In the short time I have available to speak I plan to describe some of the principal criteria which archivists in the United States National Archives use to appraise motion pictures. One caveat, however, seems appropriate at the outset. Since much of the appraisal guidelines are of such a general nature, a certain of mixture of interpretation and creativity is needed to apply them to film. Therefore, the views I am about to express are my on, based upon my own experience and observations. Because we work with film as documentation or documentary record, we are necessarily working in the film world of non-fiction.
Appraisal work is perhaps the most difficult work assignment for professional archivists.
Its standards are vague and elusive. To write carefully argued appraisals requires knowledge of numerous disciplines and of research trends and methodologies. Finally, it requires experience with the research value of motion pictures and mature judgment about their future use. Ultimately appraisal may be nothing more than educated guess work, an intellectual process of selection which betrays more about the person doing the appraisal than the real historical value of the selected motion pictures. Yet in our contemporary era appraisal has become a dire necessity due to the requirement to tailor our appraisal or to the mission of our institutions, which must compete for funding with other pressing governmental priorities.