Programs

Microfilm Unit

The Archives Microfilm Unit is located at the Mike Durfee State Prison, in Springfield. Inmates
in the Unit microfilm 11 daily and 130 weekly newspapers in South Dakota. Microfilm
copies are available for viewing at the State Archives in Pierre, SD.

The Microfilm Unit does preservation microfilming on 16mm or 35mm microfilm and makes sure that the microfilm is of high quality for readability and format. In addition to newspapers, the microfilm unit oversees filming of county records, WPA files, historical atlases, public school records, and a wide variety of records from various state agencies. Archives staff trained in preservation microfilm techniques supervise prison inmates who operate the microfilm cameras.

Click on the picture(s) below to see a larger version.

An inmate searches through an archived newspaper.	An inmate prepares a newspaper for scanning by ironing the pages.