From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for Jan. 10, 1972:

The office of the Douglas County Register of Deeds had kept up with technological changes in record-keeping since the early days of the county. The pen-and-ink method of 1856 had given way to the typewriter in 1920 and then the camera in 1946. The latest change to the office was the purchase of about $12,000 worth of microfilm equipment. Using the new system, a customer would pay only about 15 cents to have a copy made of any document he or she had registered. The method also saved money in storage costs. Under the old system, it cost almost $500 to have a book of 600 document pages reproduced and bound. The new method of microfilm storage cost only $1.15 for 1,000 images. Eventually all the documents kept by the register of deeds were to be preserved on microfilm, including the first one dated 1855 recording the sale of “one engine, one boiler and one saw mill complete.” After the transfer to microfilm, the old volumes were to be saved as pieces of history and a reminder of the old way of recording deeds.