http://www.arsc-audio.org/conference/

Conference that will be
held at the Wilshire Grand in Los Angeles from May 11 to 14, 2011. Come stop by
and say hello!

Our products are the result of many
years of research and experiments in the field  with the help of
archivists and preservation technicians. At the end, we have been able to put
together a state of the art preservation system for all media in analog and
digital preservation.

We are looking forward to
shaking hands and sharing about our products.
Enjoy the conference and hope to see you there!

STiL Casing Solution has been in business for over 14 years and we have always been on the cutting edge. Whether it is through product development, enhanced customer service, or total quality initiatives, we have always been innovative – a redoubtable ally! We want you to think as highly about our customer service as our technology. We are always striving to serve our customers better.

To pay tribute to this ongoing trend, we are happy to annonce that we now have a new version of the STiL 35mm/1000 & 2000 foot film container.

We listened to you, focused attentively on your issues and challenges concerning the container you wished to be perfect to suit your needs on preserving your films.

NEW KEY FEATURE:  In the lid, flanking the edge, are SMALLER stoppers (the old versions were larger & higher), these stoppers prevent the lid to crush or simply touch the film.

What’s NEW?

• Much easier to open and close
• More space inside the film can
• Safe for the film spires

We would like to thank you for letting us know about how the former version of these containers needed “refining”!

A little while back, Albert Steg approached us to see our interest in sponsoring the Center for Home Movies and we were happy to accept!

The mission of the Center for Home Movies (CHM) is to collect, preserve, provide access to, and promote understanding of home movies and amateur motion pictures.
The activities of CHM include, but are not limited to the following:

• Continuing administration of International Home Movie Day, an annual event dedicated to emphasizing the historical and cultural value of home movies and education the public about moving image preservation
• Contributing to a strong community through efforts with local, cultural, historical, and educational institutions
• Forging partnerships with institutions and individuals worldwide
• Collecting home movies and related materials of national and international significance
• Promoting ongoing documentation of people and cultures through moving images
• Encouraging the use of home movies in multidisciplinary research, study, and publications
• Deepening our understanding of people and culture through exhibitions, programs and other activities

You can take a peek at their annual report by clicking on this link!

What is Home Movie Day?  A celebration of amateur films and filmmaking held annually at many local venues worldwide. Home Movie Day events provide the opportunity for individuals and families to see and share their own home movies with an audience of their community, and to see their neighbors’ in turn. It’s a chance to discover why to care about these films and to learn how best to care for them.

The board directors of CHM are Skip Elsheimer, Chad Hunter, Albert Steg, Dwight Swanson, Katie Trainor, Andy Uhrich & Molly Wheeler.

Thanks for letting us be a part of this!

A question that was asked to us this week got me thinking that some people don’t know what makes STiL containers such top quality products.. our design & technology!

Our cans are specially designed to enhance air circulation in order to minimize premature film.  

The large openings of the chimneys help for better air circulation and stop by their design water and dust penetration. As some film containers are claimed to be vented by lifting the lid by means of a few points of the lower half or making holes at the bottom,  STiL Film containers are more than vented. Our design helps to create an air circulation not only around the film but also above and beneath it. Holes at the bottom of the can do not stop dust and water to get inside the cans.

Ventilation is made by a low pressure created inside the container which wants to equilibrate itself with the outside high pressure, this creates air movement.

We all know acetic acid is heavy than air…but the main issue is to generate enough “venting” using larger slots on each side of the can.

Inside the container, the film pancake sits on platforms which protects the perforations alongside the film to prevent indentations that could happen with ridges or web type bottoms.

In the lid, flanking the edge, are stoppers that prevent the lid to crush the film or simply touch the film when a can is at the bottom of the column.

and like we always say; “Water and dust are lazy so they won’t find their way up inside our cans!”

3.3.11 – 3.27.11
UCLA FESTIVAL OF PRESERVATION

STiL Casing Solution is happy to be a member of the SAA, so this week I thought I’d write my post about this association.

Founded in 1936, the Society of American Archivists is North America’s oldest and largest national archival professional association. SAA’s mission is to serve the educational and informational needs of more than 5,500 individual and institutional members and to provide leadership to ensure the identification, preservation, and use of records of historical value.

Taken from their website: http://www2.archivists.org/

Perhaps inevitably, as a result of the greater recognition and support that archival activity was receiving within the government at this time, the members of the Conference of Archivists realized that a distinction should be made between the historians and scholars who used the archival materials and the archivists who were responsible for the material’s care, organization, and management. The archivists believed that their field was a particular science for which a professional association was needed in order to continue the growth and advancement of the profession. The Society of American Archivists (SAA) was founded in December 1936, “…to promote sound principles of archival economy and to facilitate cooperation among archivists and archival agencies.” A more democratic body than its predecessor, it opened its ranks not just to directors of large archives institutions, but to all “who are or have been engaged in the custody or administration of archives or historical manuscripts.” This included archives of all sizes and orientation, from small private and business archives to large historical collections.

