Modern Technology
 |
| Book of sermons by the Rev. Salmon Cowles |
I'm not much of a shopper so when my wife and children head for the city to shop, I generally stay home. But recently, I discovered that my 4th great grandfather had a folder of items located in the State Historical Building and so I went along with my wife who graciously dropped me off at the Historical Building while she went shopping. Above is a book of sermons written by my fourth great grandfather, the first Presbyterian minister in Iowa territory. Pretty neat.
But this post isn't about that. After perusing the book of sermons and taking a few pictures of interesting pages, I had more time to kill before my wife was done shopping. I headed back to the rows of microfilmed newspapers of years gone by and found a drawer that contained microfilmed newspaper reels from my home town. I never even knew it was big enough to merit a newspaper. So I grabbed a reel of the oldest newspaper on file, 1897, and headed for the old microfilm reading machines in the corner. They weren't there anymore.
Previously there had been a couple rows of around a dozen machines in the corner with two of them having a printer attached. To use the printer, you had to reserve the machine in advance and come armed with a roll of quarters as each copy made cost a quarter. Both times I have used one, I have lucked out and had been there when one was available (not reserved ahead of time).
As I was heading back to the receptionist area to inquire where the microfilm readers were located, I noticed a row of new computers set up in the "reading room" with some reel to reel attachments that made them look like microfilm readers. I inspected them and realized that is exactly what they were. Within 15 minutes, and after following instructions on the nearby laminated guide, I was able to get my microfilm loaded and was reading a newspaper from my hometown printed in 1897!
Along the way, I learned that now I could digitally "clip" anything I wanted from the newspaper, drop it into an email and send it to myself, all free of charge. In fact, once I figured things out, I could clip and email an article in less than 30 seconds. Before with the hold readers, it required fiddling with all sorts of knobs to focus and center up the image, printing a copy or two to get a legible copy, taking that copy home and scanning it to digitize it and then filing it away in my electronic folders.
Before I knew it, a couple hours had passed and my wife was done shopping and wanting to go home. Since we both found this very agreeable, I'm not grumpy at being dragged to yet another store full of things I don't want, and she gets company on the ride to and from the city without having to drag a grumpy person pressuring her to shop faster, I think I might be doing more of this in the future. I think I'll start making a list of newspapers, only found on microfilm, that I want to read just to have ready for the next shopping trip.
You had a little (micro) good time.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of shopping, it was a macro good time!
DeleteTechnology does have some wonderful benefits Ed. Even I am forced to admit that (grudgingly, of course).
ReplyDeleteIt certainly does in some instances, this being high on my list.
DeleteTechnology is satisfying when you figure out how to do neat things like this.
ReplyDeleteAlways before, going to the state historical building was stressful as I rarely had an appointment so I was rushing to find a copy what I wanted before those who had made appointments arrived. Now I can be relaxed the entire time.
DeleteAre you in your city or the one that's farther away? That's great technology and makes newspaper reading and clipping so much easier!
ReplyDeleteThe "city" for me is reference to our state capital. Where I live now is simply a lowly town though in reference to the town where I grew up, it was also a big city in my eyes. The big appeal for the State Historical Building in Des Moines is that they have Iowa newspapers on microfilm from all over the state spanning back nearly 200 years. It is a wealth of information.
DeleteGood for you! I used to deal with collectibles and have boxes of memorabilia about Hawaii. Old magazines and publications from the early 1900's, botanical prints from before that, etc. Sadly, the new generation doesn't care or value that stuff. So I just keep them in boxes. Unlikely, but maybe one day in the future, they become appreciated and valued again.
ReplyDeleteI don't hold out much hope that they will be valued again someday as newspapers in general seem to be quickly going the way of dinosaurs. Perhaps if our social media posts are preserved, they might be desirable to future generations.
DeleteThat's very cool. I haven't used microfilm (or microfiche, a similar technology) since college, I think. I wondered how they read them now -- I should have known a computer could do it!
ReplyDeleteWell as of a couple years ago, it was still done by the same old microfilm readers of old days... at least at the State Historical Building. It never crossed my mind that computers would take over that job but I'm glad that it crossed someone's mind.
DeleteGreat discovery. Thanks for passing it on.
ReplyDeleteHopefully it becomes widespread throughout libraries across our nation.
DeleteWow that does sound easier, I will have to check our local library out and see if they have ungraded!
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen any others like it though I'm sure they are around. I just don't get out much these days to do that sort of thing.
DeleteWhat's a newspaper? Kidding. Though I'm not sure my kids know. 🤔 Newspapers. Cassettes. Arcades. Payphones. I have so much to teach them.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I don't care if I ever see the last three on your list ever again, I do miss newspapers. They were such great tactile devices to read, especially the Sunday morning addition that weighed in around three or four pounds. I remember many mornings lying on the floor in front of the fireplace scanning the columns for things of interest.
DeleteVery awesome, Ed. This is a good use of the technology and should help you out when it is time to go shopping again.
ReplyDeleteHappy wife, happy life!
DeleteHuzzah for technology! Some of it is actually useful! I remember searching old census records with those microfilm reading machines. Now so much is digitized and online. Technology has completely changed genealogical research.
ReplyDeleteIt certainly has, for better... and for worse, in my opinion.
DeleteIt absolutely boggles my mind how you're able to do all this research and getting so much information. Our problem is that our ancestry is in Japan and you'd have to know how to read much of the ancient text to understand it. Art's relatives actually asked my mom to figure it all out which she was able to do. But now... with her memory and abilities very much diminished, she can no longer help anyone.
ReplyDelete