Step 1
Find the microfilm area in northeast corner of the library basement (Floor 1)
Step 2
The microfilm area looks a lot like this.
(Sorry about the construction!)
Step 3
The pink/red labeled cabinets contain microfilm copies of historical newspapers.
They are arranged alphabetically by the title of the newspaper.
Step 4
The Waterloo Courier occupies a number of cabinet drawers.
First look for the date range on the drawer.
Step 5
Inside each Waterloo Courier microfilm drawers, the boxes are arranged by year.
Step 6
There are two microfilm readers beyond the cabinets ... against the North wall.
Step 7
Take the microfilm out of the box.
The microfilm inside the box is just a long roll of plastic film wrapped around a reel.
Step 8
The microfilm is placed on the STimaging machine in the image below.
The reel is placed on the left axel of the STimaging machine so that the film unwinds in a clockwise fashion.
Note - there is already a reel on the right axel
and the film will go through the machine and feed onto this empty reel.
Step 9
(The tricky step!)
(Don't hesitate to find a librarian at the desk to help you with this!!)
After you place the reel containing the microfilm on the left axel of the STimaging,
pull the gray tray with the gray and red buttons towards you.
This will cause the glass plate to swing upwards
so you can guide the microfilm under it.
Then unroll a bit of film from the left microfilm reel,
(it should be coming off in a clockwise fashion),
and guide it under the first white roller (on the left).
Then slide the film under the raised glass plate,
and then under the second white roller (on the right).
Then take the end of the film and
stick it part way into the slot of the empty reel (Take Up reel).
Once the end of the film is in the Take Up reel slot,
use a finger to hold the film in place in the slot and
gently turn the Take Up reel in a clockwise direction
with your other hand until you've wrapped
a few layers of film onto the Take Up reel.
This keeps the film from being pulled out of the slot and off the Take Up reel.
Then, push on one of the two buttons on right side of the row of four buttons,
either the gray (slow) or red (fast) button on the right side of the panel,
to let the machine continue to pull the microfilm on its own,
and to ensure the film will wind securely onto the Take Up reel.
Note - the left red (fast) and left gray (slow) buttons
are for rewinding the film
which you'll do when you're done.
Step 10
Once the film is secured on the Take Up Reel,
gently push the gray tray (with the four buttons) forward
to that the glass plate lies flat
and the microfilm rests under the viewer.
Note you can gently pull and push this tray during viewing
to help adjust the image. You will use the
right gray (slow) or the right red (fast) button
to advance the film (go forward in time),
and you will use the
left gray (slow) or the left red (fast) button
to back-up the film (go back in time).
Step 11
A copy of the following a guide,
the STimaging Quick Start guide,
that can often be found between the monitor
and the microfilm machine.
Step 12
Now log into the computer
(the monitor on your left)
and click on the PerfectView option.
Step 13
Once you've clicked on the PerfectView option,
the viewer will activate and the light source for
the STimaging microfilm machine will turn on.
You will then need to use the red (fast) and gray (slow) buttons
on the microfilm machine tray to advance the film
to the image you want to view.
You may also need to gently push or pull the tray
to move from the top to the bottom of a page.
Step 14
Once you've advanced and adjusted the film
using the red and gray buttons,
and by pushing or pulling gently on the tray,
you can adjust the position (rotate, expand, reduce)
and the quality (focus, lighting) of the image,
by clicking on the Adjust option on the viewer.
Step 15
Clicking on Adjust you will options brightness and contrast
... but perhaps most importantly,
you will be able to rotate the image.
Use Digital Zoom on the left-hand side of the screen to magnify the image.
Step 16
Time to take a picture of part of the page?
Click on the Scissor Cut option.
... and then choose the Add option.
Step 17
Once you have clicked on the Scissor Cut option
and then clicked on the Add option,
PerfectView will generate an orange frame
which can then be moved about the screen
and adjusted to fit over an article or image of interest.
Step 18
Once you have framed the article or image you want
using Scissor Cut and Add options,
you can click on the Capture option
found on the left-had side of the computer screen.
Then, to save the image to the drive click on the Share option
found on the left-had side of the computer screen.
Step 19
Once you have clicked on the Share option
you can choose "Disk" and then a drive and file
to download to. Then perhaps move images
to your Google Drive.
Don't forget to give your file a name
in the Attachment Base Filename box.
Your filename should probably include,
the article title, newspaper name, date, and page.
Note, at the time of writing (2/6/2025)
the Google Drive option under Share
was not working (initializing).
So, after you've downloaded all the images you want to the drive,
upload them to your Google Drive,
or attach them to an email and send them to yourself.
Step 20
Done?
How to shut down.
Once you're done researching, copying, and downloading articles
it is time to turn off PerfectView, the microfilm reader, sign out of the computer,
and put the microfilm on top of the cabinet with the "Return Microfilm Here" sign.
First step - click on the Exit button
in the bottom left-hand corner of PerfectView.
This turns off both PerfectView and the microfilm reader.
Step 21
Once you've turned off PerfectView and the microfilm reader (and signed out of the computer),
pull the microfilm reader tray (with the buttons) towards you,
this will lift the glass plate to make rapid rewinding possible.
Then push the leftmost red (fast) button
to rewind the microfilm
back onto the left (red) reel.
Step 22
Once the microfilm has been rewound,
put it back in the box,
and then put it in the
"Please Return Microfilm" tray
on the top of the cabinet behind you.
