Before You Choose a Microfilm Conversion Partner, Ask for a Tour

What You Can Learn About Security, Quality, and Expertise Before Your Records Ever Leave the Building

After evaluating the condition of your film, planning the conversion process, reviewing security procedures, understanding quality standards, and assessing technical expertise, there is one final step many organizations overlook when selecting a microfilm conversion partner:

Visit the facility. 
For many organizations, a microfilm conversion project involves records that are difficult, expensive, or impossible to replace. Historical archives, engineering drawings, court records, public documents, student records, newspapers, and other long-term records often represent decades of institutional knowledge and history. Yet many buyers choose a vendor without ever seeing where their records will be processed.  That's a missed opportunity.  A facility tour can reveal more about a provider's quality, security, and professionalism than a proposal, brochure, or website ever will.

Most Buyers Never See Where Their Records Will Be Processed

Imagine hiring a records storage provider without seeing the warehouse.  Or selecting a data center without understanding its security controls.  Most organizations wouldn't make those decisions blindly.  Yet it happens frequently with microfilm conversion projects.  Records are boxed, shipped, and handed over with little visibility into the environment where they will spend the next several weeks or months.

By the time most organizations reach this stage, they've already spent time evaluating the condition of their collections, understanding preservation risks, and planning their conversion strategy. If you're still assessing the health of your film, our article "Is Your Microfilm in a Pickle...or Does It Just Smell That Way?" explains how deterioration issues such as Vinegar Syndrome and Redox can affect long-term preservation and conversion planning.

A facility tour provides an opportunity to verify that a provider's processes match their claims.  It also gives you a chance to meet the people responsible for handling your records.

A Tour Tells You What a Proposal Can't

Every provider can describe their quality standards.  Every provider can talk about security. Every provider can promise excellent results.  A facility tour allows you to see those practices in action.

As you walk through the production environment, pay attention to the details.

• How are records received?
• How are projects tracked?
• How is film stored?
• How do employees handle original materials?
• How are quality inspections performed?
• How are digital files secured?

These observations often provide a clearer picture of a provider's capabilities than any sales presentation.

Questions Every Buyer Should Ask

When evaluating providers, consider asking every vendor the same questions.

Can I Visit Your Production Facility? 
A reputable provider should be comfortable showing customers where work is performed and explaining their production process.

Can I Review Your Quality Assurance Process? 
In our article "What Does Quality Look Like in a Microfilm Conversion Project?", we discussed the difference between Quality Assurance and Quality Control and why documented processes matter just as much as image quality. A facility tour allows you to see those quality checkpoints in action rather than simply reading about them in a proposal.

How Is Film Stored? 
Look for organized, secure storage areas with clear procedures for tracking and protecting customer materials.

What Security Measures Are in Place? 
Ask about visitor controls, employee access, project tracking, and physical security throughout the facility.

How Do You Control Environmental Conditions? 
Microfilm is a preservation medium. Temperature, humidity, cleanliness, and handling practices all contribute to the protection of the collection.

Where Are Digital Files Stored? 
Understanding how files are protected after scanning is just as important as understanding how physical records are protected during production.

Can I Meet the People Handling Our Records? 
Technology matters, but people remain a critical part of successful conversion projects. As we explored in "When Experience Matters More Than the Scanner," experienced technicians often make the difference between acceptable results and exceptional results, particularly when collections contain mixed formats, damaged film, or unusual media types.

What a Well-Managed Production Environment Looks Like

While every provider operates differently, there are several indicators of a mature conversion operation.

You should expect to see:

• Organized production workflows
• Clearly documented procedures
• Controlled access to records
• Secure storage areas
• Dedicated quality checkpoints
• Well-maintained equipment
• Experienced production staff
• Professional handling practices

Organizations such as Michigan's Department of Technology, Management & Budget (DTMB) provide records management policies, standards, and guidance that emphasize the importance of proper handling procedures, environmental controls, documentation, and trained personnel when working with archival collections. Those same principles apply to microfilm conversion projects.

What Visitors See at Intellinetics

At Intellinetics, we believe customers should know exactly where their records are processed.  That's why we welcome the opportunity to show customers our production environment and answer questions about our processes.

Intellinetics' micrographic services are performed using documented production procedures and quality standards that support industry best practices. Our processes are aligned with guidance established by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and other recognized records management and preservation organizations to help ensure consistent, reliable conversion results.

Transparency Builds Trust

In our previous article, "The Security Questions Most Organizations Forget to Ask During Microfilm Conversion," we discussed the importance of chain of custody, access controls, auditability, and records protection. A facility tour allows customers to see those safeguards in practice and better understand how their records will be protected throughout the conversion process.

By the time records arrive at a conversion facility, customers have already placed significant trust in their provider. A facility tour helps reinforce that trust.  It demonstrates a commitment to transparency.  It provides visibility into the people, processes, and environment responsible for preserving valuable information.  And it allows customers to make a more informed decision before selecting a long-term partner.

The Best Time to Visit Is Before the Project Begins

A facility tour isn't about finding problems.  It's about gaining confidence.

The most successful conversion projects begin with clear expectations, open communication, and a shared understanding of how records will be protected throughout the process.  Before you choose a microfilm conversion partner, ask for a tour.

You may learn more in an hour than you will from weeks of proposals and presentations.