Below are some useful links if you are interested in learning more about film archives and preservation. These are also good resources for students and educators when thinking about what topics and research involving audio-visual materials. I have also written a short description under each link to give you an idea of the content. They aren't in any particular order, just the order that I found them in. If there are any you feel should be added to the list, please leave a comment below. Many of these resources can be used for research for students, but always be mindful of what sources your professors will allow. That being said, remember to always consult scholarly sources as well.
Preservation Resources:
Film Forever's Home Movie Preservation Guide
This guide allows people who do not work in a media archive to better understand the nuances of film materials and their presevation, as well as types of damage or decay and the materials needed to preserve films in your possession.
The Anthology Film Archives Film & Video Collections Page
The Anthology Film Archives works heavily in preservation and access via various film formats, including digital materials for viewing online and print materials associated with films. They are currently working on providing greater digital access, but they do provide some items from their collection for viewing online (most of their materials can be viewed in person by appointment). Along with many of the links I provide below, they provide extensive information about education, archives, film distributors, and laboratories that they work with to preserve film heritage.
Motion Picture Film Preservation
This is a great resource if you are looking for bibliographic information on film preservation. It is also useful if you're interested in resources about the intricacies of film storage, preservation vocabulary and standards, and other organizations that engage in film history and preservation matters.
The UCLA Film & Television Archive
I put this resource under the preservation topic because the Univeristy of California, Los Angeles is a leader in preservation and restoration efforts. This is a great resource for general preservation information, and they also have some materials digitized for viewing online; specifically, silent animation films and films by the UCLA "L.A. Rebellion" filmmakers. Here is also an interesting interview that TCM's Robert Osborne conducted with Director Jan-Christopher Horak about film preservation.
The UCLA Film and Television Research Guide
The University of California, Los Angeles is a leader in preservation efforts, and this research guide is extremely useful not only if you're doing research on their collections, but it provides general information on printed materials such as journals and publications, scripts, books, and more. It also has a page that deals with fashion and costuming in film. This guide also links to professional organizations and available conferences within the film and television industry.
The Association of Moving Image Archivists Journal, The Moving Image
At this particular site, the general public has to purchase copies of The Moving Image, however, students can often get articles from this journal for free if you search through your library's database. Also, if you join as a student member (which is about $60), you receive latest issues of the journal. Also visit The AMIA website for more information about the organization.
American Film Institute
This site actually encompasses a great variety of topics, but the AFI was started as a preservation effort, so I am placing it in this category. It is also a great resource for education initiatives and much more. This site is a little more mainstream than is related to the research topics discusses throughout this guide (focusing on major motion pictures and associated people), but they have played an important role in the battle for the preservation of American film heritage. They also have a great podcast library, in which various filmmakers, producers, writers, actors, and others discuss their films.
National Film Preservation Foundation
This is one of my personal favorite websites to refer to when thinking about preservation of media. The NFPH is a nonprofit organization that was created by the U.S. government in an effort to restore American film heritage. Through this site, you can download or purchase The Film Preservation Guide, which goes into the more technical and chemical aspects of film materials and preservation.
Film Archives and Collections:
The Library of Congress Motion Picture & Television Reading Room
The Library of Congress has a vast array of films ranging from labor films to popular entertainment. However, unlike many of the LOC's holdings, these films are not in the public domain and still have copyright restrictions. So consider how you are using these films (if you're writing a paper for a class, for instance, as long you cite the source properly, you should be fine) and whether or not they fall under fair use. If you are interested in materials that are in the public domain, check out The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration's collection of films.
The Center for Home Movies
Especially pertinent if you're interested in doing more research like that conducted within this website, The Center for Home Movies promotes the use of home movies as important historical and cultural records. They have also digitized many items in their collection, which can be found through the Internet Archive's Home Movies database. They also host the popular Home Movie Day.
BFI Special Collections
The British Film Institute was a wide variety of film artifacts that pertain to the United Kingdom. These include newsreels, television, educational and industrial films, amateur and home movies, books, posters, press materials, and more. They are also a leader in youth film education, providing a variety of programs and educational resources for educators.
