Microfilm usage became more popular in the 20th century as a way to compress documents and preserve storage space, but it also had other uses such as saving space for carrying mail.
John Benjamin Dancer invented the concept of microfilm in 1839 by reducing documents by 160:1 using daguerreotypes.
The technology was improved upon in the 1850s by James Glaisher and John Herschel.
Microfilm usage expanded in the 1920s with the Checkograph, which was patented in 1925 and acquired by Kodak in 1928; it allowed banks to store cancelled checks on film.
Libraries also started adopting microforms in the 1920s.
Other inventions such as the Fiske-O-Scope, allowed readers to carry their personal library with them.
Computer Output Microfilm (COM) was also introduced, which used cameras to snap a picture of data displayed on a CRT or laser to write directly on the output medium.
Although microfilm is largely obsolete thanks to digital alternatives, some records still require a reader to access them.
