Reportage from the 2004 AMIA Conference - Part 1

Hi everyone:

After attending the first day of the conference, I have some highlights and comments to share with you good folks. Following on Anna's earlier post, yes, according to what we have seen at the Library of Congress/UCLA panel on the creation of the National Audio Visual Conservation Center in Culpepper, VA and its sister facility, under UCLA ausipice, in Santa Clarita, CA, there will be jobs for many of you (50-80 positions at Culpepper at least for now) opening up in the next year or too. For the UCLA complex, which is still in its late stages of planning, the plan there is to reconcile the different appendages of the UCLA FTV Archive there (a al Academy Film Archive in recent years with their facility at Vine St, in Hollywood) in that one complex with the exception of a small staff set to remain in Melnitz Hall near James Bridges Theater. There will be two new theaters (95 seats and 285 seats) on-site for archival screenings in addition to the Billy Wilder Theater housed in UCLA Hammer Museum (the main site for UCLA archival screenings in the future). There was a great deal of enthusiasm for creating an archival community in both UCLA and LOC's wish to include the involvement and participation of local colleges and universities (i.e. CalArts and College of the Canyon in Santa Clarita area). Much of the panel, however, was devoted to presenting the working schematics of the National AV Conservation Center (NAVCC) in Culpepper, VA.

On the social side of things, the AMIA student chapter gang and I enjoyed a traditional Irish pub lunch at the Local where the food and ambience were definitely tops in my mind. After treading down Nicollet Mall and passing by Target HQ, we made it back to the next panel. Besides the NAVCC, I went to the "Building a National Collection" one, sponsored by the International Outreach Task Force. The topics and issues discussed were ones I was familiar with but nevertheless, inspiring. Particularly, when we contemplate how developing and political unstable nations deal with the challenges of preserving their cultural memories under restrictive and ideologically polarized goverments not to mention the economic underdevelopment involved.

Some praises must go out to the AMIA poster session this year. Stop by and saw some interesting projects in the works. Karen Gracy, currently one of the co-chair of the Education Committee, regaled me with her explanation of the A* Census Survey undertaken by AMIA to study the growth and development of our little field.

Finally, the day ended with a clandestine screening of moving image archivists' own personal films. Imagine a room of archivists and information professionals, laughin' it up to images they have created and no doubt, would take care to preserve for others to see.

More from the trenches soon....

Lindy Leong
AMIA Student Chapter Archivist
UCLA Dept. of Film/TV/Digital Media