Video History Project

Chronology

Library of Congress

Date
1996
In March the Library of Congress holds hearings in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, DC for the Study of the Preservation of Television and Video, conducting a national needs assessment and resulting in a set of recommendations in areas such as cataloging, cleaning and remastering, education and storage.
Cite this record

"Library of Congress." Video History Project, Experimental Television Center, 2011. https://www.videohistoryproject.org/library-congress.

Download RIS citation
Summary

In March the Library of Congress held hearings in Los Angeles, New York and Washington, DC for the Study of the Preservation of Television and Video; the hearings conducted a national needs assessment and produced a set of recommendations. Recommendations addressed cataloging, cleaning and remastering, education and storage.

Submit a change or correction

If unchecked, this will appear as a public note on the site immediately. Spam filters may delay publication, but all submissions are reviewed by staff.

Changes will be reviewed and integrated as time permits. For major changes, feel free to email [email protected].

Last modified 16 May 2011

Related records

  • Video Preservation: A Report from the Trenches Preservation

    A Video Data Bank author reports on videotape preservation practice and supervised preservation of the Castelli-Sonnabend collection and the compilation of 65 titles for Surveying the First Decade; core procedures described include transfers among formats (1/2" open reel, 1" IVC, 3/4" U-matic, digital), cleaning, reference copies, two masters, cataloging and storage. He details technical problems (drop-out, skew, deck differences, TBC use) and aesthetic/legal dilemmas about edits and distribution; institutional activity by BAVC, Media Alliance and MoMA and funders such as the Andy Warhol Foundation and Getty Grant Program are noted. Events cited include Playback 1996 (SFMOMA, March 29–30) and Library of Congress hearings in March 1996 in New York, Washington, DC and Los Angeles; texts by Deirdre Boyle, Jim Hubbard and Jim Lindner are referenced.

  • Getting Started Preservation

    Practical guide for initiating videotape preservation covering planning, storage environment assessment, cataloging, consultant use, education and preservation management; emphasizes prioritization, emergency response and short- and long-term goals. Recommends climate control and monitoring, upright shelving, computer inventories and the IMAP FileMaker Pro catalog template; advises commissioning preservation surveys by moving-image archivists or conservators and cites AIC/FAIC guidance and several archive partners (Andy Warhol Museum; Anthology Film Archives; The Jewish Museum Archive of Broadcasting; MoMA; Video DataBank; WGBH; WNET Tape Archive). Bibliographic references include Boyle (1993), Murphy (Library of Congress, 1997), Wheeler (Nov 1994) and Scholtz (CLIR, 1989).

  • Background and History Preservation

    Experimental Television Center produced this guide and organized the Video History Project, documenting early video art and community television in upstate New York (1968–1980) through oral histories, a website and the Video History: Making Connections conference (Syracuse University, October 1998). The text cites Media Alliance and publications such as Deirdre Boyle's Video Preservation and the Magnetic Media Preservation Sourcebook, and notes IMAP's 1999 formation with New York State Council on the Arts and Rockefeller Foundation support. It outlines archivist functions, videotape deterioration modes and chronology of preservation activities through 2002.

  • Video Preservation: Securing the Future of the Past Preservation

    Media Alliance launched a video preservation initiative in 1991 and, in partnership with the New York State Council on the Arts, convened a symposium at the Museum of Modern Art on June 14, 1991; over 60 participants from as far as San Francisco and Toronto attended and MoMA sponsored an evening screening organized by Barbara London and Sally Berger. Presenters included Elizabeth Scheines, Leanne Mella, Mark Schubin, David Shulman and Deborah Silverfine; topics covered collection assessment, cataloging (MARC and NAMID), conservation technology, cleaning methods, formats and remastering costs. Media Alliance surveyed over 200 people and solicited funding support from NYSCA, NEA, NAMAC, CCUMC, the Benton Foundation and BAVC; Deirdre Boyle authored the report and Mary Esbjornson served as Executive Director and Project Director of the Video Preservation Initiative.

  • What's Next? An Open Discussion Preservation

    Open discussion facilitated by Dara Meyers-Kingsley (IMAP) and Luke Hones (Artists Television Access) at the Experimental Television Center symposium Looking Back/Looking Forward: A Symposium on Electronic Media Preservation, held May 31–June 1, 2002. Participants from BAVC, IMAP, EAI, Eastman House, NAMAC, DV Labs and others discussed tape-format preservation (Beta SP, Digital8, DV), documentation and cataloguing (pilot union catalogue, IMAP LISTSERV), technical approaches (non-invasive duplication, cleaning, manuals), ethics and conservation, online distribution/streaming and training and funding models.

  • Preservation Planning and Management Preservation

    Preservation Planning and Management provides guidance and a list of consultants and resources for audiovisual preservation, organized under sections for consultants, project planning and management, collection assessment and surveys, collection management, appraisals, and resources. It cites James C. Scholtz’s Developing and Maintaining Video Collections in Libraries (Santa Barbara, CA: CLIO, 1989) and notes the Magnetic Media Preservation Sourcebook available from Media Alliance; listings are provided as a service and are not endorsements by Media Alliance or the Experimental Television Center. Named consultants and institutions (including Boston Art Conservation; Heritage Resource Management Associates; Hollywood Vaults; the Image Permanence Institute at RIT; VidiPax; and others) are described with services such as collection assessment, appraisal, storage and environmental surveys, disaster planning, grant consultation, cataloging, and technical research on temperature, humidity and pollutants.