Pledge Now to preserve and make the State Library of Western Australia’s heritage film collection accessible to all.
UNESCO identifies that audio visual documents including film, audio and visual recordings are extremely vulnerable and estimates internationally, there is no more than 10 to 15 years within which to transfer audio visual records to digital to prevent their loss.
The State Library of Western Australia wants everyone to have access to the early days of the WA film collection. The Library has close to 10,000 titles on film which feature life on Rottnest Island, the Swan River, early days of Perth trams and steam trains, the Royal Agricultural Show at Claremont Showgrounds, neck-to-knees at the Nedlands Baths, centenary celebrations, Kings Park, early days of AFL, Christmas Parades, Royal visits and family holidays around the state.
The film archives have significant heritage value and provide enormous value to historians, genealogists, school students, journalists and special interest groups. These films provide the rich detail to the many stories to be told about life in Western Australia. By preserving and digitising them, they become accessible online. Viewable from any location via the internet.
Please donate to the State Library of Western Australia's Film Appeal for heritage audio visual recordings to be digitised and made accessible to all.
Pledge Now to help us reach our target of $10,000 in just 60 days.
Comments
I'm not sure which UNESCO statement is being referenced, but it is unlikely that the survival of the film collection itself is at risk. With some caveats, film that is properly stored and managed has not yet demonstrated an absolute limit to its life span. The National Film and Sound Archive (NFSA) has rolls of film in its collection that are more than 100 years old and they are still perfectly viable. The pressing preservation urgency in the audiovisual field is rather the digitisation of analogue audio and video tapes, which not only have a limited life but are dependent on vanishing technology for the retrieval of their content. The NFSA has a target date of 2025 for their transfer.
What may be problematic is the accessibility (rather than the survival) of the WA film collection, which does need to be digitised if it is to be accessible on line. As a basic principle, and other things being equal, transferring content from a stable medium (film) to a less stable medium (digital) does not aid its preservation and may result in some quality loss.
Film stock is still being manufactured and used in production and for preservation, and it seems it is here to stay. Other analogue media, such as the vinyl LP sound recording, remain in production and are even resurgent. Both have long term advantages which need to be weighed in a preservation strategy.