Gene's capabilities
• Microfilm type: 35 or 16 mm Reels only (no microfiche)
• Digital images available? Yes
• Printing: Dedicated printer, 8.5 x 11" paper.
Gene’s Story
We often find our returning microfilm users doing their genealogy research at Gene. He is willing to look at either reels of microfilm or sheets of microfiche.
Gene is probably the easiest machine to load. He can also either print or scan an image to a file (not PDF). The printer that is attached to Gene is equipped with letter sized paper, but it can also print to 11 x 17 inch paper, so you could print a full newspaper page if you wish!
Of course, no machine is perfect. Gene has been knowns to get drowsy and fall asleep every 15 minutes. If this happens, just wake him up by turning him back on!
Turn on Machine.
The power switch can be found on the front, right side of the machine.
Gene tends to shut off after 15 minutes of use. If this happens, press the button to the left of the Start button.
Gene is equipped to work with either microfilm on reels or flat microfiche sheets.
The initial instructions cover the use of microfilm reels, but information about loading and moving through microfiche follows.
In addition to these instructions, a diagram is also available on the machine for loading microfilm.
Note that the spindle for the microfilm reel has a square shape. Line the square in the center of the microfilm reel up with this square.
Be sure that the film comes out over the top right side of the reel.
Press the reel firmly onto the spindle. Note that you need to press hard enough to click the reel in place. (See side-view photo.)
Pull the front handle forward until the glass lifts.
Slide the microfilm under the first roller and under the glass.
Continue pulling the film under the second roller.
Push the film into the notch of the take-up reel
Turn the knob near the take-up reel clockwise to advance the film.
The farther that you turn the knob, the faster it will advance.
Push the handle back in toward and under the lens to bring the top plate of glass back down onto the film.
Turn the knob to reverse to remove the film.
If the carriage is pulled forward until the glass lifts, then the film will rewind much faster.
Turn the knob near the take-up reel clockwise to advance the film.
The farther that you turn the knob to the right or left, the faster it will advance or reverse.
Pull the handle of the carriage out toward you until the glass lifts up.
Place the sheet of microfiche under the glass. In this case, it needed to be loaded face-down, but this is not always the case. It may take some trial and error to find the best way to load each sheet of microfiche!
Push the handle forward to close the cover and move the fiche under the lens.
Once the Microfiche has been loaded. Use the front handle to move the fiche up, down, and side-to-side to move through the document.
See the instructions for microfilm reels to learn more about printing and adjusting the image on the screen.
Rotate images using the knob at bottom right of screen.
Zoom and focus using the two knobs attached to the lens.
• Blue knob on top = zoom
• Brown knob on bottom = focus
The entire carrier may also need to be moved forward and back to see the top or bottom of the film. (Use the front handle.)
A printer is located underneath the microfilm machine. It is equipped with both letter size (8.5 x 11’) as well as tabloid size (11 x 17”) paper.
Center the image that you wish to print within the lines drawn on the screen.
Note below the screen options that designate the positioning of the image and type of paper. Set these as desired.
Center the image that you wish to print within the lines drawn on the screen.
Note controls below the screen for describing the position of the image and type of paper. Set these as desired
Use the green button to send the image to the printer.
These images can be saved as a file (not PDF) as well. Please refer to the section on Digital Scanning on page 12 for more information about this.
If you wish to print, but the indicator shows that it is set to “Pc”, note the two white buttons under the Pc indicator with blue alternative labels. Hold down the shift button on the right (1) and then PC/PR button to the left (2). Wait until the screen changes to a “1”. For multiple copies, press the left button.
Remove Film
Turn the knob near the take-up reel counter-clockwise to reverse and remove the film. (Remember that the further that it is turned to the left, the faster it will move.
Pull film from spindle. Return to box, and place film on the reshelving cart when finished.
Please remember to turn the power off on the microfilm reader.
Return your film by placing it on the designated cart. Library staff will return the film to the drawers.
This machine will also allow you to send images to a digital file rather than to the printer. Log in to the computer to the left of Gene. (Community members will need a community borrower card and a temporary login to access the computer. Please visit the main desk to make this request.)
To change to digital scan, note the blue alternative labels underneath the two white buttons. Hold down shift (1) and then PC/PR (2) button and wait until the indicator changes to Pc. (Pc indicates that images will be sent to a digital file, rather than to the printer.)
These directions are divided into those needed for saving a single image to a digital file or for saving multiple (batch) images to a single document. (Skip ahead to the next box to scan batch images. However, be sure to read the warning about file types and image quality before choosing the batch option.)
Single Digital Image
Please use the instructions in previous boxes for loading film and finding/adjusting the desired image.
On the computer closest to this machine, open the Imaging software from the computer desktop.
Select File, then
Select Acquire Image
Enter the size of the image.
If you choose 8.5 x 11” (P), it will capture the image that appears within the portrait-oriented outline on the screen. If you select 11 x 17” (L) it will capture the image that appears within the landscape-oriented outline on the screen.
To scan that image, click Scan.
The quality of the image may be poor at first. However, usually it “cleans up” after it has been saved.
If, after saving the image there are still problems, make adjustments as needed with the machine or the software tools. Request staff assistance with this if needed.
Select file, then save as to save the image to your network folder or to a USB drive.
The file type defaults to a “TIFF” file, but this can be changed to other file types such as .jpg if needed.
Note how the image is much clearer after it has been saved.
Please be aware that the software will not allow you to save images scanned in a batch to a PDF or to multiple image files other than as a TIFF file. There are options for saving images to word documents after scanning the text, but this usually does not work well for newspaper articles and other documents that combine text and images. The TIFF option is recommended to avoid errors.
Please use the instructions in previous boxes for loading film and finding/adjusting the desired image.
On the computer closest to this machine, open the Imaging software from the computer desktop.
Select File, then
Select Acquire Image
Enter the size of the image. If you choose 8.5 x 11” (P), it will capture the image that appears within the portrait-oriented outline on the screen. If you select 11 x 17” (L) it will capture the image that appears within the landscape-oriented outline on the screen.
The images that follow in the batch should also fit that size.
Enter a check next to Batch Scan Mode.
To scan that image, click Scan.
After acquiring the first image, move to the microfilm machine and find the next image.
The indicator under the screen on the machine should say PC, to indicate that images are being sent to the computer rather than to the printer.
Press the green Start button on the microfilm machine to scan the next image.
Repeat this for each image to be captured. (There is no need to return to the computer until after you have scanned the final image.)
After the last image in the batch has been scanned, return to the computer, and click Done.
All the pages scanned within the batch will appear in a single file. Use the paging option at top (circled) to review each scan. Also note that the quality of these image will be much improved after they have been saved.
Select File, then Save As to save the file to your network folder or to a USB drive. Note that some file types like PDF, JPG, or BMP are not available for multi-page files. To save images, TIFF is recommended. If you save to a word processing document, then the software will scan the text and save that rather than the exact image on the screen. There will most likely be errors in the text that is captured.
