AMIA Newsbriefs

We're about to lose 1,000 theaters that can't convert to digital? It does matter.

There's a very interesting editorial over at Indiewire right now from Michael Hurley, who owns some theaters in Maine, about the digital conversion that's threatening to swamp
a significant number of our country's screens... many if not all, in what is surely not a coincidence, run by independent owners and operators.
 
Read more here: http://www.variancefilms.com/blog

Westland series of rural BC films to become part of UBC archive

One of the largest private film collections in Canada, which provides a fascinating document of rural B.C., will be housed and preserved by UBC Library thanks to a generous donation
from the Halleran family and the support of community partners including Columbia Basin Trust (CBT). The Halleran Collection, valued at $750,000, consists of about 250 nature-oriented video programs produced in British Columbia over the decades – first by
Mike Halleran and then by his son Terry.
 
Read the story here: http://castlegarsource.com/news/westland-series-rural-bc-films-become-part-ubc-archive-17128

Kodak is out of the picture at Oscars

The announcement comes after much speculation as to whether the once-dominant film manufacturing and photography company would keep its name on the Oscar theater after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy reorganization
earlier this year.
 
Read the story here: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/02/22/oscars-kodak-idUSL4E8DM8VN20120222

The Associated Press partners PFT to digitize video archive

The Associated Press is working with Prime Focus Technologies (PFT) to digitize its unique video archive, making it available to a whole new audience across digital platforms.
AP’s film and tape archive contains around 70,000 hours’ worth of footage, including more than 1.3 million global news and entertainment stories, in 16mm film and videotape, dating back to the beginning of the 20th Century.
 
Read the press release here: http://www.medianewsline.com/news/121/ARTICLE/9023/2012-02-22.html

Debate on Saving Historic Films Explodes

Is it acceptable to destroy cultural objects as if they were land mines? This is a question faced by archivists in Germany, where many of the country's historical films were shot
on explosive nitrocellulose. A bitter fight has broken out in Germany over whether the film should be preserved or destroyed.

 
Read the story here: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,814106,00.html#ref=nlint

The Winter 2012 Newsletter is now available!

The AMIA Winter Newsletter is here ...  

• Lots of pictures from the Austin Conference
• Information about our 2011 AMIA Awards - Silver Light recipient Ralph Sargent and William S. O'Farrell Volunteer Award recipient Greg Lukow
• A Member Profile of Gary Adams
• The Volunteer Spotlight shines on Heather Linville
• And did you know SAMMA won an Emmy?

Plus - an update from the NYU Student Chapter, Advocating for Thailand's Audiovisual Archives from AMIA's Advocacy Committee, news from the field, and more. 

Also in this issue is a tribute to Alan Stark from the Memorial Service in October, and we remember John D. Lowry.

Log into the members area of the AMIA website to read the Newsletter here.  

We hope to see you in Seattle for the 2012 Conference!  We'll be announcing dates for our Digital Asset Symposium and The Reel Thing: Los Angeles soon.

Enjoy!

Digital movie projectors end Hollywood's film era

In just two months, digital will overtake film as the predominant movie projector technology in the world's cinemas, according to a study released this week by IHS. It will be the
first time since the advent of the motion picture in 1889 that film projectors will be used to screen a minority of movies.
Read more here: http://money.cnn.com/2011/11/21/technology/digital_movie_projectors/index.htm

AMIA 2011: A Message From The Alamo Drafthouse!

Are you coming to Austin?

 

Show off those one of a kind treasures from your collection at the 2nd AMIA/Alamo Drafthouse REELS OF STEEL COMPETITION!

If you have a rare, exciting and entertaining piece of film or video in your collection that you would love to show to others, bring it along with you, and win a great (well, a semi-great) prize. The screening and competition will take place on Wednesday, November 16 at 11:30 pm. It will be a party atmosphere, with beer available and lots of fun clips played for the amusement of a relaxed audience of archivists and film buffs.

