Second Report on the Recommendations to
Member States on film heritage
Oh dear. It seems that only 10 member states have replied.
"Film heritage and the competitiveness of related industrial industries",
the Commission monitors and assesses the extent to which the measures
set out in this Recommendation are working effectively and whether there
is a need for further action.
The European Commission today launched a public consultation
of professionals from the EU's audiovisual industry on how to
best seize the opportunities and address the challenges of the
'digital revolution' in the EU film sector. Digital cinema
can make distribution of films cheaper and more flexible, enabling
more European films to travel. 'Going digital' however requires high
investments. One third of European cinemas could be threatened with
closure due to the high cost of digital equipment – unless new business
models and viable public support schemes are developed now.
Feedback from cinema and audiovisual professionals as well as
national film agencies and other interested parties during the 2 month
consultation opened by the Commission today will feed into a
Communication early next year setting out the Commission's policy
on digital cinema.
The questionnaire available in English, French and German:
English version here
Info via EFG, (thanks)
BFI National Film Centre gets the green light
DCMS pledges £45 million capital spend
* Everyone in Britain to benefit from new centre for film
* Visionary new digital hub you can plug into from home
The BFI announces today that it is proceeding with its
plan to build a visionary new film centre on London's South
Bank. The decision to move forward comes as the Culture
Secretary, Ben Bradshaw, announced a £45 million capital
investment from Government in the project.
The BFI¹s ambition is to create a world-leading centre for
the study, enjoyment and celebration of film and television.
The money pledged from Government follows an earlier
investment promise of £5 million in the project from the
London Mayor through the LDA. It secures the next phase of
the project which is to design and planning, and will go
towards helping fund the construction of the new centre
which is to be developed on the site of Hungerford car park.
Amanda Nevill, director of the BFI, said:
"This is hugely exciting news for film culture in Britain, for
the whole of the British film industry and a positive turning
point in the history of the BFI. Film is one of the greatest art
forms of today and universally popular. It is also a British
success story - London and the UK are at the centre of
the global film industry.
We will be creating something that doesn't exist anywhere
else in the world, precisely because we can. It will build on
the BFI's 75 year legacy, bringing together the greatest
collections of film on earth with all the excitement and
stimulation of emerging cinema into the most creative and
inclusive programmes. It will be a digital hub, working with
partners across the UK to share and exchange those
programmes. We are a step closer in our ambition to inspire
and excite audiences everywhere in a new digital
Britain."
John Woodward, chief executive of the UK Film Council which
funds the BFI, said:
"This is a key milestone on the road towards the UK Film
Council and the BFI's shared objective of transforming the
cultural film offering to UK citizens in the digital age.
Not only will film now have a fitting home on the best arts
campus in the world, but the development will use digital to
open up the archive and all the other film treasures that the
BFI holds for the benefit of everyone in the UK."
The European Commission will convene a public hearing on orphan works. The aim of this hearing is to gather further evidence on orphan works and how their digitisation and dissemination can best be managed in full respect of copyright rules. This hearing will be a follow-up to the Green Paper on Copyright in the Knowledge Economy (COM(2008) 466/3).
The hearing is scheduled to take place on October 26, 2009, at the Albert Borschette Centre, 36 rue Froissart, 1049 Brussels, from 9.30 to 17.00.
The hearing will be organised in three panels and chaired by the European Commission. Each panel will comprise six panellists. Each panellist will present a short statement. After the statements, a substantive debate with the audience is foreseen.
PANEL 1: Orphan works – Challenges and opportunities
PANEL 2: How to best recognise “orphan status”
PANEL 3: Should orphan works be subject to a licence or remuneration?
Attached: Provisional AGENDA
Practical arrangements
Registrations for the hearing should reach the following address: markt-d1 [at] ec.europa.eu
The maximum number of participants is limited to 80. Therefore, registrations will be accepted in the order in which they are received, although priority will be given to those with a direct interest in the subject. Should the number of registrations exceed the number of available places, the organisers reserve the right to limit the attendance to one person per organisation.
