Project Blue Book Archive Update: New Microfilm & Features Added

Project Blue Book Archive - 4/30/2005

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New microfilm and features have been added to the Project Blue Book Archive project.  Below is the announcement regarding the new microfilm and features.

To view the new additions, please visit the Project Blue Book Archive website: http://www.bluebookarchive.org

BLUE BOOK ARCHIVE UPDATE ANNOUNCEMENT

I.   NEW MICROFILM ADDED TO THE ARCHIVE
II.  NEW FEATURES AND FINDING AIDS
III. UPCOMING MICROFILM RELEASES
IV.  HOW YOU CAN HELP
V.   HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE

I. NEW MICROFILM ADDED TO THE ARCHIVE

   In total, nine new rolls of microfilm have been added
   to the archive including three rolls of National
   Archives Blue Book microfilm, three rolls of Project
   Sign microfilm, and three rolls of film added as part
   of a new catch-all category, "Other Official
   Microfilm".

   NARA Blue Book Microfilm

      T1206-88
         OSI Chronological Files
            September 9, 1948 - August 31, 1949

      T1206-89
         OSI Chronological Files
            September 14, 1949 - October 5, 1962 
         OSI District Files, 1949 - 1967
            District 1 - Westover AFB, MA
            District 2 - New York, NY
            District 3 - Harrisburg, PA

      T1206-94
         Photographs
            Case File Nos. 4750 - 12615
            OSI Files 

   Project Sign Microfilm

      Project Sign Roll 1
         Incidents 1-73

      Project Sign Roll 2
         Incidents 73-172

      Project Sign Roll 3
         Incidents 172-178

   Other Official Microfilm

      AFOSR NICAP/CSI Roll 4
     
      The NICAP/CSI microfilms were made by the Library of
      Congress under contract to the Air Force Office of
      Scientific Research (AFOSR). This was done as part
      of a larger bibliographic project under the
      direction of Lynn Catoe.

      Miscellaneous Blue Book Files Roll 1

      This microfilm is thought to be information for the
      Air Force Public Information Office at the Pentagon.
      It is apparently a compilation of more than one
      reproduction request. (See Frame 623) Summaries of
      certain cases here were released to Donald E. Keyhoe
      in 1952-53 and were used in his book 'Flying Saucers
      from Outer Space.' This roll was given to Dr.
      Herbert Strentz in 1968 by Lt. Col. Hector
      Quintanilla to use in the preparation of his Ph.D.
      dissertation at Northwestern University.

      Air Force Clipping Service Roll 9

      In 1952, the newly minted Project Blue Book
      (formerly Project Grudge) subscribed to a newspaper
      clipping service in an effort to expand their access
      to UFO sighting reports. Although initiated just
      five months earlier, the subscription service was
      terminated in September because the deluge of
      reports sent in during this period of unusually high
      reporting activity was beyond the resources of Blue
      Book to effectively manage. This problem was
      exacerbated by the fact that many of the reports
      provided by the newspaper clipping service were
      locally published versions of national newswire
      reports.

      As with many other microfilm rolls not in the NARA
      collection, this roll was given to Dr. Herbert
      Strentz in 1968 by Lt. Col. Hector Quintanilla to
      use in the preparation of his Ph.D. dissertation at
      the University of Colorado.

II. NEW FEATURES AND FINDING AIDS

   A) MICROFILM INDICES

      The Blue Book index files have been integrated into
      the Archive's "Browse" interface. In addition, we
      are developing similar indices for the Project Sign
      and "Other Official Microfilm" collections. Special
      thanks go to Jan Aldrich and Tom DeMary for their
      effort in creating these incredibly useful indices.

      http://www.bluebookarchive.org/browse.aspx

   B) QUICK-SCAN THUMBNAILS

      To ease the arduous task of scanning through
      hundreds of frames looking for specific types of
      documents (e.g., forms, memos, etc...) we've developed
      a thumbnail preview system. When viewing a page
      within the archive you will now also see thumbnails
      of the previous two and next two pages in the film
      sequence. Used in conjunction with the "5-frame
      advance" navigational feature researchers can
      quickly scan through frames to locate specific types
      of documents. You can try this new feature out by
      browsing to any page in the archive or by using the
      link provided below:

      http://www.bluebookarchive.org/page.aspx

   C) FAQ/User Guide

      Archive contributor Tom DeMary has generously
      provided new users with a FAQ/User Guide that
      addresses many issues and questions they are likely
      to encounter:

      http://www.bluebookarchive.org/about.aspx

   D) ADDITIONAL NEW FEATURES

      i.   Archive pages are now bookmark friendly
      ii.  Added "Project News" page
      iii. Added downloadable PDF Documents page

III. UPCOMING MICROFILM RELEASES

   Thanks to the generous support of the Fund for UFO
   Research (FUFOR) 10 rolls of un-redacted Blue Book
   microfilm is currently in processing and should be
   available in the coming month. Additionally, Italy's
   CISU is working to process 10 additional rolls of NARA
   Blue Book microfilm.

   In addition to microfilm releases, we also have more
   features and finding aids in development to help
   researchers make productive use of archive content. As
   always, we will inform Archive mailing list members as
   new content and features are added.

IV. HOW YOU CAN HELP

   Although our curation interface is still in development
   you can still help the Blue Book Archive by providing
   financial support. If you are financially able we
   encourage you to make a donation via check or credit
   card using PayPal. Your generous donation will allow us
   to provide you with convenient access to microfilm
   documents more quickly than would otherwise be
   possible.

   Donations in support of the Blue Book Archive may be
   sent directly via PayPal to our email address at:

   archivist@bluebookarchive.org

   Alternately, donations may be sent by visiting our
   donations page at:

   http://www.bluebookarchive.org/donate.aspx

   Please note that donations made to the Blue Book
   Archive are NOT tax deductible.

   In addition to donations, you can also support the
   Archive by purchasing microfilm scans on CD-ROM. Each
   CD contains the original 400dpi scans of all images
   from one roll of microfilm as well as a convenient all-
   in-one searchable PDF suitable for printing. Unlike
   film, image scans can be enhanced with software to
   increase legibility and are easy to print and share via
   email with other researchers. Moreover, Archive CD-ROMs
   cost only $9.95- less than a third of the cost of
   microfilm ordered from the National Archives. To browse
   our e-commerce site use the link below:

   http://www.bluebookarchive.org/productslist.aspx

V. HOW TO UNSUBSCRIBE

   To unsubscribe from the Blue Book Archive notifications
   service send an email to archivist@bluebookarchive.org
   indicating that you wish to be removed from our mailing
   list.