Activities defined by medium

ALWAYS Under construction- but suggestions and input welcomed. Respond to M M Maxwell.

Photographs-

Once again from my own experience as an employee at NARA:

Access Issues= Researcher demands can be beyond staffing/ budget capablilities.  Photographic copies can be quite pricy.
Cataloging Issues= At series level,some items described or mentioned at the item level. This can vary from respository to repository, depending on mission and resources.  It is more costly and time consuming to try describe photographs at the time level.
Preservation Issues= Acetate negatives must be kept cold and also suffer from the degenteration of the base, and once the negative is gone its gone. Researchers need to wear gloves.  Older photographs, such as ambrotypes, should not be photocopied or scanned. Glass negatives are very fragile.
Use of Medium= Sentemental. Documentation. Illustrative. Stock. Personal.  Examples: Woman wants picture of ship her husband served on, or picture of great-granddad who served in war; Scholar need picture of feminist leader for journal article; Teacher needs picture of city before and after riots to show the damage; Magazine needs pictures of state governors for its own stock collection; or citizen wants picture taken by a famous photographer for her wall.

Motion Picture and Sound-

From my own experience as a student temp, working at NARA on the processing side, and interning at the JFK Presidential Library, motion pictures are fun.

Access Issues= Expensive to make copies for researchers. So finding aid descriptions and past experience with film used to help researchers.
Cataloging Issues= Item level, not so much by series. Shot descriptions very helpful.
Preservation Issues= Magnetic tape has too many formats, making some irretrievable because there isn't any operational equiptment.   Nitrate film is flammable. Vinegar syndrome where the acetate in the film breaks down. Magnetic tape is unstable, when comared to 35mm, 16mm and 8mm film. Should have three copies of one film, preservation, intermediate, and a reference copy for access.
Possible uses for medium = Television, film and other "entertainment" businesses and organizations use historic film and sound in projects.  Stock footage.  Acts as evidence.

 

Last edited 01/18/00 by M M Maxwell.