MICROFILMS FOR THE DISABLED

At the Conference in September, 1945, Mrs. Moholy, as Director of the Aslib Microfilm Service, gave an account of the American ‘ceiling’ projector which was then newly designed for the purpose of enabling persons who are paralyzed, or otherwise so disabled that they cannot handle books, to read by means of microfilm. That instrument was devised by Mr. Eugene B. Power, of Ann Arbor, Michigan, and was produced by the Argus Corporation, of Ann Arbor. It differs from film‐strip projectors in using standard reels of microfilm, like a library reader, and is mechanized in the sense that the reel‐spindles are rotated by electric motors, which are operated by remote control. By pressing a button of the control switch the reader, who is usually lying in bed, moves the film forwards or backwards, and the image of the pages in each successive frame is thrown on the ceiling. The Argus instrument is built to project vertically. It cannot be stood on its side or tilted, but a mirror can be attached to the lens for horizontal projection.