"What's New is a summary of selected recent activity in the field of digital preservation. The latest issue has been compiled by Najla Semple and reviewed by PADI, The National Library of Australia for the Digital Preservation Coalition (DPC). Items are compiled from the Preserving Access to Digital Information (PADI) Gateway and the digital-preservation and padiforum-l mailing lists, although additional or related items of interest may also be included.
NEW VERSIONS of the Planets brochure
and product specification are available
to download now from the Planets website.
The new brochure and product specification
introduce and describe Planets suite of
technology and updateprevious versions
released during the first year of the project.
Tools and services for digital preservation here (somewhere).
The British Library is pleased to announce four additional sound archiving internships for 2009-2010.
The internships are aimed at those wanting to develop a comprehensive understanding of technical skills and are open to individuals who wish to improve their practical skills and who work in an institution that has the responsibility for the archiving of audiovisual materials. Successful candidates will be selected in part on the basis of their ability to demonstrate the benefits of the internship to their professional development.
The internships will take place at the British Library’s flagship site in central London. Each internship runs for a period of ten weeks; two internships will start in January 2010 and two will start in April 2010.
Interns will not receive any remuneration such as a living allowance or bursary so are required to meet their own living, accommodation and personal travel expenses. Interns are also responsible for making their own travel arrangements.
The internships combine training along with project work. A series of training modules will be offered on working with different audio carriers, and will include an introduction to the basics of audio theory, archiving standards and protocols and documentation. The project work is based upon existing audio collections held in the British Library. Please note that each intern will be supervised by a British Library archivist throughout their internship and work will be monitored on a regular basis.
Jonathan Draper, archivist at the Norfolk Record Office who completed his sound archiving internship in 2009, said: “The internship has given me the wonderful opportunity to have the time to focus on best practice in sound archiving. The experience has given me courage in my convictions and confirmed that a lot of what I am doing is right, whilst suggesting areas of improvement.”
Important news via EFG...
Draft European Standard for Cinematographic Works
The CEN (Centre Européen de Normalisation) enquiry
mandated by the Commission regarding the second of
the European standards on interoperability of film
databases finalised on 26 July 2009. Of the 25 CEN
members, 14 agreed with the
possibility of adopting the draft 'Film identification
- Enhancing interoperability of metadata - Element
sets and structures (prEN 15907)' as a European
standard. ...
The CEN Technical Committee (CEN/TC 372) responsible
for this standard will meet in Frankfurt on 29/30
October to finalise the draft standard for its
submission to the 'formal vote' and final adoption.
The European Film Gateway project has decided to use
the future EN 15907 as a part of their semantic
interoperability strategy for filmographic records.
A qualification in Electronics Servicing is essential and, ideally, you’ll also have a Portable Appliance Testing certificate (PAT). A friendly and polite manner when dealing with people is also essential, as are method, accuracy and conscientiousness in all spheres of work.
Training will be provided for handling fragile archive materials, but prior experience of working with old and new film and sound formats would be a distinct advantage.
Interview Date: 28 October 2009
Closing Date: 5 October 2009
Click here for an application form .
For further information contact
David Lee
Wessex Film and Sound Archive
Hampshire Record Office
Sussex Street
Winchester
United Kingdom.
SO23 8TH
Planets posting...
Does your organisation know what to preserve digitally for the future? Do you know how to preserve your collections for the future?
Have you decided which tools and services to use for this? Do you want to discuss your strategies for digital preservation with colleagues and experts?
There has been an explosion in the volume of information world-wide which will grow to 180 exabytes by 2011. But if action is not taken, that information can be lost within five to ten years due to hardware and software obsolescence.
The event has been subsidised to enable attendance. For the cost of 95 EUR to attend day one and 199 EUR to attend all three days, the event will help you to make a start with, or advance, digital preservation activities in your organisation.
