NYU MOVING IMAGE ARCHIVING AND PRESERVATION PROGRAM "ACCESS TO MOVING IMAGE COLLECTIONS" H72.1803

FALL 2007 COURSE SYLLABUS

Course Details: Monday, September 10, 2007 to Monday, December 10, 2007 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Professor: Sarah Ziebell
Office: Barbara Goldsmith Preservation and Conservation Department, Bobst Library, LL2
Hours: Mondays, 3:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and by appointment
Phone: 212.998.2692
Email: ziebell@nyu.edu

Students in this course will learn the major components of providing access to moving image archives. Topics include: physical, virtual, and intellectual presentation of collections; search strategies and use of particular moving image reference resources; access protocols; outreach and collaborative access projects; establishment of policies and fee structures; and the evaluation of software for facilitating access to moving image collections. In addition, principles of reference services; descriptive cataloging of moving images, documentation, and artifacts; and indexing and subject analysis will be taught.

Readings:

Required text: Taylor, Arlene G. Organization of Information. Second edition. Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited, Inc., 2004.

Other readings: Articles and web links uploaded to "External Links" section of Blackboard.

Assignments:

All assignments (with the exception of the worksheets that accompany the Cataloging assignment) should be submitted in electronic form via Blackboard by the below referenced deadlines. Please include a MIAP Submission Form as the first page of each assignment. Assignments will be made part of the MIAP digital archive; please identify on the MIAP Submission Form any content that should be restricted to the faculty-only portion of the archive.

World Day for Audiovisual Heritage

Assigned: 9/10/07
Due: 10/27/07
Percentage of grade: 40%

October 27, 2007 marks the first UNESCO World Day for Audiovisual Heritage, an annual event devised to challenge popular perceptions about the value of moving image archival work and the status of our collections and profession and to engage in both celebration and advocacy on local, regional, and global levels.

Between September 10 and October 27, students in the "Access" class, with assistance from NYU Libraries, will be working intensively to design and host a public screening and press campaign to mark the first World Day for Audiovisual Heritage at NYU.

Reference

Assigned: 10/15/07
Due: 10/22/07
Percentage of grade: 5%

Students will look up two films, people, or subjects of their choice (one from the silent era and one from the sound era) across a variety of assigned reference works. They will prepare a short presentation describing their search strategies; whether they adjusted them when using different resources; what success they had; and what they learned about the scope, audience, and type of coverage offered by the various resources. They will participate in a discussion of their findings in class on 10/22/07.

Presentation of Information

Assigned: 10/29/07
Due: 12/3/07
Percentage of grade: 20%

At times to be arranged with host institutions, students will tour the facilities and review the websites, multimedia, and descriptive tools of two moving image archival repositories. They will evaluate their host institutionsÕ approaches in the areas of physical, virtual, and intellectual presentation of information. Each student will write a 5-7 page paper and will participate in a discussion of their findings in class on 12/3/07.

Cataloging

Assigned: 11/19/07
Due: 12/17/07
Percentage of grade: 25%

Students will complete two catalog records using assigned works placed on reserve in the Avery Fisher Center. Catalog records will be due on 12/17/07.

Course Schedule

WEEK 1, 9/10/07: ACCESS OVERVIEW

• Course Introduction
• Principal Components of Access
• Service-Orientation, Codes of Ethics, and Rights
• Assignment: World Day for Audiovisual Heritage Project

Blackboard:

Bopp, Richard E. and Linda C. Smith Reference and Information Services: An Introduction. Third edition. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2001: 28–46.

Dingwall, Glenn. "Trusting Archivists: The Role of Archival Ethics Codes in Establishing Public Faith," The American Archivist 67:1 (Spring/Summer 2004): 11–30.

Edmondson, Ray. Audiovisual Archiving: Philosophy and Principles. Paris: UNESCO, 2004: http://portal.unesco.org/ci/ev.php?URL_ID=15592&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201&reload=1091208335 Sections 3.2.6, 6.7, 7.3.2

WEEKS 2-3, 9/17-24/07: OUTREACH AND PUBLIC AWARENESS

• Planning sessions: World Day for Audiovisual Heritage

WEEK 4, 10/1/07: INSTITUTIONS AND ACCESS POLICIES

• Types of Repositories and Their Access Protocols
• History of Film Archives' Access Philosophies
• Negotiating Access Conditions in Donor Agreements
• Establishing Policies and Fee Structures
• Fundraising Through Access Activities

Blackboard:

Edmondson, Ray. Audiovisual Archiving: Philosophy and Principles. Paris: UNESCO, 2004: http://portal.unesco.org/ci/ev.php?URL_ID=15592&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201&reload=1091208335 Section 4.3

Loe, Nancy E. "Avoiding the Golden Fleece: Licensing Agreements for Archives," The American Archivist 67:1 (Spring/Summer 2004): 58–77.

"Transcript Of Discussion," Cinema Journal XIV: 2 (Winter 1974–75): 47–63.

WEEK 5, 10/15/07: REFERENCE AND USER SERVICES

• Guest Speaker: Nancy Goldman
• Components of Reference Services
• User Information-seeking Behavior
• The Reference Interview
• Search Strategies
• Assignment: Reference

Blackboard:

Bopp, Richard E. and Linda C. Smith Reference and Information Services: An Introduction. Third edition. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2001: 47–96.

