WBTV Film Preservation Survey

FAIN: PG-50302-08

University of North Carolina, Charlotte (Charlotte, NC 28223-0001)
Robert A. McInnes (Project Director: May 2007 to July 2008)

Hiring an audiovisual preservation specialist to conduct a comprehensive needs assessment of 804 reels of historic television news film from 1959 to 1981, produced by Charlotte's WBTV, the oldest television broadcasting station in the Carolinas.

The Special Collections Department of the J. Murrey Atkins Library at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte proposes to fund a preservation survey and report for a collection of television news film dating from 1959 to 1981. This important collection consists of 804 reels of film produced by Charlotte's WBTV, the oldest television broadcasting station in the Carolinas. This survey and report will be performed by an expert in the field of audio-visual film, who will work closely with the Department's manuscript librarian. Based on the report's recommendations, the library will develop plans that will ultimately result in preserving, arranging, and describing the films according to the best archival practices and making this valuable collection of local and regional history available to the public via traditional and digital means.