NYU's Department of Cinema Studies Bibliographies and Filmographies
I particularly like this site because it provides a vast array of great resources for very specific film topics, such as the history of foreign film industries (such as Indian, French, German, Italian, Japanese, etc.), the history of different American film eras, and resources on the theory of film.
British Universities Film & Video Council
This page provides services, publications, and databases aimed at higher education audiences interested in United Kingdom moving image studies. On their Archives & Footage page they provide categories that you can browse through to find relevant archival collections about specific topics (such as animation, sound,, printed materials, costuming, etc.), which I find helpful when I'm unsure if there are any digital materials available in relation to a research topic that I want to pursue within British cinema. They also have a page that directs people to copyright guidelines, however, I am currently unaware of the differences between copyright legislation between Britain and the United States. Always use your home country's copyright guidelines.
African Media Program
The African Media Program is part of the African Studies Center at Michigan State University. This is a great resource if you're looking for cinema materials that relate to African cinema. Though they do not provide the ability to view these films, instead it is a research guide providing general information about the films and where to find them. It is a good jumping off point to find different types of African films for use in research. They also provide resources on how to utilize African cinema in the classroom.
Arts on Film Archive, University of Westminster
This archive provides online access to a variety of films produced in the United Kingdom in the 1950s through the 2000s.
Media History Digital Library
This organization digitizes periodicals that are within the public domain in order to provide online access and increased readership for these sources. Periodicals include Variety, The Educational Screen, Photoplay, The Film Daily, and more.
Television Archive
This is a great resource if you are looking for footage concerning September 11th.
Colonial Film: Moving Images of the British Empire
The Colonial Film Database offers information about films relating to colonialism, and they also have a large database where viewers can watch many films related to this subject. I recommend this site for its user-friendly interface which allows you to search by a vartiety of categories, such as country (either map or list form) or topic (themes, genres, event, etc.)
BFI InView
InView is a database for non-fiction film footage pertaining to various topics in the United Kingdom, which can both be browsed and searched by category and sub-category. I find this to be a great resource when I'm looking for something specific, but also when I'm searching for a research topic.
The Burton Holmes Archive
Burton Holmes was considered the “Father of the Travelogue,” and through this site, you may view many of his films that depict various corners of the earth.
Who's Who in Victorian Cinema
This site presents biographical information about film figures from the early era of film making. You can browse by different methods, such as alphabetical order, country of origin, the type or role of the people (i.e. director, actor/actress, etc.) alphabetically by projection systems, and more.
The Internet Archive's Moving Image Archive
The Internet Archive is a nonprofit organization in the form of a digital library that allows the public to access various collections in one place. The Moving Image Archive allows you to watch thousands of films broken down into various categories that are considered by the archive to be part of cultural film heritage. They even have a category for home movies.
Links for Educators:
The BFI Film Education Strategy
The British Film Institute implemented this strategy as a way to show the public how film can be used in education. This can be a useful starting point for educators interested in implementing film education into their curriculum.
Film Education
This site provides resources for educators for a variety of topics, such as using the major motion picture Selma to teach about the Civil Rights Movement. These resources also show how to use film in the contexts of history and english and how film conveys these topics.
Into Film
This organization provides programming for students in the UK on how to engage with film in a historical and theoretical way. Even if you aren't in the UK, the site provides a lot of great resources on how to use film in the classroom. They also have a catalogue of films with ratings, reviews, and a suggestion of what ages they might be appropriate for.
British Council Film Archive Resources
This site is geared towards younger audiences, but it can be useful for introductory film and history classes as an example of how films can be useful in looking at visual historical evidence.
Australian Screen: Education Page
This site provides clips of footage in different categories such as the environment, history, science and technology, indigenous Australia, the arts, war, and more. The clips also often have useful educational notes that explain the importance of the clip and its potential uses in the classroom.
Filmmuseum Restoration
I like this particular site because it allows people to "restore" a film themselves. Though this is a heavily condensed version of what restoration looks like, it gives context into the before and after versions of films.
Home Movie Analysis Worksheet
This worksheet is designed as an analysis tool to place home movies in a historical context. It asks questions that allow the viewer to dig deeper into the content of a film's to piece together its historical importance.
