Professional Training for Moving Image Archiving and Preservation

FAIN: PE-50017-08

New York University (New York, NY 10012-1019)
Howard A. Besser (Project Director: July 2007 to August 2011)

Eighteen internships for graduate students to gain experience in the identification, inspection, treatment, cataloging, and exhibition of moving images at museums, cultural organizations, and historical societies.

Cultural heritage institutions have a growing need for professionals who possess the knowledge and skills to preserve moving image materials. In addition to the problems of film and video, the exigencies of the digital age require new approaches to archiving. The field requires professionals who are prepared to cope with both the transition of older materials to electronic formats, and to ensure that the born-digital products of contemporary society can be retrieved 100 years from now. We are requesting funds to offer our students financial support while they perform internships (a total of 14 placements over two years) . Since formal training programs are relatively new, exposure to a variety of institutions with different organizational structures is critical for training the next generation of moving image archivists. Internships have the added benefit of helping humanities collections move forward with their own preservation plans.