Take a Break - animation posters and cool ipad cat

This blog is taking a couple of weeks break. Hopefully will be back after the JTS and FIAF conference...

In the meantime have a look at "the evolution of animation film posters"

Or have a giggle...




Bye for now.

Archives Hub

The Archives Hub (UK) now has a new website.

Baltic Conference

"Back to analogue: preserving audiovisual resources for
digitisation and posterity"

Call for Papers

Hosts: LSAAD (Latvian State Archive of Audiovisual Documents),
Directorate General of the Latvian State Archives, with support from
the NLL (National Library of Latvia)

The deadline for abstracts is April 30, 2010.

BAAC annual conference takes place this year in
Riga, Latvia, October 4-6, 2010.

We are returning to the birthplace of the original “Riga Seminar”.

The Conference will be hosted by the Latvian State Archive of Audiovisual
Documents with support from the National Library of Latvia.

Libraries, museums, archives and other memory institutions are responsible
for audiovisual collections that are part of our cultural heritage. In recent years,
many local and international projects have focused on digitisation initiatives,
creation of access to born digital and digitised content. However, issues related
to safeguarding of analogue collections are not discussed so often.
Good preservation practices for analogue carriers are very important, not least
because there are many organisations which have limited resources for digitization.
Even large national institutions need to deal with maintenance of accumulated
analogue assets.

This conference will provide a platform for the exchange of know-how and
discussions regarding restoration, conservation and preservation of analogue
audiovisual collections. Experts in the field are expected to share their knowledge
about best practices, methods and techniques. Professionals, who are more
involved in digital activities, will learn more about the variety of analogue carriers,
their formats, mechanical and chemical properties.

Major aspects to be discussed:

Analogue collection preservation – threats, challenges and risk management

Handling and storage – best practices

Documenting and cataloguing

Content description

Types and formats

The conference will be conducted in English.
Details and address for sending abstracts can be found here

Learning on Screen

Marcus du Sautoy to present Learning on Screen 2010

Professor Marcus du Sautoy OBE will be at this year's BUFVC Learning 
on Screen Conference, taking place on the 27th and 28th April 2010 at 
The Open University in Milton Keynes, and will  present the Learning 
On Screen Awards ceremony, taking place on the evening of the 27th.

Marcus  du Sautoy is the author of 'The Music of Primes' and 
presented the BBC Four series The Story of Maths. He is Professor of 
Mathematics and Charles Simonyi Professor for the Public 
Understanding of Science at the University of Oxford. For further 
details, please visit: http://people.maths.ox.ac.uk/dusautoy/

Learning on Screen  will explore the challenges facing staff and 
students in the increasingly important area of distance learning, 
with particular focus on  copyright and legal considerations and new 
technical developments.

To read the full programme and for booking details, please visit: 
http://bufvc.ac.uk/learningonscreen

Film Restoration Summer School

Details of the Film Restoration Summer School / FIAF Summer School are now available.

* Distance learning 18 May - 22 June
* Il Cinema Ritrovato Film Festival 26 June - 3 July
* Restoration Practice 5 July - 16 July

Full details are available here.

bfi Wrexham Mediatheque

The bfi Wrexham Mediatheque was opened today by Ruth Jones (of Gavin and Stacey fame). The Mediatheque is curated in association with the National Screen and Sound Archive of Wales.

The Mediatheque is located in the newly-refurbished library in the town centre.

More pictures here (flickr)

Film database interoperability standard

Via CEG...

European Standards on the Interoperability of Film Databases -
Vote on the second standard
The Commission issued a standardisation mandate to CEN
(European Committee for Standardization) for the adoption
of European standards aimed at making possible the
interoperability of film databases in 2005. As a result
of this mandate, CEN has adopted the European Standard
EN 15744:2009 "Film Identification – Minimum metadata set
for cinematographic works".

The vote of the second standard prEN 15907 "Film Identification –
Enhancing interoperability of metadata – Element sets and
structures" started on 11-03-2010 and will be open
until 11-05-2010.

Film archives have the opportunity to vote on this standard
through their national standardization body.
The list of national standardization bodies is available here:



Promoting the Use of European Standards on the Interoperability
of Film Databases. The European Commission finances a project for
promoting the use of the European standards on interoperability of
film databases, under the EU programme "ICT Standardization" .
The project started in December 2009, and will run for 2 years.
It is managed by DIN

In order to recruit the experts for carrying out this project, DIN has
launched an "Open Call for Project Team Experts". The deadline for
applications has been extended until 20 March 2010.

For more information:
Dr. Nikolaus Kovacs, Secretary CEN/TC 372
DIN - German Institute for Standardization Information Technology and
selected IT Applications Standards Committee.