Meanwhile our five member local library team is pressing on
with the identification of titles for our library and the cull of
surplus to requirement prints. Currently we have approved
406 titles for our library which totals some 600 cans on
shelves. We have earmarked a further 40 prints as reserve
copies held to provide backup footage for loan prints in case
of damage. As well to date we have offered some 120 prints
for sale.
Below: Keith Rutherford at work
Our core library furniture
is only designed to take
396 cans and we
desperately need another
storage unit to house our
ongoing identified
additions to the library. To
house our collection some
detailed design and
purchasing research has
been carried out to arrive
at a suitably functional and
economical storage unit.
Other branch librarians
who are looking for
suitable furniture for their
collections can contact me
for kit details and nationally available modular parts.
Our Loan library system is as thorough and secure as any
professional library. All members wanting to borrow our
films to show privately have to sign a declaration as a
responsible borrower and their loans of up to three films are
electronically booked out and back in within a two week
cycle. Upon return the borrowed films are rechecked for
serviceability, repaired if necessary and placed back in the
library.
Keeping the wheels turning
ne of the challenges of groups trying to preserve and
resurrect obsolete equipment, long after those who
originally operated it have passed on, is to fully understand
how the equipment functioned and of the appropriate
operating or service procedures. Many iconic pieces of
equipment exist in museums around the world for which the
curators have no knowledge of how it worked.
One of AMMPT’s objectives is to create a national technical
database of all equipment, not only on that of items in its
collection, but of any other technology which falls within its
collection parameters. Several of our members are private
collectors and hold extensive inventories of unique items,
but in many cases, have little if any technical support data
for them.
Members are being urged to dig through their filing cabinets
to locate any service manuals, circuit diagrams, operating
instructions and similar material that may assist AMMPT
members maintain and restore items in their collections.
If you do not wish to part with the originals, our Technical
Archivist Trevor Kelly would be pleased to learn of their
existence and if possible, arrange for copies to me made for
our files which will be available to all AMMPT members.
In preparation for receiving this
valuable reference material, Trevor has
identified previously donated brochures,
catalogues, reports, trade magazines and
similar items that will not be needed for
our database. The list is continually
being added to, but at the moment, the
following is available to AMMPT
members at no charge except for any freight or postage costs
involved;
If you are a local member and you believe you qualify as a
16mm film buyer and have not already done so, you should
complete the enclosed application and send it in to the return
address given on the application. If you would like to be
included as a 16mm film buyer &/or borrower but don’t
have 16mm projectionist skills then a workshop/tutorial
session could be organised for you to take part in for a
nominal fee. You should likewise complete the enclosed
form and additionally indicate “workshop/tutorial needed” in
the comment space.
Conferences and Reports
Australian Motion Picture Year Book 81/82, IBC 92,
Broadcast Asia 94, Montreaux 97 & 99, Trident Film
Catalogue 76, Bond Report into Satellites 77, Nat Satellite
Communications System 78, Sat Use in Education 82,
SWT Hearing for Narrogin, Eng Planning Olympics 84
At this point it is appropriate to make a plea for additional
members of the Western Region to volunteer their services
in the assessment of the old State Library films. The task is
of necessity slow and methodical and we could do with a
few more members who have access to 16mm projection
equipment. If you are prepared to help, please use the
enclosed form’s comment section to lodge your availability.
Magazines & Journals
Broadcast Hardware 90-95, Post and Broadcast News 92-93
International Broadcasting 88-93, Broadcast (Aus) 99
Broadcast Asia 94-95, Broadcast Asia Pacific 93-94
World Broadcast News 95, SMPTE Journals 91-96
As the
photograph
shows there
are
thousands
of product
brochures
from
Aardvark to
Weircliff relating to film and television equipment. These,
though interesting, fall outside our requirements or even
ability to house. Trevor will compile a list by manufacturer
(not each piece of equipment) if you are interested in having
any or all they will be available up until the end of January
after which they will be scheduled for disposal.
If you are a member from another region and wish to lodge
interest in purchasing the rejected stock that we have
identified and prepared for sale in our Western region, you
might like to record your interest on the same form and send
it to the address thereon so that we can gauge wider
membership interest and, if necessary, plan for future
extension of this service provision.
Meanwhile I would think that our interstate branches are
already on the lookout for closing down film collections. If
and when such collections are identified, branches should
alert the national President so that AMMPT can negotiate for
their inclusion in our National Collection.
Keith Rutherford.
16mm Film Librarian for the Western Region
Email contact:
krut@bigpond.net.au
. Ph : 08 9446 1627
Contact Trevor Kelly by phone on 08 9339 4178 or
by email
alphatec@wt.com.au
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