Blogs:
Observations on Film Art
UCLA's Preservation Blog
AVPreserve's Blog
Preservation Insanity
Inside/Out: A MoMA/MoMA PS1 Blog
Media History Digital Library Blog
The AMIA Blog
The Regional Audio-Visual Archives (RAVA) Committee
Preservation Resources:
Film Forever's Home Movie Preservation Guide
This guide allows people who do not work in a media archive to better understand the nuances of film materials and their presevation, as well as types of damage or decay and the materials needed to preserve films in your possession.
The Anthology Film Archives Film & Video Collections Page
The Anthology Film Archives works heavily in preservation and access via various film formats, including digital materials for viewing online and print materials associated with films. They are currently working on providing greater digital access, but they do provide some items from their collection for viewing online (most of their materials can be viewed in person by appointment). Along with many of the links I provide below, they provide extensive information about education, archives, film distributors, and laboratories that they work with to preserve film heritage.
Motion Picture Film Preservation
This is a great resource if you are looking for bibliographic information on film preservation. It is also useful if you're interested in resources about the intricacies of film storage, preservation vocabulary and standards, and other organizations that engage in film history and preservation matters.
The UCLA Film & Television Archive
I put this resource under the preservation topic because the Univeristy of California, Los Angeles is a leader in preservation and restoration efforts. This is a great resource for general preservation information, and they also have some materials digitized for viewing online; specifically, silent animation films and films by the UCLA "L.A. Rebellion" filmmakers. Here is also an interesting interview that TCM's Robert Osborne conducted with Director Jan-Christopher Horak about film preservation.
The UCLA Film and Television Research Guide
The University of California, Los Angeles is a leader in preservation efforts, and this research guide is extremely useful not only if you're doing research on their collections, but it provides general information on printed materials such as journals and publications, scripts, books, and more. It also has a page that deals with fashion and costuming in film. This guide also links to professional organizations and available conferences within the film and television industry.
The Association of Moving Image Archivists Journal, The Moving Image
At this particular site, the general public has to purchase copies of The Moving Image, however, students can often get articles from this journal for free if you search through your library's database. Also, if you join as a student member (which is about $60), you receive latest issues of the journal. Also visit The AMIA website for more information about the organization.
American Film Institute
This site actually encompasses a great variety of topics, but the AFI was started as a preservation effort, so I am placing it in this category. It is also a great resource for education initiatives and much more. This site is a little more mainstream than is related to the research topics discusses throughout this guide (focusing on major motion pictures and associated people), but they have played an important role in the battle for the preservation of American film heritage. They also have a great podcast library, in which various filmmakers, producers, writers, actors, and others discuss their films.
National Film Preservation Foundation
This is one of my personal favorite websites to refer to when thinking about preservation of media. The NFPH is a nonprofit organization that was created by the U.S. government in an effort to restore American film heritage. Through this site, you can download or purchase The Film Preservation Guide, which goes into the more technical and chemical aspects of film materials and preservation.
Film Archives and Collections:
The Library of Congress Motion Picture & Television Reading Room
The Library of Congress has a vast array of films ranging from labor films to popular entertainment. However, unlike many of the LOC's holdings, these films are not in the public domain and still have copyright restrictions. So consider how you are using these films (if you're writing a paper for a class, for instance, as long you cite the source properly, you should be fine) and whether or not they fall under fair use. If you are interested in materials that are in the public domain, check out The U.S. National Archives and Records Administration's collection of films.
The Center for Home Movies
Especially pertinent if you're interested in doing more research like that conducted within this website, The Center for Home Movies promotes the use of home movies as important historical and cultural records. They have also digitized many items in their collection, which can be found through the Internet Archive's Home Movies database. They also host the popular Home Movie Day.
BFI Special Collections
The British Film Institute was a wide variety of film artifacts that pertain to the United Kingdom. These include newsreels, television, educational and industrial films, amateur and home movies, books, posters, press materials, and more. They are also a leader in youth film education, providing a variety of programs and educational resources for educators.
NYU's Department of Cinema Studies Bibliographies and Filmographies
I particularly like this site because it provides a vast array of great resources for very specific film topics, such as the history of foreign film industries (such as Indian, French, German, Italian, Japanese, etc.), the history of different American film eras, and resources on the theory of film.
