[Publib] UPDATE: Preservation Mgt of Legacy Machine-based AV Media

[Marianne Steadley]

Apologies for cross-posting. Updated workshop information is provided below. 

PRESERVATION MANAGEMENT OF LEGACY MACHINE-BASED AUDIOVISUAL MEDIA

WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION: This is an intense, one-day session developed initially for the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) as a pre-conference, basic training session covering film and video recording.  It was then expanded with additional modules to include audio/sound recordings among other topics.  The workshop is designed for persons who find themselves involved with some or all of the “legacy” machine-based AV media: mechanical and magnetic tape sound recordings, motion picture films, separate film sound tracks and videotapes.  The focus is on the fundamental nature of these various media and the application of archival principles and procedures to them.  The curriculum deals with concepts, terminology, technologies, basic conservation and preservation methods, storage considerations, description (see note below), equipment needs and more.  The workshop typically also gives attendees an opportunity to network with other people working in the field and to learn about other institutions, often nearby, that are facing similar challenges.  Attendees are encouraged to bring in examples (or pictures) of problem recording media or unusual equipment that they are challenged by.  

WHO SHOULD ATTEND:  Archive, library and historical society administrators, oral historians, archivists, broadcasting and media librarians, conservators, stock footage collections staff and preservation managers.  Film, audio and video laboratory managers and sales persons seeking information about providing services to the media archives community would also benefit.

WORKSHOP SPECIFICS:  This lecture will be free and open to the public and will be held at the Spurlock Museum on the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign on Wednesday, July 18th, 2007 from 9 to 5. There will be a break for lunch (on your own) and two 15 minute breaks. 

To register for the course, please visit http://130.126.32.16/evanced/lib0/eventcalendar.asp?libnum=1

WORKSHOP OUTLINE:

MODULE A - Machine-Based Audio Visual Records – General Concepts: 
	Terms and Definitions
	The Value of AV Records
	Why AV Records Are Different
	Characteristics of AV Records
	Appraisal Considerations
	Description (in brief)
	Conservation, Preservation, Restoration
	Reference and Access
	Marketing
	Selection of a Reformatting Technology

MODULE B- Mechanical Sound Recordings:  Technology, Media and Problems:
	Principles and History of Mechanical Sound Recording
	Equipment Types
	Recording Media
	Standards 

MODULE C - Magnetic Sound Records:  Technology, Media and Problems:
	Principles and History of Magnetic Sound Recording
	Equipment
	Recording Media
	Standards
MODULE D - Motion Picture Film – Images:  Technology, Media and Problems:
	Capturing Images Photographically
	Principles and History of Motion Photography
	Equipment:  Cameras and Projectors
	The Medium:  Photochemical Film
	Standards

MODULE E - Motion Picture Film – Sound:  Technology, Media and Problems:
	History of Film Sound Recording
	Capturing Synchronized Sound Optically and Magnetically 
	Single and Double System Sound Recording
	Recording Media
	Standards

MODULE F - Magnetic Video Recordings:  Technology, Media and Problems:
	Principles and History of Magnetic Video Recording
	Equipment
	Recording Media
	Standards

MODULE G - 19 Conservation Concerns for AV Media:
	Environment
	Physical Security
	Fire Protection
	Water Protection
	Light Sensitivity
	Cleanliness
	Air Quality
	Biological Infestation
	Strategic Dispersal
	Primary Containers
	Storage Position
	Winding
	Shelving
	Shock & Vibration Protection
	Magnetic Protection
	Item Identification
	Inventory Control
	Equipment and Technology Obsolescence
	Personnel

MODULE H – Reference and Marketing
	In terms of the needs of the users
	In terms of the needs of the records
	In terms of the needs of the records
	Quality of reproductions
	Elements for a brochure

MODULE I - Contracting for Laboratory Services:
	Why it may be necessary
	The contracting process
	The Statement of Work

MODULE J – What Does the Future Hold?
	Where are we going?
	Does “digital” mean the IT people are taking over?

THE INSTRUCTOR:  Alan Lewis has been involved in audiovisual media since 1950.  His introduction to the field was as a junior high school “AV kid” who set-up the microphones in the auditorium, ran the movie and lantern slide projectors (this was in the days before 35mm Kodak Carousel slide projectors!) and the then newly available ¼-inch audiotape recorders.  This led to a Bachelor of Science degree in Communications (Radio-Television Broadcasting) from the University of Florida.  

In 1963, after a brief post-college career as a stagehand in New York theaters and network TV studios and service in the U.S. Army, he joined WEDU-TV, Tampa, as a producer-director.  He rose quickly to become Coordinator of Program Planning and Operations and then the station’s Director of Programming.  

In 1973, he joined the Washington headquarters staff of the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) as Supervisor of Acquisitions for its Public Television Library (PTL) and by the late 1970s was its director – including an added component, the Public Television Archives.  During this time he acquired grant funds to acquire and safeguard the holdings of the defunct National Educational Television (NET) network.  (The NET Collection has now been transferred to the American Television and Radio Archives of the Library of Congress.)  

In 1983 he moved to CBS News in New York as Director of the Film and Videotape Archives.  A corporate restructuring at CBS led him into a few years of work as a self-employed AV archives consultant with clients as diverse and widespread as New York’s Museum of Modern Art and Oregon’s State Historical Society.  

In 1991 he returned to Washington where he served as Subject Area Expert - Audiovisual Preservation in the Special Media Archives Services Division of the National Archives and Records Administration.  He retired from government service in January 2005 

In February 2005, he resumed private preservation management consulting, doing audiovisual preservation surveys, and training staff in film inspection and related matters.

Lewis has taught this AV archives basic training curriculum since the early 1980s and estimates that over 700 people have received this first level of instruction from him.  







Marianne Steadley
Continuing Professional Development Program Director
501 E. Daniel St. Champaign IL 61820
217/244-2751
Fax: 217/244-3302