Planets delivers a sustainable framework to enable archives, libraries and other large content holders to approach digital preservation confidently and effectively. The Planets framework and tools, which range from preservation planning to preservation action and the use of a testbed environment, will be presented in full for the first time. The event will give you an insight into the activities involved in preserving digital content and an opportunity to work with Planets tools, with the help of their designers, programmers and developers.
Day 1 will give you, as a decision-maker or preservation staff, an understanding of the case for digital preservation, the benefits versus the costs, the activities involved and how preservation with Planets may fit into your management activities.
Days 2 and 3 provide an opportunity to meet and learn from the experts, creators and developers of Planets. Using a sample collection, you can gain hands-on experience of Planets tools and services. There will also be plenty of opportunity to ask questions, network with peers and to take home tools and exercises.
See the full programme
Participation is limited to 60 delegates on Day 1 and 40 delegates on Days 2 and 3. Please register early here
Due to parliamentary sessions, hotel rooms in
The Film and Media Technician New Entrant Scheme opens for applications
Applications are now open for The Film and Media Technician New Entrant Scheme – a 12-month training and work placement programme. This national scheme provides a unique opportunity for 10 successful applicants to gain the knowledge and skills required to establish a career in the technical areas of film and television media libraries. Available for new starters in the industry, it is delivered by FOCAL International, Film London, and the Hertfordshire Skillset Academy,
A fantastic opportunity for those with an ambition to be a technician in TV/film libraries this scheme provides on-the-job training with two 10 week placements at two industry employers across the UK. Additionally, each trainee is allocated an experienced mentor from the archive sector to offer support and guidance throughout the 12 months. The structured programme involves practical workshops, hands-on technical assignments and will train individuals in the audio visual industry, media archives, the role of media asset management and technical developments in the sector.
The deadline for replies is 15 November 2009.
The questionnaire is available here
The eighteenth annual Oral History Seminar, organised to encourage and
inform those recording people’s memories, is being held in Wessex Film
and Sound Archive Cinema at Hampshire Record Office, Sussex Street,
Winchester, from 10am to 4pm. on 14 October 2009.
Contributors will include:-
Padmini Broomfield from the Oral History Society
David Lee of Wessex Film and Sound Archive and
Dominique Rawlings, Project manager of Hampshire County Council’s Ethnic Minority Learning Disability Project.
Contact David Lee at the Hants. Record Office if you wish to attend.
Thanks to the CEG for sending me this interesting snippet
Viviane Reding, EU Commissioner for Telecoms and Media, explains the "Digital Europe Strategy" in this speech, delivered on 9 July 2009:
Please find below an extract from the speech:
"Digital Europe can only be built with content creators on board; and with the generation of digital natives as interested users and innovative consumers .
I will give you two examples of what Europe could do concretely for this:
- First of all, we could facilitate the licensing of intellectual property rights for online services covering the territory of all 27 EU Member States . Today, right holders and online service providers need to spend far too much time and money on the administration of rights, instead of investing this money in attractive services. And consumers often cannot access online content if uploaded in another Member State. For online content in a single market of 27 Member States, economies of scale and consumer-friendly solutions will require a much simpler and less fragmented regulatory framework than the one of today. We had a similar problem when commercial satellite TV started more than 30 years ago. As right clearance for this per se cross-border service became increasingly complex, Europe developed the Cable and Satellite Directive and introduced a simplified system of rights clearance for the whole of Europe. I believe it is now time to develop similar solutions for the evolving world of online content.
- Second example: We should create a modern set of European rules that encourage the digitisation of books . More than 90% of books in Europe's national libraries are no longer commercially available, because they are either out of print or orphan works (which means that nobody can be identified to give permission to use the work digitally). The creation of a Europe-wide public registry for such works could stimulate private investment in digitisation, while ensuring that authors get fair remuneration also in the digital world. This would also help to end the present, rather ideological debate about "Google books". I do understand the fears of many publishers and libraries facing the market power of Google. But I also share the frustrations of many internet companies which would like to offer interesting business models in this field, but cannot do so because of the fragmented regulatory system in Europe. I am experiencing myself such frustrations in the context of the development of Europeana, Europe's digital library. Let us be very clear: if we do not reform our European copyright rules on orphan works and libraries swiftly, digitisation and the development of attractive content offers will not take place in Europe, but on the other side of the Atlantic . Only a modern set of consumer-friendly rules will enable Europe's content to play a strong part in the digitisation efforts that has already started all around the globe."