Johnson, Catherine A. and Wendy M. Duff. "Chatting Up the Archivist: Social Capital and the Archival Researcher," The American Archivist 68:1 (Spring/Summer 2005): 113–129.

WEEK 6, 10/22/07: REFERENCE AND USER SERVICES

• Class Discussion: Reference
• Using Specific Access Tools
• Evaluating Reference Collections and Services
• Union Catalogs
• Finding Aid Directories
• Digitization Project Registries

Readings

• Taylor. 29–46, 103–132.

Blackboard:

Cherchi Usai, Paolo. Silent Cinema: An Introduction. 2nd ed. London: BFI Publishing, 2000: 77–90.

MIC website: http://mic.loc.gov [SKIM]

Pugh, Mary Jo. Providing Reference Services for Archives and Manuscripts. Chicago: Society of American Archivists, 1992: 97–104.

Thompson, Kristin and David Bordwell. "'Dear Archivist:Õ An Open Letter on Access to Film Collections,'" FIAF Bulletin 45 (1992): 38–43.

WEEK 7, 10/29/07: PRESENTATION OF INFORMATION

• Viewing Conditions
• Digitization Project Considerations
• Collection Websites
• Intellectual Presentation
• Compilations of Information
• Assignment: Presentation of Information

Blackboard:

Bottomore, Stephen. "A Critical View of Some Major Libraries: The Perspective of an Early Cinema Historian," The Moving Image 4:2 (Fall 2004): 87–110.

Edmondson, Ray. Audiovisual Archiving: Philosophy and Principles. Paris: UNESCO, 2004: http://portal.unesco.org/ci/ev.php?URL_ID=15592&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201&reload=1091208335 Sections 4.5.8-4.5.9

NINCH Guide to Good Practice in the Digital Representation and Management of Cultural Heritage Materials: http://www.nyu.edu/its/humanities/ninchguide/ Chapters 1–2.

"Special Issue: Manual for Access to Film Collections," Journal of Film Preservation 53 (1997): 6–41.

University of Victoria. "Best Practices in Museum Website Design.": http://www.uvcs.uvic.ca/crmp/museumwebsites/index.aspx "Concept" section.

WEEK 8, 11/5/07: PRINCIPLES OF INFORMATION RESOURCE DESCRIPTION, PART I

• Descriptive Cataloging Tradition
• Fundamental Requirements for Bibliographic Records
• Objectives of the Catalog
• Archival Arrangement and Description
• Functions of the Moving Image Archival Catalog
• Content Standards
• Controlled Vocabularies and Authority Control
• Classification

Readings

• Taylor. 1–23, 201–235.

Bobst Reference:

American Library Association, Canadian Library Association and Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals. Anglo–American Cataloguing Rules, Second Edition, 2002 Revision: 2005 Update. Chicago, American Library Association, 2005. (Skim)

Library of Congress. Archival Moving Image Materials: A Cataloging Manual. Second Edition. Washington: Library of Congress, 2000. (Skim)

Society of American Archivists. Describing Archives: A Content Standard. Chicago, Society of American Archivists, 2004. (Skim)

WEEK 9, 11/12/07: PRINCIPLES OF INFORMATION RESOURCE DESCRIPTION, PART II

• Setting Cataloging Priorities
• Levels of Cataloging
• Cataloging Specific Types of Moving Images
• Case Study: Robert Wilson Audio/Visual Collection

Readings

Taylor. 297–322, 331–341.

Blackboard:

Terris, Olwen. "Cataloguing From Secondary Sources," Journal of Film Preservation 57 (1998): 28–32.

Terris, Olwen. "There Was This Film About . . . The Case for the Shotlist," Journal of Film Preservation 56 (1998): 54–57.

WEEK 10, 11/19/07: PRINCIPLES OF INFORMATION RESOURCE DESCRIPTION, PART III

• Data Structure Standards
• Descriptive Metadata Schemas
• Crosswalks
• MARC Format Elements
• Structure of the MARC Record
• In-Class Exercise
• Assignment: Cataloging

Readings

Taylor. 141–156.

Blackboard:

Understanding MARC Bibliographic. http://www.loc.gov/marc/umb/

WEEK 11, CLASS TOURS – DATES/TIMES TBA

WEEK 12, 12/3/07: INDEXING AND SUBJECT ANALYSIS

• Class Discussion: Presentation of Information
• Automatic Indexing
• Subject Authorities
• Keyword Indexing Versus Controlled Vocabularies
• Subject Indexing Principles and Steps
• Writing Abstracts
• In-Class Exercise

Blackboard:

Terris, Olwen. "What You Don't See and Don't Hear: Subject Indexing Moving Images," Journal of Film Preservation 62 (April, 2001): 40–43.

Yee, Martha, "Subject Access to Moving Image Materials in a MARC-Based Online Environment" in Toni Petersen and Pat Molholt, eds. Beyond the Book: Extending MARC for Subject Access. Boston: G.K. Hall & Co., 1990: 97-115.

WEEK 13, 12/10/07: SOFTWARE, STATISTICS, AND BUDGETING

• Assignment Due: Cataloging
• Why Discuss Software?
• Types of Access
• Types of Software
• Request for Proposals
• Software Evaluation
• Software Installation
• Statistics and Budgeting for Cataloging and Digitization

Blackboard:

Olson, Hope A. and John J. Boll. Subject Analysis in Online Catalogs. Second edition. Englewood, CO: Libraries Unlimited, 2001: 275–300.