NFPF WINS PUBLICATION AWARD FOR THE FILM PRESERVATION GUIDE
Contact: Annette Melville (415-392-7291, melville@filmpreservation.org)
San Francisco, CA (August 25, 2005)—The National Film Preservation Foundation has won the 2005 Preservation Publication Award for The Film Preservation Guide: The Basics for Archives, Libraries, and Museums. This national award by the Society of American Archivists singles out a publication of "superior excellence and usefulness, which advances the theory or practice of preservation in archival institutions."
The Film Preservation Guide is the first English-language publication designed to introduce film preservation to archivists, librarians, and museum professionals new to the field. The primer describes methods for handling, duplicating, making available, and storing film in ways practical for nonprofit and public organizations with limited resources. Illustrated with photographs from George Eastman House, the 121-page publication creates a baseline of up-to-date information and includes case studies, equipment and vendor lists, glossary, and index. The publication was funded through a grant by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Issued in March 2004, The Film Preservation Guide received excellent reviews in American Archivist, FIAF Journal, Film Quarterly, and Museum News. It has been adopted as a text for university courses and professional workshops. Although designed for American users, the publication has attracted interest abroad and is now being translated into Chinese, Korean and Persian. The NFPF sent complimentary guides to all state libraries, state historical societies, and state archives and has already distributed 2,000 copies.
"What is particularly remarkable about this landmark publication is the collaborative process through which it was written," said Sarah Ziebell Mann of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. "The NFPF held needs assessment workshops for professionals starting film preservation projects at their institutions and used the participant comments to develop the outline. Experienced preservationists then created the draft, which was reviewed by technical experts and, finally, taken back to workshop participants for feedback. From its very inception, the NFPF was driven by a commitment to the cultural heritage community in the widest possible sense."
Free copies of The Film Preservation Guide can be downloaded from the NFPF Web site (www.filmpreservation.org) or requested in book form for a modest shipping fee.
The National Film Preservation Foundation is the nonprofit organization created by the U.S. Congress to save America's film heritage. The charitable affiliate of the National Film Preservation Board of the Library of Congress, the NFPF has funded film preservation work in 37 states and helped preserve more than 800 films. To learn more about the NFPF grants and programs, please visit www.filmpreservation.org.
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