ARCHIVIST OF THE HALL OF RECORDS 43

WISCONSIN STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Report: Division of Archives and Manu-
scripts, 1966/67. Processed. Gift.

WISCONSIN STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY, Annual Report of the Division of Archives
and Manuscripts, 1967-1968. Processed. Exchange.

WORLD ZIONIST ORGANIZATION, CENTRAL ZIONIST ARCHIVES, Report of Activities,
April 1964-December 1967, Submitted to The 27th Zionist Congress. Jerusalem,
1968. Gift.

RECORDS MANAGEMENT PROGRAM

In the Report of the Archivist for last year, an account was given
of the joint efforts of our Division and the Gasoline Tax Division
of the Comptroller of the Treasury to develop a records system that
would combine the advantages of the computer and microfilm. At the
beginning of the year we were converting computer generated reports
to microfilm using a semi-automatic microfilmer and were providing
microfilm copies of the reports to the State Police to assist them in
enforcing the motor carrier laws.

The distribution of a microfilm copy of the enforcement records
to each station on the highways where truck weight limits and tax
registrations were checked greatly reduced the time previously required
to check individual trucks. Heretofore, each station, because of the
limited number of paper copies of the enforcement records which
could be prepared by the computer had to telephone to a central
location for the required information needed on truck registration.
The new system, however, still had serious disadvantages. First, the
reports had to be printed by the computer before they could be micro-
filmed which was both time-consuming and uneconomical. Secondly,
the clerical effort required to microfilm the printed reports was so
great that the reports could not be updated as often as needed.

In order to overcome these disadvantages, our Division and the
Gasoline Tax and Data Processing Divisions of the Comptroller of
the Treasury designed a records program using computer output micro-
filming (COM). Computer output microfilming is the conversion of
computer generated magnetic tapes directly to microfilm with no inter-
vening paper copy. It is accomplished through the use of a COM
device which serves as a substitute for the computer mechanical printer.
The COM produces microfilm records at a speed within the range
common to magnetic tape equipment used in computer systems and
COM devices now available will accept and record data at 90,000