Update: The Digital Moving Image Archives guide is now being used in the curriculum at the L. Jeffrey Selznick School of Film Preservation at George Eastman House and is a Library of Congress National Film Board resource.

About Sue

After 20 years working in news journalism, I took the plunge and pursued a master’s in library science from the University of Arizona School of Information Resources and Library Science. This may sound like a strange path to librarianship, but I found it to be a natural choice. News professionals perform very similar functions to information professionals. Journalists and librarians are dedicated to connecting people with information, and to protecting an individual’s rights to seek information without interference. We protect the rights of free speech, privacy and intellectual freedom, while ensuring equal access to information regardless of ethnic, cultural, economic or religious affiliation. My current work focuses on how educational technologies facilitate information literacy and cultural competency by incorporating audiovisual and multimedia resources.

I developed the Digital Moving Image Archives guide for filmmakers to provide basic information about preserving digital data and to encourage collaboration with moving image archives. Until recently, the prohibitive cost of video production meant that the cultural record was narrow in scope – only preserving the lives and events of the affluent cultural majority. This has resulted in a form of permanent disenfranchisement because minority culture is absent or misrepresented in the “official” societal record. Digital filmmaking is the great emancipator of cinema, providing low-cost access to produce and distribute films outside the industry system. Independent filmmakers rarely have access to preservation vaults and digital repositories with professional staff to assess and provide necessary interventions.

The advent of digital technology has provided an opportunity for anyone to take up the camera and record their own story, and to describe moving images in terms that are culturally appropriate. An adaptable strategy that focuses on preserving access to the information or artistic content of a digital film acknowledges and respects the contributions of all filmmakers to the societal record.

Twitter: suebeeinaz