British Universities Film & Video Council
This page provides services, publications, and databases aimed at higher education audiences interested in United Kingdom moving image studies. On their Archives & Footage page they provide categories that you can browse through to find relevant archival collections about specific topics (such as animation, sound,, printed materials, costuming, etc.), which I find helpful when I'm unsure if there are any digital materials available in relation to a research topic that I want to pursue within British cinema. They also have a page that directs people to copyright guidelines, however, I am currently unaware of the differences between copyright legislation between Britain and the United States. Always use your home country's copyright guidelines.
African Media Program
The African Media Program is part of the African Studies Center at Michigan State University. This is a great resource if you're looking for cinema materials that relate to African cinema. Though they do not provide the ability to view these films, instead it is a research guide providing general information about the films and where to find them. It is a good jumping off point to find different types of African films for use in research. They also provide resources on how to utilize African cinema in the classroom.
Arts on Film Archive, University of Westminster
This archive provides online access to a variety of films produced in the United Kingdom in the 1950s through the 2000s.
Media History Digital Library
This organization digitizes periodicals that are within the public domain in order to provide online access and increased readership for these sources. Periodicals include Variety, The Educational Screen, Photoplay, The Film Daily, and more.
Television Archive
This is a great resource if you are looking for footage concerning September 11th.
Colonial Film: Moving Images of the British Empire
The Colonial Film Database offers information about films relating to colonialism, and they also have a large database where viewers can watch many films related to this subject. I recommend this site for its user-friendly interface which allows you to search by a vartiety of categories, such as country (either map or list form) or topic (themes, genres, event, etc.)
BFI InView
InView is a database for non-fiction film footage pertaining to various topics in the United Kingdom, which can both be browsed and searched by category and sub-category. I find this to be a great resource when I'm looking for something specific, but also when I'm searching for a research topic.
The Burton Holmes Archive
Burton Holmes was considered the “Father of the Travelogue,” and through this site, you may view many of his films that depict various corners of the earth.
Who's Who in Victorian Cinema
This site presents biographical information about film figures from the early era of film making. You can browse by different methods, such as alphabetical order, country of origin, the type or role of the people (i.e. director, actor/actress, etc.) alphabetically by projection systems, and more.
The Internet Archive's Moving Image Archive
The Internet Archive is a nonprofit organization in the form of a digital library that allows the public to access various collections in one place. The Moving Image Archive allows you to watch thousands of films broken down into various categories that are considered by the archive to be part of cultural film heritage. They even have a category for home movies.
Links for Educators:
The BFI Film Education Strategy
The British Film Institute implemented this strategy as a way to show the public how film can be used in education. This can be a useful starting point for educators interested in implementing film education into their curriculum.
Film Education
This site provides resources for educators for a variety of topics, such as using the major motion picture Selma to teach about the Civil Rights Movement. These resources also show how to use film in the contexts of history and english and how film conveys these topics.
Into Film
This organization provides programming for students in the UK on how to engage with film in a historical and theoretical way. Even if you aren't in the UK, the site provides a lot of great resources on how to use film in the classroom. They also have a catalogue of films with ratings, reviews, and a suggestion of what ages they might be appropriate for.
British Council Film Archive Resources
This site is geared towards younger audiences, but it can be useful for introductory film and history classes as an example of how films can be useful in looking at visual historical evidence.
Australian Screen: Education Page
This site provides clips of footage in different categories such as the environment, history, science and technology, indigenous Australia, the arts, war, and more. The clips also often have useful educational notes that explain the importance of the clip and its potential uses in the classroom.
Filmmuseum Restoration
I like this particular site because it allows people to "restore" a film themselves. Though this is a heavily condensed version of what restoration looks like, it gives context into the before and after versions of films.
Home Movie Analysis Worksheet
This worksheet is designed as an analysis tool to place home movies in a historical context. It asks questions that allow the viewer to dig deeper into the content of a film's to piece together its historical importance.
Blogs:
Observations on Film Art
UCLA's Preservation Blog
AVPreserve's Blog
Preservation Insanity
Inside/Out: A MoMA/MoMA PS1 Blog
Media History Digital Library Blog
The AMIA Blog
The Regional Audio-Visual Archives (RAVA) Committee