AMIA the association of moving image archivists U.S.…

               AMIA the association of moving image archivists
U.S. National Moving Image Preservation Plans

Mandate
In 1997, AMIA accepted an invitation by the Library of Congress to review, prioritize, and develop strategies for implementing
the numerous recommendations included in the two US national moving image plans:
Redefining Film Preservation: a National Plan (http://www.loc.gov/film/filmpres.html)
Television and Video Preservation 1997 (http://www.loc.gov/film/filmpres.html)

Specifically, AMIA agreed to:
1. Solicit input from AMIA members concerning the national plans.
2. Prepare overviews of the national plans and prioritize recommendations in the plans.
3. Research and develop implementation strategies for priority recommendations. These strategies will include: what needs to
be done, when it should be done, who should do it, and how much it will cost.
4. Present implementation strategies to the Library of Congress.
5. Work with the Library of Congress and other organizations, as appropriate, to implement these strategies. The Library has
agreed to assist in securing the necessary funding.

To coordinate this effort, the AMIA Board of Directors established an ad hoc Committee on U.S. National Moving Image
Preservation Plans. Following two years of discussions and project development, the ad hoc Committee concluded its work and
issued its final report in October 1999.


Final Report
AMIA Committee on U.S. National Moving Image Preservation Plans

Report to the Board of Directors October 31, 1999

Prepared by Eddie Richmond and Karan Sheldon, Co-chairs, CUSNMIPP

AMIA's ad hoc Committee on U.S. National Moving Image Preservation Plans has concluded its work. This report summarizes
the Committee's activities during the two and one-half years of its operation and outlines plans for integrating its projects into
standing AMIA committees and interest groups.

The co-chairs ask that the Board of Directors officially dissolve CUSNMIPP, effective the end of 1999. We wish to thank all the
Committee and Task Force members who contributed to our collective efforts, and AMIA directors and others who supported
CUSNMIPP's work.

What Has Been Done:
In 1997, AMIA accepted an invitation by the Library of Congress to review, prioritize and develop strategies for implementing
the two U.S. national moving image preservation plans: Redefining Film Preservation and Television and Video Preservation
1997. To coordinate this project, the Board of Directors established the Committee on U.S. National Moving Image Preservation
Plans as an ad hoc committee of the board. CUSNMIPP was assigned four primary goals:



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  · To solicit input from AMIA members concerning the national plans;
  · To prepare overviews of the national plans and to prioritize recommendations in the plans;
  · To research and develop implementation strategies for priority recommendations;
  · To present implementation recommendations to the Library of Congress;


Below is a summary of CUSNMIPP's efforts to achieve these four goals:
1. To solicit input from AMIA members concerning the national plans.
   · CUSNMIPP has worked hard to keep AMIA members informed of its activities and to encourage their active involvement.
   The Committee has published reports in the AMIA Newsletter and posted information on the AMIA web site and listserv. At
   the annual conference, the Committee has reported at business meetings and made presentations at numerous committee
   and interest group meetings. The Committee also sponsored plenary sessions at the 1997 and 1998 conferences.

  · Most importantly, CUSNMIPP sought to involve AMIA members by setting up a series of task forces to work on specific
  areas of the national plans. 35 AMIA members agreed to serve as members of these task forces, and many others were
  involved in less formal ways.


2. To prepare overviews of the national plans and to prioritize recommendations in the plans.
  · CUSNMIPP created two detailed working "matrices" - one for each of the two national plans. Each matrix listed the rec-
  ommendations from that plan, along with purpose or goal, possible participants, and a brief implementation strategy. The
  Library of Congress had previously designed the matrix for Redefining Film Preservation; the Committee reviewed and
  updated it. The matrix for Television and Video Preservation 1997 was created from scratch. The Committee also created
  recommendation lists based on the matrices to help guide its work.

  · The matrices continue to be useful documents, serving as a convenient overview of the national plans and a starting
  point for developing additional implementation proposals.


3. To research and develop implementation strategies for priority recommendations.
  · The proposals developed by CUSNMIPP and the various task forces are as follows:

  · A position paper describing the National Television and Video Preservation Foundation, including an agenda of recom-
  mended projects for the Foundation to undertake. (Prepared by CUSNMIPP.)

  · A proposal for a Selection Advisory Board to write, maintain and communicate guidelines for the selection and retention
  of the full range of American television and video production. (Prepared by the Access Task Force.)

  · A proposal for case study preparations and a symposium on local television to help establish and share concrete mecha-
  nisms for preserving the "national collection" of locally originated television film and videotape. (Prepared by the Access
  Task Force.)

  · A proposal for an assessment of national cataloging and the requirements for creating a national moving image cata-
  loging and information center. (Prepared by the Cataloging Task Force.)

  · A proposal for dissemination of film and videotape storage standards to promote the use of good storage conditions as
  the first line of defense in preserving archival film and videotape. (Prepared by the Storage Task Force.)




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               AMIA the association of moving image archivists
  · A proposal for a workbook and video (possibly as both a web-based and print publication) based on AMIA's Basic
  Training Workshop. (Developed by the Education Committee, in association with CUSNMIPP.)

  · Plans for a one-day "Training the Trainers" symposium that would focus on current issues in archival education and pro-
  vide a forum for discussion among those who teach moving image archiving in the context of professional workshops,
  academic curricula, and archives. (Developed by the Education Task Force.)

  · A draft of a studio contacts directory to help improve communications between archives and major Hollywood studios.
  (Prepared by the Access Task Force.)

  · A proposal outline for a small gauge preservation initiative that includes: a web publication on 8mm and Super 8 infor-
  mation, preparation of sample reels of laboratory work, and a national symposium on small gauge film.

