THE CONTRIBUTION OF MICROPHOTOGRAPHY AND REPRINTS TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF LIBRARIES Available to Purchase

The benefits that photographic and allied printing methods, particularly photolithography and microphotography, have brought to libraries during the past half‐century are examined. The history of the application of these techniques is outlined. Their rapid growth coincided with the unprecedented increase in university foundations and student numbers and with the great expansion of research. Librarians have been the main customers for reprints and virtually the only customers for micropublications yet they have had very little influence over the suppliers. Because they are completely different in format from books, micro‐forms have presented special problems in acquisition, cataloguing, and use. Despite early predictions microphotography has not radically altered the nature of libraries and has not generally been used to save space. It is passing through a transitional phase because of the development of computers and other new equipment. Computer output microfilm (COM) catalogues are now commonly to be found in libraries.