AMIA Newsbriefs

French minister urges EU not to abandon digital archive market to US

France's culture minister has urged Europe not to abandon the market for digital archives to U.S. companies, such as Google Inc. Mitterrand, who is the son of former French President Francois Mitterrand, made his remarks in answer to a question about whether European ministers have a favorable view of Google's plans to build a global digital library.

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Alice Guy Blaché: Cinema Pioneer at the Whitney

This is the first comprehensive retrospective of the films of Alice Guy Blaché (1873–1968), a key but unsung figure of the early years of cinema, the first woman director, and the first woman to establish and preside over her own film studio. The exhibition is organized by Whitney curator-at-large Joan Simon. It is accompanied by an illustrated catalogue, published by Yale University Press in association with the Whitney, with contributions by noted film scholars Jane Gaines, Alison McMahan, Charles Musser, Alan Williams, film historian and preservationist Kim Tomadjoglou, and the show’s organizer, Joan Simon.

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Overwhelmed archive eyes state-of-art storage

The New Zealand Film Archive is launching a fundraising drive to build an international-standard coolstore to house its collection, after running out of space for its 300,000 cans, reels and cassettes of video and film.

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Archives probing Watergate notes for hidden clues

One of the enduring mysteries from the scandal that consumed Richard Nixon's presidency is coming under renewed scrutiny from forensic scientists gathered by the National Archives

Read the story here:  http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j6JO2LfPNTkdJO6Ch76d0oGiESSAD9C2FQ9G0

Collection of FDR papers soon to become public

The last great archives of Franklin D. Roosevelt's presidency may soon be available to researchers and the public — 14 boxes of handwritten notes, gifts and correspondence, including a letter from Italian dictator Benito Mussolini congratulating him on his 1933 inauguration.

Read the story here:  http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5ivU2y7sOoBL7-jjAUSNANslokWKAD9C0T2UG0

Museums and broadcasters must work together, says Tate Media's Gompertz

Incoming BBC News arts editor Will Gompertz encourages co-operation between diverse kinds of cultural institution

Museums and galleries should work with broadcasters to create public service media, the future BBC  News arts editor - currently director of Tate Media - has said.

Read the story here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2009/nov/19/media-festival-manchester-publicservicemedia

Film uses N. Texas media coverage to tell story of Kennedy assassination

The National Geographic Channel film pulled footage from hundreds of hours of material from the archives of the Sixth Floor Museum.

"And a lot of that material really has not been seen," said Gary Mack, the Sixth Floor Museum's curator. "Some of it hasn't been seen since it actually happened."

Read the story here:  http://www.wfaa.com/news/local/Documentary-uses-N-Texas-media-coverage-to-tell-story-of-Kennedy-assassination-70446392.html

Space and Sharing at the Prelinger Library

“We were interested in experimenting with alternative access to cultural resources,” says Megan, an independent scholar whose history on advertising in the space age will be published in May 2010 by Blast Books. “We wanted to start a library that would support our work as researchers and archivists, but we wanted it to be open to everybody.”

Read the story here:  http://shareable.net/blog/the-movable-library

National Archives project secures financing

Financing has been secured for the $100 million National Archives and Records Administration military personnel records facility planned for north St. Louis County.

Read the story here: http://stlouis.bizjournals.com/stlouis/stories/2009/11/16/daily28.html

Academics withdraw support for Holocaust center

A dispute over access to an archive involving Vienna's Jewish community has prompted a group of academics to withdraw support for an Austrian Holocaust research center, saying independent research is no longer possible, according to a letter obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press.

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