Microfilms

As I’ve indicated, I’m blogging less at the moment,  due to preoccupations unrelated to research.

Don’t they say that there’s calm at the very centre of the storm? So, theoretically, if there’s chaos all around, but I sit quietly in the middle of it, it should be peaceful and still?

Rubbish! Either that, or I haven’t precisely located the epicentre of the storm in order to sit in it.  I know that many would say, ‘when there’s nothing you can do, you just have to put it to the back of your mind.’ Easier said than done.

My research, of course, is a dependable solace. So I put my phone on ‘do not disturb’ whilst I visited two libraries yesterday, and settled into what should have been a lovely, calming day, as indeed it was  – until I encountered my nemesis …

A microfilm reader.

As anyone knows, the  linear nature of microfilm storage goes with the territory, as it does with film or audio tape.  Whether you’re looking for a page in a weekly journal from the furthest end of the date range, or looking at every single ‘books reviewed/received’ section, it’s going to take time.

Scroll, Scroll, Scroll …

Even with varying speed scroll facility  – I was still trying to locate a three-word book title. The journal has no index. I haven’t finished looking yet. I did find two entries, which makes me all the more determined to try to find another two – which may or may not be there.

But the other, additional problem is a visual one. I wear varifocals. Only the bottom of my lenses are the right focal length for reading.  But the top of the microfilm reader is at least as tall as me. Moreover, it’s very bright, and the effort of focusing combined with the brightness resulted in a searing pain that meant I had to reach for sunglasses as soon as I stepped outdoors.

I’ve used eye-drops.  But it still hurt this morning and turned, predictably,  into a migraine.  And if I want to complete my search, I have to put myself through it all again on Tuesday.  (It’s my research.  I may have some light sensitivity after last year’s macular surgery, but I am not visually impaired, so it’s up to me to just get on with it, if I want to trace what I’m looking for.)

Meanwhile, the chaos whirls around me, but perhaps I should find something more easy on the eyes, to take my mind off it!