Once born, SAA acted quickly. A president, A.R. Newsome, and a board of directors were elected by its initial 124 individual and four institutional members. In its first full year membership increased to 243 archivists and institutions, and SAA began the practice of holding an annual convention at which professional papers were delivered, information was exchanged, and philosophies of archival organization were discussed. At the Society’s first convention in June 1937, President Newsome outlined a course for SAA that has been followed to the present day: “to become the practical self-help agency of archivists for the solution of their complex problems” and “to strive to nationalize archival information and technique”; to seek “the solution of archival problems involving external relations with all archival agencies, with learned societies, and with the public”; and “to encourage the development of a genuine archival profession in the United States” in which SAA would “set training standards and advance archival administration through its meetings and publications.” Primary among these publications was the Society’s journal of record, the American Archivist, whose premiere issue appeared in January 1938.

SAA developed a strategic plan in 1993 to define the organization’s direction and purpose, and at that time established the following mission statement: The Society of American Archivists serves the education and information needs of its members and provides leadership to help ensure the identification, preservation, and use of the nation’s historical record.  SAA today numbers approximately 5,000 individual and 650 institutional members.  The Society maintains offices in Chicago’s Loop.  Foremost among SAA’s many activities are services that the Society provides to members.

Pour débuter la Nouvelle Année, je me suis dit que vous serez intéressé par la façon que nous fabriquons nos produits. Nous utilisons ce qui s’appelle “Moulage par Injection”

Le moulage par injection est un procédé de mise en oeuvre des plastiques. La plupart de pièces en thermoplastiques sont fabriquées avec des presses d’injection plastique, la matière est ramollie puis injectée dans un moule et ensuite refroidie.

Le premier produit en plastique fait par un homme est en Angleterre en 1851 par Alexander Parkes, il a nommé sa matière “Parkesine”. Dérivé du cellulose, Parkesine pouvait être chauffé, moulé et conserver sa forme lorsque refroidie. Par contre, il était très dispendieux à produire et pouvait facilement se briser. En 1868, l’inventeur Américain John Wesley Hyatt a développé un matériel en plastique qui lui a nommé Celluloid, il a amélioré l’invention de Monsieur Parkes pour qu’il conserve sa forme jusqu’à la fin.  Avec son frère Isaiah, Hyatt a breveté la première machine de moulage par injection, cette machine était relativement simple comparer aux machines utilisées aujourd’hui. L’industrie a développé rapidement dans les années 1940 grâce à la Deuxième Guerre Mondiale qui a crée une forte demande pour des produits de plastiques peu coûteux.  En 1946, l’inventeur américain James Watson Hendry a construit une machine qui a permis un contrôle beaucoup plus précis sur la vitesse d’injection et la qualité des articles produits. Dans les années 1970, Hendry a continué à développer le premier procédé assisté au gaz de moulage par injection, ce qui a permis la fabrication de produits complexes,  qui se refroidies rapidement.

Aujourd’hui en 2011, les possibilités sont illimitées! Nous utilisons que du polypropylène inerte pour tous nos produits.

 Notre équipe multidisciplinaire imagine des solutions en créant des produits spécifiques à vos besoins. Pour atteindre l’excellence, nous sommes spécialistes en développement de produit et en commercialisation. Notre capacité de production ; Deux usines, un parc-équipement à la fine pointe de la technologie allié à une équipe passionnée et disponible qui propose une solution complètes et personnalisée.  Notre réseau de distribution est assuré par des experts offrant des solutions intégrées à vos besoins.

To start of the New Year, I thought you might be interested in knowing a bit on how we manufacture our products. We use what is called “injection molding”.

Injection molding is a manufacturing process for producing parts from plastic materials. Material is fed into a heated barrel, mixed, and forced into a mold cavity where it cools and hardens to the configuration of the mold cavity.

The first man-made plastic was invented in Britain in 1851 by Alexander Parkes, calling the material he produced “Parkesine” Derived from cellulose, Parkesine could be heated, molded, and retain its shape when cooled. It was, however, expensive to produce, prone to cracking, and highly flammable. In 1868, American inventor John Wesley Hyatt developed a plastic material he named Celluloid, improving on Parkes’ invention so that it could be processed into finished form. Together with his brother Isaiah, Hyatt patented the first injection molding machine, this machine was relatively simple compared to machines in use today.  The industry expanded rapidly in the 1940s because World War II created a huge demand for inexpensive, mass-produced products. In 1946, American inventor James Watson Hendry built the first screw injection machine, which allowed much more precise control over the speed of injection and the quality of articles produced.  In the 1970s, Hendry went on to develop the first gas-assisted injection molding process, which permitted the production of complex, hollow articles that cooled quickly.

Today in 2011, the possibilites are unlimited! We only use inert polypropylene for all our products.

Our multidisciplinary team in development of product and in marketing is strong of more than ten years of experience in the conception of products intended for the industries of film and audio. It will assure the realization of your project, whether it is the modification of one of our products or the creation and the development of a new one. Our integrated solutions allow the manufacturing, the deployment, the delivery and the strategy of supply of your product thanks to an established distribution network worldwide.