This British Standard gives guidance to organizations that may have to produce microforms in evidence, to enable them to show that the microform has been made in accordance with an established procedure. It gives recommendations for the treatment of original documents and microforms, including microcopies from computer output microfilming (COM), the establishment of a microform programme and the monitoring of these procedures. Recommendations concerning forms and registers to be maintained by personnel and the retention of certificates are also given.
It applies to microfilm in roll form, microfiche, microfilm jackets, aperture cards and some updatable microforms, whether the filming and subsequent operations are performed in-house or by a bureau. In general the recommendations apply to COM originals, although some parts of the certificate system recommended in this standard cannot be used with some computer systems.
This standard does not apply to erasable microform systems, i.e. those capable of having images changed, deleted or replaced without leaving any trace of the original image, because a court could not rely on such documents as a true and accurate record.
Annex A gives a brief summary of the legal position in the United Kingdom. Annex B contains examples of certificates.