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Preservation Department Units

 

Reformatting Center

The focus of the Preservation Reformatting Center (PRC) is to film current Kentucky newspapers and to fill duplication requests from the Kentucky Newspaper Microfilm Ordering Database.

MISSION
The Preservation Reformatting Center's primary mission is to serve the University Libraries. It microfilms approximately 152 newspapers from throughout the Commonwealth of Kentucky. It also seeks out filming projects that directly serve the University of Kentucky's mission as a land-grant institution. Additionally, the Preservation Reformatting Center is charged with the responsibility of managing its collection of microfilm masters.

The Preservation Reformatting Center (formerly Reprographics) was founded in 1954 as a joint venture between the University of Kentucky and the Kentucky Press Association. To this day it continues in its original mission of filming newspapers from throughout the Commonwealth.

How to Purchase Kentucky Newspaper Microfilm

1. How do I find what you have?

Search the Kentucky Newspaper Microfilm Ordering Database for Kentucky newspapers. (All microfilm is 35mm silver halide positive roll film.)

How do I purchase?

To purchase copies of the microfilm, please contact Marie Dale. You may also fax orders to (859) 257-3388 or send correspondence/purchase orders to Ms. Dale's attention at:

104 King Building
University of Kentucky
Lexington, KY 40506-0039

Please provide the following information when you order:

  1. Your name, address, phone number, and email address (if available).
  2. Information about the reels that you want to order. This includes the reel ID, title, date range of the reel and "S. No." All of this information is included in the Kentucky Newspaper Microfilm Ordering Database. You can simply "cut and paste" the desired reel information into an email to Ms. Dale to facilitate your order.

Do not include pre-payment. The PRC will invoice you when the film is mailed to you.

3. What does it cost?

$50 per reel for years up through 2003.

$80 per reel for 2004 - current year.

There are no preparation, processing, shipping or handling fees.

4. What are the terms?

Place your order with complete information.

Do not include pre-payment.

Expect delivery in six weeks.

Preservation Reformatting Center History

The University of Kentucky Libraries' Preservation Reformatting Center (PRC), formerly known as Reprographics and before that as the Microfilm Center, was established in 1954 with the assistance of the Kentucky Press Association and the University's School of Journalism & Telecommunications. Its purpose was to collect and microfilm Kentucky newspapers. During the period from 1954 - 1987, the Microfilm Center filmed many newspapers, serials, monographs, and manuscript collections.

From 1983 to 1991, the National Endowment for the Humanities funded the U.S. Newspaper Program. As a participant in that project, Reprographics was responsible for administering the Kentucky Newspaper Project. During that effort, over 3.5 million frames of microfilm were created to preserve historic Kentucky newspapers.

Now a component of the Libraries' Preservation Department, the Preservation Reformatting Center continues to film Kentucky newspapers within six months to one year of publication. The PRC frequently films collections of newspaper back-files for libraries, historical societies, newspaper publishers and others throughout the commonwealth and the nation.

In addition to newspaper filming, the PRC films manuscript collections, scrapbooks, theses, and rare books from the University of Kentucky's Special Collections. The PRC also filmed the site records and maps for the Anthropology Department's field excursions and filmed extensive indexes for both the Lexington Public Library and the Lexington Herald Leader.

In 1994, Reprographics became a certified micrographics laboratory in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. This certification verifies that the PRC produces microfilm that meets all state requirements for archival quality reformatting. Moreover, the Kentucky Department for Libraries and Archives requires this certification of all labs desiring to produce microfilm of state and university records of enduring value.

The Preservation Reformatting Center owns six 35mm Recordak MRD cameras and a Canon 16mm planetary camera used for records filming. All film is processed and duplicated in-house. The PRC staff run control strips on all processors before processing any film, and all chemistry is changed daily. The staff also perform quality control inspections that ensure compliance with all standards and guidelines for permanence and best practice set by the Research Libraries Group, the American National Standards Institute, the Association for Information and Image Management, and the Commonwealth of Kentucky.

Currently, the Preservation Reformatting Center microfilms 152 Kentucky newspapers for long-term retention on 35mm silver halide microfilm for the University of Kentucky Libraries. Housed in a climate-controlled storage facility, PRC maintains a master negative collection numbering approximately 30,000 reels. Duplicate copies are produced for both internal and external customers. PRC adheres to the standards for preservation microfilming established by the American National Standard for Image and Information Management (ANSI), the Association for Information and Image Management (AIIM), the Research Libraries Group (RLG), and the Library of Congress.