Crowley Company to Distribute Image-link-Brand Microfilm

The Crowley Company previously had an exclusive North American distributorship agreement with Agfa-Gevaaert (Agfa). Agfa, in January of this year, signed a worldwide master supply agreement with EPM. “We are in the process of selling out our inventory of Agfa-brand microfilm,” states Crowley. “Once this is gone, the Agfa brand will no longer be available in the U.S.” Crowley has already begun to distribute Imagelink-brand film.

“This will certainly be a difficult transition for our clients – many of whom we’ve supplied for years,” says Crowley. “Within the industry, the options for microfilm purchase are dwindling. To my knowledge, there are only two major manufacturers of microfilm left in the world – Agfa and Fujifilm. The Crowley Company has elected to distribute through EPM in part because of our familiarity with the Agfa brand microfilm. Although our prices will increase by necessity, we will continue to do everything in our power to provide the best options and customer service for our customers. ” The Crowley Company supplies microfilm to other distributors, resellers and also sells microfilm direct. Key market users include government offices, such as county clerks and recorders, service bureaus and local, state and national archives.

Although often considered an outdated product, microfilm remains vitally important to the records management and archival preservation communities, giving it an unusual staying power. Crowley explains why microfilm will remain important, “Microfilm is known to have the longest shelf-life of any capture medium – up to 500 years when stored properly. Even though we’re in an age of technology, the reality is that the technology we saved to just a few years ago – for example the floppy disk – is no longer relevant. As we continue to upgrade to new systems, information is lost or left behind. Capturing images to microfilm, or duplicating decaying microfilm, is the only sure way we know of to record history, be it corporate or cultural, for the long-term.”

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