  · See below for additional information about the status of these proposals and how responsibility for them will be inte-
  grated into AMIA's standing committees and interest groups.



4. To present implementation strategies to the Library of Congress.
  · CUSNMIPP has been in contact with the Library of Congress throughout its work for two reasons. First, AMIA established
  the Committee in response to an invitation by the Library to review, prioritize and develop implementation strategies for
  the national plans. Second, the Library agreed to take primary responsibility for securing the funding needed to implement
  the plans, including proposals developed by AMIA on behalf of the field.

  · The Committee has provided the Library with proposals (in final or draft form) and/or reports on the National Television
  and Video Preservation Foundation, the local television case studies and symposium, the assessment of national moving
  image cataloging, and the small gauge preservation initiative. Responses from the Library are expected soon.



What Do We Do Now?
With the imminent dissolution of CUSNMIPP, what will happen to the projects listed above? How will they be administered,
coordinated and (we hope) brought to realization?

Responsibility for the projects initiated or coordinated by CUSNMIPP must now be integrated into AMIA's standing structures -
committees of the membership, interest groups and the board itself. In most cases this process is already underway:

Work on the National Television and Video Preservation Foundation (NTVPF) has been handed off to an informal multi-organi-
zational consortium made-up of AMIA, the Library of Congress and UCLA Film and Television Archive. Currently, Gregory Lukow,
with support from UCLA, is working to establish the foundation in coordination with all concerned. The AMIA board has appoint-
ed Jim Lindner as its representative to the consortium. Lukow will give a progress report during the AMIA conference in Montreal.
Creation of the Selection Advisory Board for television and video is on hold pending formation of the NTVPF. Once established,
the NTVPF will be sent CUSNMIPP's proposal for the selection board and asked to implement and administer it as one of the
foundation's priority programs.

The local television initiative (case studies and symposium) has been developed by a subgroup of the Access Task Force, in
consultation with many other AMIA members. The project itself, however, crosses the boundaries between access, preservation
and cataloging. How this project moves forward has yet to be determined. CUSNMIPP hopes to work out arrangements for a


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              AMIA the association of moving image archivists
small steering committee to direct the project, either as an appointed committee of the board or in the context of the News
and Documentary Interest Group. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has signaled its interest in cooperating
with AMIA on this project.

The Cataloging Committee will assume responsibility for the proposal to assess national cataloging and the requirements for
a moving image cataloging center. The Committee has expressed a desire to oversee this project, if funding can be provided
to facilitate the work. If funds are not forthcoming from the Library, CUSNMIPP (in its final few weeks) will work with the
Cataloging Committee to determine next steps.

The Storage Task Force, in consultation with the Preservation Committee, has prepared a web page on film and videotape stor-
age standards. The web page information has been submitted to the Publications Committee and will be posted on the AMIA
web site as a service to the field.

The Education Committee (specifically Mary Ide, Alan Lewis and Janice Simpson) has always assumed responsibility for the pro-
posal to develop AMIA's Basic Training Workshop into a web-based and possibly print publication. CUSNMIPP has played only
a minor role in the early stages of the project.

The Education Task Force will continue to plan the "Training the Trainers" symposium and will propose that it be held as part
of the AMIA conference in 2000. The task force is fully integrated within the Education Committee and the workshop is being
developed as an Education Committee initiative.

The Access Committee should assume responsibility for the directory of studio contacts. CUSNMIPP will discuss this project
with the committee members who have been working on it (specifically Caroline Frick and Donna Ross) and the new chair of
the Access Committee as soon as one is selected.

The small gauge preservation initiative has been developed by informal group of AMIA members (Toni Treadway, Bill Murphy,
Steven Gong and others) who coalesced around this project within the context of CUSNMIPP. How this project moves forward
has yet to be determined. CUSNMIPP hopes to work out arrangements for a small steering committee to direct the project,
either as an appointed committee of the board or in the context of the Regional Audiovisual Archives Interest Group. If funds
are not forthcoming from the Library, CUSNMIPP will work with the steering committee to determine next steps.

Of course, the ultimate responsibility for all AMIA projects, including those created by CUSNMIPP, must reside with the Board
of Directors - as it always has. We urge the board to continue supporting these projects and developing AMIA's role in nation-
al (and international) archival initiatives.

Committee on U.S. National Moving Image Preservation Plans
Eddie Richmond, Co-chair
Karan Sheldon, Co-chair
Grover Crisp
Mona Jimenez
Jim Lindner
Gregory Lukow
William Murphy


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               AMIA the association of moving image archivists
Access Task Force                                Education Task Force
Caroline Frick, Co-chair                         Oksana Dykyj, Co-chair
Bonnie Wilson, Co-chair                          Kathleen Haynes, Co-chair
Karen Cariani                                    Paolo Cherchi Usai
Kathy Christensen                                Megan Sniffin-Marinoff
Steve Davidson                                   James Turner
Raye Farr
Douglas Gomery                                   Storage Task Force
Donna Ross                                       Bill Murphy, Chair
Stephen Seid                                     Milt Shefter
Ron Simon                                        Rick Utley
Brian Taves                                      Steve Vitiello
                                                 David Wexler
Local Television Group
Bonnie Wilson                                    Task Force on Treatment and Preservation
Karen Cariani                                    Jim Lindner, Co-chair
Steve Davidson                                   Paul Messier, Co-chair
Linda Giannecchini                               Luke Hones
                                                 Sarah Stauderman
Cataloging Task Force                            Ken Weissman
David Green, Co-chair
Henry Mattoon, Co-chair
Jim Hubbard
Barbara Humphrys
Jane Johnson




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