If you want to participate, just email Lars Nilsen (lars.nilsen@drafthouse.com) with the particulars about format (16mm, 35mm, DVD & Blu-Ray) and length so we can schedule the run of the show. Admission and contest entry are free. Do not miss it! Location is: Alamo Drafthouse at the Ritz, 320 E. 6th St, Austin, 512-476-1320, www.drafthouse.com.

More about the 2011 REELS OF STEEL COMPETITION:

"Battles" between hip hop DJs have been going on for nearly 30 years. The two participants set up their turntables and try to blow each other off the stage by cutting up crazier and more obscure vinyl. This November 30 we're going to put a whole new spin on it. Because this time instead of DJs, the competitors are hotshot film archivists, in town for the Association of Moving Image Archivists Convention, and they're bringing their most obscure, entertaining short films. It's a battle to the finish as each archivist, armed with reel after reel of educational films, cartoons, home movies, stag films and more, tries to get the crowd pumped into a frenzy and win the fat gold chain that signifies !

UNESCO RECOGNISES THE IMPORTANCE OF ARCHIVES IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY

UNESCO RECOGNISES THE IMPORTANCE OF ARCHIVES IN CONTEMPORARY SOCIETY
 
In the one of the most significant developments for archives at the international level for many years, the General Conference of UNESCO has today adopted the Universal Declaration on Archives proposed by the International Council on
Archives. This landmark decision is an important step in improving public understanding of archives. It provides a splendid opportunity to raise still further awareness of archives among the general public and key decision-makers. 

 
The Declaration is a powerful succinct statement of the relevance of archives in modern society. It emphasizes the key role of archives in administrative transparency and democratic accountability, as well as the preservation of collective
social memory. While not neglecting the traditional concern with meeting the needs of historical research, the Declaration repositions effective archives management as an essential function which underpins modern public administration, good practice in private
business, and ready access to information by citizens.  
 
The first version of the Declaration was written by archivists in Québec in 2007. It was then adopted by the Section of Professional Associations (SPA) in ICA, who developed the text and made sure that its key messages were understood
across languages and cultures. It generated many stimulating debates in ICA, before it obtained unanimous approval at the AGM in Oslo in September 2010.

 
Since then the international archival community has worked tirelessly to have the Declaration adopted by UNESCO. Today's decision is the culmination of intense efforts led by Papa Momar Diop, the Ambassador of Senegal at UNESCO and
the former National Archivist of Senegal. He has been ably supported by Jens Boel, Head Archivist at UNESCO, and activists in the ICA network throughout the world.
 
The challenge now is to use the Declaration to maximum effect, so that archives emerge from the ghetto, in which they are still all too often confined, and take their rightful place as a major player at heart of public administration
and the centre of social memory.
 

Library of Congress launches Viewshare.org

The National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program at the Library of Congress recently launched Viewshare.org. Viewshare is a free, open-source platform that empowers librarians, archivists, scholars, and curators
to create maps, timelines, tag clouds, and other web interfaces for their digital collections. Supporting multiple metadata upload options, and featuring data augmentation tools such as geocoding and ISO 8601 date conversion, Viewshare provides an free, intuitive
tool for building and sharing customized, interactive views of cultural heritage digital collections.
 
The full announcement can be viewed on the Library’s Digital Preservation blog at
http://1.usa.gov/snqNHc and you can also visit
http://viewshare.org to find out more information and to request an account.
 
 

ICA Congress 2012: Early Bird Deadlines

Dear Colleagues -

The ICA Congress 2012 – A Climate of Change – is now taking early bird registrations. The price offered will be in place until April 2012, so taking into account your organisations financial year limits, now might be the best time for you to register.

The Call for Abstracts has been extended to 31 January 2012.  We decided to extend the closing time as we thought that the message about the Call for Abstracts may not have reached all interested parties. The call is online and you have the capability to load your abstract through that mechanism. However, in the event that you have any problem, please contact the MCI address on the website for assistance.

Please check both the ICA website www.ica2012.com and the ICA website www.ica.org   regularly for information and updates of information about the Congress. Also note the twitter capability on the congress website.

