The Media Archive is fortunate to have the film scanner shown in the slide below, since many archives do not have this incredibly useful machine in-house. Without scanner, converting film prints to a digital format must be contracted out or transferred in-house with older and less efficient machines. One of the staff members of the archive was kind enough to take me step-by-step through this process. First, you must scan the films in order of the catalog item number (items 1-5 were first on the list for today). This scanner is different from a projection system in that obviously, it scans film rather than projects it, but it also only scans the perforation (sprocket holes) so that no damage occurs to the films in the scanning process. The bulk of this process consists of adjusting color, exposure, focus, framing, and other aspects of filming by using a series of controls to fix major visual discrepancies. This brought up an interesting question: does one capture the film as its current degraded state or do you try to repair the way the image looks? The Brown Media Archives chooses to restore the visual integrity of the image with only slight adjustments to the digital file resulting so that the improved image will be more useful to researchers in terms of assessing the content than the faded or damaged originals. However, if a researcher does wish to see the original prints, the archive keeps the originals if anyone wishes to view them. After the image is digitally improved, we then transfer the film to a digital file which includes the digitized film, as well as metadata containing information about the scan. The digital file is also stored on an LTO (Linear Tape-Open), which is a more reliable choice for long-term storage of digital files.
One of the duties I will have throughout this project is to match these transfers to compiled shot list (that is, a list describing select frames at various times throughout the film) of the Avery videotapes. Also, after digitization, these files will be put on the website and organized by categories such as date, area, and other relevant, searchable categories. Finally, we hope to put these films through an Oral History Metadata Synchronizer that will allow recorded information to be seachable.
As a side note, the Brown Media Archives had special visitors from the Peabody Awards department of The University of Georgia. They came to film Margie and me doing preservation work to promote the Brown Media Archives. Such publicity is exceedingly important in order to foster public attention and support for the work they do.
Source Material:
The Andrew Avery Collection, University of Georgia Libraries
"Fujifilm Begins LTO Ultrium Generation 5 Media Production.” Fujifilm USA, 19 Mar. 2010. Web. 19 Jan. 2015. <http://www.fujifilmusa.com/press/news/display_news?newsID=879836>.
"OHMS: Oral History Metadata Synchronizer." OHMS: Oral History Metadata Synchronizer. Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, University of Kentucky Libraries, n.d. Web. 19 Jan. 2015. <http://www.oralhistoryonline.org/>.