MY PERSONAL HISTORIC TREASURE

SOME 25 YEARS AGO, LIBRARIES ALL OVER THE WORLD BEGAN CONVERTING THEIR BULKY NEWSPAPER COLLECTIONS TO MICROFILM IN ORDER TO SAVE STORAGE SPACE. THE THOUGHT OF THESE HISTORIC TREASURES BEING SENT TO THE RECYCLE BIN SENT SHIVERS UP THE BACK OF MY NECK. THE GRAPHIC ABOVE ILLUSTRATES ONLY A VERY SMALL PORTION OF THE TOM GLOVER COLLECTION OF OLD TRENTON NEWSPAPERS* RUNNING FROM THE EARLY 1870'S THROUGH THE MID 1940'S. PRIOR TO BRINGING MY COLLECTION TO THE LIBRARY, THEY WERE STORED IN ONE OF MY GARAGES. MY DESIRE TO SAVE THESE TREASURES HAS BEEN VINDICATED! IN THE INTERVENING YEARS, COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY HAS ADDED A NEW DEMENSION TO HISTORIC PRESERVATION. MICROFILM MIGHT BE A REAL SPACE SAVER, BUT UNFORTUNATELY THE VERTICAL SCRATCHES THAT COME WITH CONTINUED USE HAS FREQUENTLY RESULTED IN COPIES OF NEWS PHOTOS AND ARTICLES WHICH ARE VERY POOR IN QUALITY. WITH THE ARRIVAL OF THE DIGITAL AGE, I FIND THAT I AM ABLE TO PRESERVE ORIGINAL NEWS ARTICLES AND PHOTOS IN PRISTINE CONDITION, NO SCRATCH LINES, NO POOR CONTRAST, PERFECT FOR REPRODUCTION.

*Trenton Times, Trenton Evening Times, Daily State Gazette, Daily True American