Your assistance in broadcasting information and updates about the congress among your colleagues  will help immeasurably in making the 2012 Congress a success and I thank you for any efforts you can make.

Please contact me if you have any questions or need clarification.

My best wishes -
Margaret Kenna

The Fall 2011 Newsletter is now available!

The AMIA Fall Newsletter is here!

There's information about the the recent Reel Thing and DAS events, our new Member Profile section, News from the FIeld and a lot more.

Just log into the members area of the AMIA website to read the Newsletter right here.  You'll need your membership number from your membership card.

We've added live links to the PDF copy, so you can directly link to advertisers as well as references throughout the Newsletter - so just click on any link to see more.

We hope to see you in Austin!

Have you checked out the Austin blog?

There's a little bit of everything Austin waiting for you on the AMIA 2011 blog.  Places to eat, bars to check out, things to do ..

Check it out here:  www.AMIA2011.com.

Calls for nominations for Memory of the World International Register 2012/2013

UNESCO is inviting new nomination proposals for inscription on its Memory of the World International Register, a list of library collections and archive holdings of world significance, which was established in 1997 to promote documentary heritage of universal value.

Click here for more information.

AMIA 2011: Just added to the program!

Thursday - 2:00pm - 3:30pm The Digital Dilemma 2 … It Continues 2007's landmark report from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) on digital motion picture preservation issues, "The Digital Dilemma," reported from the perspective of the major motion picture studios and large commercial and government organizations. A new report, "The Digital Dilemma 2," reports on digital motion picture preservation issues from the perspective of independent filmmakers, documentarians and nonprofit audiovisual archives. Independent filmmakers produce 75% of theatrical releases in the U.S. and the more than 500 nonprofit audiovisual archives in the U.S. hold many independent and historical films. These groups often lack the resources, personnel and funding to address sustainability issues, and they therefore face their own version of the digital dilemma. The report raises critical questions about where the responsibility for preservation of this digital content lies - with the archives or with the content owner? The presentation will discuss the report's findings, which include proposed interim options for these communities to consider. Friday - 8:00pm Home Movies of Silent Film Stars Most of us have worked to preserve silent films and can even provide basic histories about the people who made them. But when it comes to silent stars, more is known about their on-screen characters than their off set personalities. This screening will provide a history about several silent film stars as shown through their own home movies. Friday - 9:30pm at the Town Lake Gazebo Seeding the Clouds: Film on Fog Open screening! Bring your own reels and rolls as Austin artists Barna Kantor and Scott Stark point their 16mm projectors at billowing clouds of pure cold steam. The misty mayhem will reveal dimension, movement and voluptuousness not previously found in your found footage. Saturday - 2:00pm - 3:00pm Preservation and Access For the Next Generation Archives Today’s high tech media landscape makes it critical for archive owners to move their content from shelves in warehouses to open, master file digital workflows, in which “smart content” metadata, APIs, and web-based access enable enhanced utility and monetization opportunities. Experts who have brought together a comprehensive “video ecosystem” to move content into online, cloud-based platforms will convene to discuss scalable and affordable ways to preserve libraries and unlock their value. Panelists will address the immediate and future benefits that content library owners will experience when moving their offline archives into a digital platform. PLUS!  Wednesday - 11:30pm | Alamo Ritz - Free Admission AMIA Reels of Steel "Battles" between hip hop DJs have been going on for nearly 30 years. The two participants set up their turntables and try to blow each other off the stage by cutting up crazier and more obscure vinyl. This November we're going to put a whole new spin on it. It's a battle to the finish as each archivist, armed with reel after reel of educational films, cartoons, home movies, stag films and more, tries to get the crowd pumped into a frenzy and win the fat gold chain that signifies AMIA Emulsion Propulsion Champ 2011! For more program information, visit www.AMIAConference.com Plus ... Conference Schedule Workshops Archival Screening Night The Vendor Cafe and Room Share Program Form