UCLA Film & Television Archive Cataloging Procedure Manual--Voyager

SECTION 39
SPECIAL PROBLEMS--REPRODUCTIONS AND PRESERVATION

39.1, PRESERVATION

A film is considered preserved by UCLA when we have made safety preprint for the entire film. Do not consider a film to be preserved at UCLA if we have made safety preprint elements for only part of the film, e.g., for the sound track only.

Film preservation materials are rather straightforwardly defined as safety preprint made by UCLA. Television is trickier. Generally we rely on the television archivist to check off that a title is UCLA preservation on the inventory form. However, we should be suspicious that any 1 in. or D1 or D2 videotape that is made by UCLA (990 source code) might be television preservation; if UCLA preservation has not been checked off on such a tape, check with the television archivist.

UCLA preservation should be given a 590 PRESERVATION HISTORY: note stating 'Preserved at the UCLA Film and Television Archive,' and a local genre/form heading (655 _7 $2local) for UCLA preservation. When more is known about the preservation, put public information in the 590 note:

EXAMPLES:

• 590 _ _ $aPRESERVATION HISTORY: Preserved by the UCLA Film and Television Archive and the Museum of Modern Art (New York); preservation elements held by the Museum of Modern Art.

39.2, REPRODUCTION

Normally we do not want to record in the public file or distribute information about our reproduction of material in the Archives. In these cases, code the 008/07 (Method of acquisition) 'f' for reproduction made here, and create an 866 $x subfield (staff only) note indicating the inventory number of the item copied and the date the copy was made. (See SECTION 23.2, HOLDINGS FIELDS--866--STAFF ONLY NOTES TO GO IN $X SUBFIELD for examples.)

In 2000, the Archive acquired a telecine machine, which was at the Research and Study Center for awhile, and then was moved to Commercial Services in Hollywood. Unlike our other tape transfer facility, the telecine can reproduce 35 mm. safety prints, including wide-screen prints (which can be letterboxed for video). When an item has been copied on the telecine, be sure to mention this in the reproduction note.

When we have express permission from the rights-holder to copy, however, as we almost always do when we preserve a film, we should share this information. Create an 843 $n reproduction note. (See SECTION 20, HOLDINGS FIELDS--843-- REPRODUCTION NOTE for examples.)

When composing the REPRODUCTION: note, try to supply information about what was reproduced to make what. The following facts about preservation may help you supply or guess at such information:

• You use a positive to make a negative.

• You use a negative to make a positive.

• Some common preservation patterns are:

  1. A nitrate print (positive) is used to make a comp dupe neg, which is used to make master positives and safety prints.

  2. A nitrate comp dupe neg is used to make masterpositives and safety prints.

  3. Nitrate pic and track negs (orig preferred, but dupe can be used, too) are used to make masterpositives and safety prints.

When composing the note concerning permission for preservation in an 843 $n reproduction note, try to supply or guess at information about who gave us permission to do the preservation. Common patterns are:

• a) If our nitrate holdings are from Paramount (251), or if the title was a Paramount feature film, make the following 843 $n note:

  • Reproduction for preservation purposes permitted by Universal, [date preservation material made].

• b) If our nitrate holdings are from NTA (246), or if the title was a Republic film or a Paramount short, make the following 843 $n note:

  • Reproduction for preservation purposes permitted by Paramount (Republic), [date preservation material made].

• c) If our nitrate holdings are from Fox (328), or if the title was a Fox film, make the following 843 $n note:

  • Reproduction for preservation purposes permitted by Twentieth Century-Fox, [date preservation material made].

• d) If the title is from before 1917, make the following 843 $n note:

  • Reproduction for preservation purposes of title assumed to be in the public domain, [date preservation material made].

If, however, it is known that we did not obtain permission to do the preservation, omit the permission note.

All reproductions made by us should have a donor/depositor code (905 $c) of 990.

Last modified: February 5, 2007, my