2014 Volume 60 Issue 4 Pages 129-147
This study investigated the current state of preservation of microfilm materials held in Japanese libraries by a questionnaire survey of all university libraries except junior colleges, graduate university libraries, prefectural libraries, and the National Diet Library. A total of 906 valid responses, comprising 902 complete questionnnaires (response rate 62.8%) and 4 pretest results, were analyzed. 474 libraries (52.3%) had microfilm, of which 47.5% regarded microfilm as a long-term preservation medium, 30.0% still regularly acquired microfilm more than once a year, but 11.4% of libraries did not know the exact amount of their microfilm holdings. 24-hour air-conditioning was available in only 150 libraries (31.6%) and humidity control was possible in only 108 libraries (22.7%). 44.3% of libraries had noticed the occurrence of vinegar syndrome, the most typical kind of deterioration. Since hydrolysis causes and accelerates vinegar syndrome, humidity control is crucial for microfilm preservation. However, the present results showed that the conservation environment has not been significantly improved.
