AMIA: Conference Workshops

Tuesday
8:30 am - 12:30 pm
Film Collection Management Workshop:
From Condition Evaluation and Environmental Assessment to Preservation

Chair: Jim Reilly, Image Permanence Institute
Speaker: Jean-Louis Bigourdan, Image Permanence
IPI has focused on developing tools to facilitate film preservation decisions. The main purpose of this half-day workshop is to show how these tools complement each other when used together to determine appropriate storage strategies for a wide variety of situations. IPI research has indicated that it is possible to determine what environment a film collection needs only if the general condition of that collection is known. Likewise, it is possible to determine if the current collection environment is suitable only if that environment can be characterized. This workshop will provide basic information on film stability and on the effect of climate conditions on film collections. Most importantly, this workshop will introduce attendees to a step-by-step "collection management kit." During this workshop, the tools mentioned above will be presented and put into practice, and attendees will be able to apply this approach in their own institutions.
Pre-registration is required. Form is included in our registration materials.

Tuesday
1:30 pm - 5:30 pm
Digital Basics Workshop

Chair: Linda Tadic, ARTstor
Speaker: John Walko, Scene Savers (a division of the PPS Group)
The Digital Basics Workshop will give attendees essential information to help them make knowledgeable decisions in digitizing their collections, and managing and preserving the files they create. Topics covered include: file formats for video, audio, and still images; compression; infrastructure requirements; hardware and software; technical and descriptive metadata; preservation; and digital asset management. Attendees will perform a digitizing exercise on professional equipment, taking them through the process from source to creating a digital file. Digital files to be discussed include uncompressed digital video, QuickTime, AVI, MPEG (1 and 2), streaming formats, and others. The goal of the workshop is to de-mystify digitization for attendees by presenting digital issues in a coherent way with hands-on experience.
Pre-registration is required. Form is included in our registration materials.

Wednesday
9:00 am - 5:00 pm
Preservation and Conservation of Moving Image Related Materials Workshop
(Harry Ransom Center)

Organizer: Sara J. Holmes, Texas Tech University Libraries
Speakers: Barbara Brown, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center
Mary Baughman, Harry Huntt Ransom Humanities Research Center
David B. Gracy II, University of Texas School of Information
Chela Metzger, University of Texas School of Information
Ellen Cunningham-Kruppa, University of Texas School of Information
Conservation Graduate Student TBA, University of Texas School of Information
Archivists working with collections of materials related to moving images are faced with a dizzying array of materials-paper, photographs, textiles, plastics, and objects of metal, wood, etc.-all of which they are responsible for preserving. This workshop, to be held in the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, will inform attendees on how to house papers, still images, objects, and costumes, how to determine which items require conservation treatment, and how to plan preservation and conservation projects. This one-day workshop will include presentations by conservators and UT-Information School faculty on how to select items for treatment, how to work with and find a conservator, understanding and identifying inherent vices in materials, and making housings and boxes. Highlights will include a case study on the HRC's project for the safe transport of costumes from Gone with the Wind and a behind-the-scenes tour of the HRC's Conservation Labs.
Pre-registration is required. Form is included in our registration materials.

9:00 am - 2:00 pm
AMIA Regional Workshop
Basic Training Workshop: Becoming a Film Friendly Archivist

Hosted by: The Harry Ransom Center
Organizers/Speakers: Snowden Becker, AMPAS
Katie Trainor, Independent Film Chanel
Whether they are home movies from estate collections or instructional films included in corporate records, small amounts of film keep finding their way into non-film archives. This workshop furnishes the practicing archivist with skills to identify, assess, and preserve (not neglect!) history caught on film. This workshop will provide a general introduction to film formats, terminology and technology as well as a hands on introduction to identifying and assessing materials. The participant will leave this workshop having acquired the necessary skills to identitfy and evaluate their collections' condition and contents, set preservation priorities for film materials, get accurate estimates for preservation work, identify sources of funding for preservation work, and regard future acquisitions of film with confidence and a positive attitude.
Pre-registration is required. Form is included in our registration materials.