Preserving Film Collections for the Future: A Web Application
Channel: AIC & FAIC
Date: 19/08/2016

By Jean-Louis Bigourdan, Image Permanence Institute, Rochester Institute of Technology
From the Plastics Associated with Photographic Materials symposium

Abstract: In 2012, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Division of Preservation and Access awarded an Education and Training Grant to the Image Permanence Institute (IPI), funding a project dealing with best practices for preserving film materials in museums, libraries and archives. The objective of the project was to create a web-based application called filmcare.org, a tool for self-education that will provide an easy-to-implement decision-making platform for preserving film materials. In essence, filmcare.org is designed to bridge the gap between what is known today about film stability and what can be done to make preservation efforts in any repositories a reality. This web application provides access to critical information in a concise format, and most noticeably guides preservationists through the process of making informed decisions on optimizing the longevity of film collections. A series of steps enables users to set priorities, evaluate material needs, program storage strategies, and implement and monitor the preservation of film collections. Through an interactive process, users are guided to identify the nature of film materials, to design and conduct condition surveys, to analyze survey results, to evaluate the benefits of any storage on film stability, to choose between alternative approaches, to implement the appropriate preservation strategy, and most importantly, to proactively monitor the collection’s state of preservation over time. Many otherwise tedious tasks are facilitated by filmcare.org to make collection personnel self-reliant in their effort to preserve film materials. The application is a standalone tool that is available at no charge. The thrust of this paper is to present filmcare.org, discuss its origin, purpose, methodology and architecture in an attempt to foster film preservation efforts and sustain them over time.

Speaker bio: Jean-Louis Bigourdan is a senior research scientist at IPI. He has a background in Chemistry, photography and conservation. Since 1994, he has been active in the field of preservation research at IPI. He has been studying the effect of microenvironments on the stability of acetate film. He led the development of FilmCare.org. He has been investigating the effect of cycling environmental conditions on library and archives materials, and investigates the implementation of dynamic management of temperature and humidity control.