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Technical Guidelines

Reference Number: MTAS-523
Reviewed Date: 12/19/2022

The following guidelines for producing and storing microfilm are considered crucial by the Tennessee State Library and Archives:

  • Microfilm must conform to national archival processing and storage standards if it is to survive:Tennessee law requires that “photographic film shall comply with the minimum standards of quality approved for permanent photographic records by the National Bureau of Standards (now the National Institute of Standards and Technology), and the device used to reproduce such records on film shall be one which accurately reproduces the original thereof in all details. [1]

Information about microfilming loose records can be viewed at Loose records are documents that are not in bound record books (tnsosfiles.com)

For general information about the Archives Development Program, including how to schedule a visit to your community, please contact adp.tsla@tn.gov. Tennessee Archives Management Advisories (TAMAs) can be viewed at: Tennessee Archives Management Advisories (TAMAs) | Tennessee Secretary of State (tn.gov)


[1] T.C.A. § 10-7-501.