable drive.

Q: What if I need a replacement copy of my CD/DVD?
If your data is to be transported on CD/DVD, Northern Micrographics retains a TIFF format archive copy of the disk unless we are specifically instructed by you not to do so. Should you damage or lose your CD/DVD, we can quickly replace the archive images as well as any derivative images that we may have produced. If your data volume is large enough to require transport on a hard disk drive, alternative archive arrangements are available as an option at minimal cost. Please contact a sales representative for details.

Q: Can you OCR my documents?
Northern Micrographics can OCR your scanned documents to provide word-searchable text output as unedited PDF image + text, delimited ASCII or formatted ASCII.

Q: What foreign languages are supported in the OCR process?
Northern Micrographics can OCR all Romance and Germanic languages.

Q: What formats of film and paper can you digitize?
We have the capability to digitize documents as small as 3”x 5” index cards up to E-size (34”x 44”) engineering drawings. Roll drawings can be filmed to aperture card first then scanned. We can produce bi-tone and grayscale digital images from 16mm, 35mm and 105mm (microfiche) and sheet film up to 11” x 17”. We can also produce bi-tone imagery from aperture cards.

Q: How long are my CD-R’s/DVD’s likely to last?
Most manufacturers rate the archival lifespan of their CD-R products at 60-100 years under proper storage conditions. Advanced aging tests on DVD media have been inconclusive but nearly all agree that the media is likely to last for decades when properly stored and infrequently used. We include hash data with the image files so that you can check for errors automatically.
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- Printing -

Q: Can you reproduce large format images in color and grayscale?
We can produce bi-tone, grayscale and color paper prints up to a maximum size of 34” x 44” (E-size).

Q: What type of paper do you use to create digital facsimiles?
The paper we use to produce the digital facsimiles complies with ANSI/NISO specification Z39.48-1992: “Permanence of Paper for Publications and Documents in Libraries and Archives”.
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- Binding -

Q: Can I have my originals rebound?
It may be possible to rebind your source document depending on the condition of the text block leaves and the amount of gutter margin available after disbinding.

Q: What’s the largest case size you can produce?
We can produce oversewn sewn bindings with cases up to a maximum of 15¾ inches in height. The maximum height for fan-glued bindings is 18 inches.

Q: Does your binding material adhere to preservation standards?
Brookhaven Bindery produces reference quality oversewn and double-fan adhesive bindings compliant with Library Binding Institute standards. All of the material used in the binding process including adhesives, cover board, covering materials, endpapers, linings and sewing thread comply with ANSI/NISO/LBI Z39.78-2000 standards.
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Street address: 2004 Kramer Street, La Crosse, WI 54603
Mailing address: P.O. Box 2287, La Crosse, WI 54602-2287

Phone: 608-781-0850
Toll free: 800-236-0850

Fax: 608-781-3883
Email: sales@nmt.com