A workshop with the title 'MULTILINGUALITY IN INFORMATION ACCESS TO DIGITAL LIBRARIES USER NEEDS AND EVALUATION OF MULTILINGUAL RESOURCES USE', is being organised by the EuropeanaConnect project. It will be held in Trento, Italy, on 9 September 2009.
The event will bring together researchers, stakeholders, and representatives of pan-European digital library projects to discuss multilingual user needs, assessment methods for requirements, usage logging of multilingual resources use as well as practical implementation issues when incorporating multilingual capabilities into a digital library.
The workshop is organised within the context of the International Conference on Digital Libraries and the Semantic Web 2009
EuropeanaConnect is a Best Practice Network funded by the European Commission within the area of Digital Libraries of the eContentplus Programme.
The European-funded project focuses on future enhancement
of digital cinema technology within three areas of interest:
Ed-cine consists of a sixteen partner consortium, which includes
four universities and research centers, ten companies, and as end
user partners, a film archive and the town of Nancy in France.
The project commenced in July 2006 and lasts to June 2009.
Digital access to Cultural Heritage - EU Conference
May 26, Prague
The conference wishes to give a larger overview on digitalization
policy in Europe, work already done and to be achieved not
only in data production area, but especially in provision of
online access provided to users in Europe and worldwide.
In a more specific detail, the conference is focused on case
studies from several selected European national libraries able
to provide a good example of programmes and projects, that
have reached certain stability and positive results, which are
good to follow. Together with presentation of big projects, such
as the French Gallica or Hispanic Digital Library, selected
activities from Austria, Lithuania, Sweden, and the Czech Republic
will be presented as well.
Invitation to Planets Outreach and Training event,
22-24 June 2009
You are invited to participate in the Planets Outreach
and Training event, 'Digital Preservation - the Planets way'
at the Royal Library in Copenhagen, Denmark,
on 22-24 June 2009.
The event will consider the challenges of digital
preservation and how the Planets tools and framework
can assist national institutions with digital preservation.
Registration is now open, and a full event programme and
registration form is available on the Planets website
Day 1 of the event explores the challenges of digital
preservation and introduces the Planets tools and services.
On Days 2 and 3 delegates will gain hands-on experience of
working with Planets and a scenario (sample collection) to
develop a preservation plan and preserve digital objects.
The event will include plenty of opportunity for discussion,
sharing ideas and best practice and to ask questions.
The event is aimed at CEOs, Heads of IT, Curation and
Preservation, IT staff, digital librarians and archivists,
curators, policy managers and other staff
preparing to or involved in preserving digital content.
You can register for either Day 1 only at a cost of 80 EUR,
or for all three days at a cost of 175 EUR.
Due to the nature of the event there is an upper capacity of 60
delegates on Day 1 and 40 delegates on Days 2 and 3.
Final closing date for all registrations is 11 June 2009.
This event is the first in a series of outreach and training events
to be hosted at venues across Europe between
June 2009 and May 2010.
Planets (Preservation and Long-Term Access through Networked
Services) is a four-year project co-funded by the European Union
under Framework Programme 6 to address core digital preservation
challenges. Planets is building practical tools and services to help
ensure long-term access to our digital cultural and scientific assets.
For more information about Planets, please visit the Planets site.
The Strategic Content Alliance has now
published a suite of products covering
different elements of its work,from audience
research to intellectual property rights in
support of the vision of the e-content framework.
The publications encompass guides, briefing papers,
navigation guides and toolkits. All are available
to download for free as PDFs
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