This week, I thought it would be nice for all to get to know the AMIA; The Association of Moving Image Archivists. The AMIA is a non-profit professional association established to advance the field of moving image archiving by fostering cooperation among individuals and organizations concerned with the acquisition, description, preservation, exhibition and use of moving image materials. http://www.amianet.org/index.php .
These texts are taken from the AMIA website, which I invite you to visit, there is so much knowledge to discover.
Activities http://www.amianet.org/about/mission.php
- Provide a regular means of exchanging information, ideas, and assistance; foster collaboration.
- Support education and professional development.
- Organize the Annual AMIA Conference
- Develop/host workshops, screenings, and advanced technical symposia.
- Publish AMIA’s semi-annual journal, The Moving Image, and the quarterly AMIA Newsletter.
- Establish and administer scholarship, fellowship, internship and visiting archivist programs.
- Honor the work of archivists and archival organizations.
- Take responsible positions on matters affecting moving image archives.
- Promote professional standards and practices.
- Stimulate and facilitate research on matters affecting moving image archives.
- Manage AMIA-L and AMIA-Member.
- Collaborate with appropriate institutions/organizations to design/promote/implement national moving image preservation policies and plans.
Encourage public awareness and interest in moving image preservation and use as an important educational, historical and cultural resource.
History http://www.amianet.org/about/history.php
Since the late 1960s, representatives from moving image archives have recognized the value of regular meetings to exchange practical information and experiences. Over the years, this group of archivists – originally known as the Film and Television Archives Advisory Committee (F/TAAC) – expanded from a handful of participants to several hundred archivists from over 100 national, regional and local institutions. In 1990, the name of the group was changed to the Association of Moving Image Archivists. In 1991, AMIA voted to formalize as an individual-based professional association – the only one of its kind in the moving image archival field.
AMIA is the world’s largest professional association of moving image archivists, currently representing over 750 individuals and institutions from the United States and Canada and around the world. In recent years, AMIA has taken on an international dimension as archivists from over 30 countries have joined the association. AMIA members are drawn from a broad cross-section of film, television, video and interactive media: classic and contemporary Hollywood productions, newsreels and documentaries, and national, regional and local television production, including news, public affairs and entertainment programming. There are also a number of significant specialized collections, including independently produced film and video art, amateur footage, and film and television programs reflecting ethnic and minority experiences.
What is a Moving Image Archivist?
Individuals responsible for preserving, restoring, and making accessible moving image heritage, including film, television, video, and digital formats. As a profession, moving image archivists also advocate for the acknowledgement of moving images as important educational, historical, and cultural resources.
Why is preservation important?
“In the early part of the twentieth century, most people, even those in the film industry, considered movies to be only a cheap and disposable form of entertainment. Now we realize that a moving image is many things: a form of entertainment, an art form, an historical record, a cultural artefact, a commodity and a force for social change.
More than a reflection of society and culture, moving images are primary documents that can serve a wide range of research purposes. The director Sydney Pollack has said that cinema is “the most vivid and valuable record of who we were and what we were, and what we thought and what we believed. And it continues to be that.” As our culture is increasingly shaped by visual images in the digital age, historians may soon rely on moving images as much as on the printed word to understand 21st century culture. In a sense, by relying more and more on moving images to understand the times in which we live, society is increasingly reverting back to its roots grounded in oral tradition.
Whether it’s classic Hollywood feature films, 20th century newsreels, documentaries, classic television or home movies of Billy’s fifth birthday, it is important to preserve our visual heritage.” – Moving Image Collections