Film Workflow

Table of contents

  1. Assessment Workflow Quick List
    1. End of Day Review
  2. Movement & Staging
  3. Inventory & Inspection Guidelines
    1. Inspection Supplies
    2. Inspection Time
    3. Condition information
  4. Assessment and CMS Details
    1. CMS Entry for Non-inventoried items
    2. CMS Entry for Inventoried Items
    3. Labeling Procedures
      1. CMS Containers (Record Cartons or Film Canisters)
      2. Small Cans / Boxed Cans
      3. Film leader
    4. Ephemera
  5. Nitrate Film

Assessment Workflow Quick List

  • Select a box of film from staging area for assessment.
  • In CMS, navigate to film layout and use Ctrl+F to search the id field for your item’s CMS ID.
  • Add 10 feet of leader to the film. Match perforations as possible.
  • Write CMS ID on the leader like so:CMS# 123456
    • If you can determine HEAD vs TAIL, include HEAD or TAIL after the CMS ID.
  • If film is safe to inspect with a footage counter, use it while winding through film.
  • Enter inspection data to the layout while doing inspection.
    • Complete ALL fields that are applicable. Ask for help with any unfamiliar fields or information. Do not guess. Correct any incorrect data entered by other staff (titles, format, etc).
  • Add leader to end of the item, label accordingly (CMS# 123456 HEAD / TAIL).
  • Ensure that wind is flat, rewind as needed unless film is too fragile for excessive handling.
  • Double check your data entry
  • Select the “Inspected” checkbox when finished. and move on to the next film.
  • When all films in a container are complete:
    • If Record Carton, add a yellow dot sticker to the bottom left corner of the front of the box;
    • If film canister, add yellow dot sticker to left of container barcode.

End of Day Review

  • Conduct a search for all items inspected by you on the date you are working - do a final check to make sure no data is missing:
    • Ctrl+F to enter Find mode
    • Select the “inspected” checkbox
    • Enter your username in the inspectedBy field
    • Hit the Return key
    • Review all results.
  • Bring boxes to storage area designated for completed films.
  • Update container location in CMS.

Movement & Staging

  • Migration from Special Formats Processing to PAMI Film Assessment Staging

    • Boxes of film that are inventoried and ready to inspect are brought to room 306 from the 2nd floor vault each week, or as needed to maintain constant workflow.
    • Assessment staff migrate only the number of boxes they can assess within a reasonable amount of time (1-2 days), to limit the number of items that are in transit (i.e. not identified in a specific building location in CMS).
    • Inspected films are placed on designated shelves in 306 or returned to the area in 210 that is designated for assessed film (this location may be updated on a monthly bases as vault as per vault space needs).

Inventory & Inspection Guidelines

Inspection Supplies

  • Box labels / Archival labels
  • Barcode labels
  • CMS labels (blank) & printed
  • Barcode labels (blank, for duplicating)

Inspection Time

  • Spend no more than 30min per film, including administrative work (creating box labels, CMS records, etc).
  • If a film is too far gone and would require more than 30min work, rewind without hand-inspecting, enter ‘not fully inspected’ into notes field, provide a footage estimate and any other information obtained, and move on.

Condition information

  • Shrinkage measurement:
    • Measure at Head, Middle, and Tail, and enter the average of the three measurements into CMS.
  • Splices:
    • Condition - Splices:
      • 0: no splices
      • 1: 1 - 5 splices
      • 2: 6 - 10 splices
      • 3: More than 10 splices
    • During inspection, test the integrity any existing splices. Repair any weak, broken, or deteriorating splices.
    • If you encounter excessive deteriorating splices, do not continue hand-inspection. See below.
  • Vinegar & mold:
    • Temporary storage on designated shelf in 306 cage unless item is severely toxic / hazardous.
    • Move to disaster room if moldy / infested / hazardous.
  • Camera Original material Handling
    • Do not put camera original on a footage counter - use footage ruler for estimate
  • Sealed unprocessed film
    • Do not open any cans that are tightly sealed closed with tape (i.e. intentionally sealed shut) - mark film as ‘unprocessed film stock’ and note that film was not fully assessed. Provide footage estimate count based on can size.

Assessment and CMS Details

CMS Inventory Instructions for Film Assessment

CMS Entry for Non-inventoried items

  • Open CMS, navigate to Media Originals layout
  • Create a new item record using your allotted CMS ID #
  • Rehouse ephemera as necessary
  • Label the film can with new CMS ID # & barcode
  • Complete all bibliographic / standard CMS inventory fields
  • Switch to CMS film layout (navigate to the item record you were working on…)
  • Inspect film on rewind bench and complete all Film Assessment fields
    • Add 10ft of leader to head & tail, label leader “head” or “tail” with CMS ID #.
    • If leader is already present, is in good condition, and is at least 10ft long each at head and/or tail,existing leader may be used for labeling with CMS# - no additional leader is necessary.
    • Assess condition and make repairs as necessary
    • Identify film element type & provide notes when standard fields are not sufficient
    • Wind onto core and leave film wound opposite from original orientation.
    • Apply a yellow “dot” sticker to the bottom left corner of an RC or to the left of the barcode on a film canister spine.
    • Place film can / box of film on “Completed Films” shelves in 306 cage when finished.

CMS Entry for Inventoried Items

  • Open CMS, navigate to Media Originals layout
  • Find existing item record using CMS ID or item barcode
  • Rehouse item and any accompanying ephemera as necessary. If rehoused, label the new film can with CMS ID & barcode
    • Duplicate container and CMS ID labels as necessary
  • Switch to CMS film layout (navigate to the item record you were working on…)
  • Inspect film on rewind bench and complete all Film Assessment fields
    • Add 10ft of leader to head & tail
    • Assess condition and make repairs as necessary
    • Identify film element type & provide Notes when standard fields are not sufficient
  • Apply a yellow “dot” sticker to the bottom left corner of an RC or to the left of the barcode on a film canister spine.
  • Place film on “Completed Films” shelf in 306 cage when finished.

Labeling Procedures

CMS Containers (Record Cartons or Film Canisters)

  • Film Canisters and Boxes (boxes of any type - record carton / small box etc.) receive container labels (in addition to a barcode & CMS ID label):
  • To create a container label:
    • CMS Home > “Search / Edit”
    • Identify the department collection ID and Search “Collection Name” and “Collection Number”
    • Upon completing the search, navigate to “Items” in the top menu (this will bring you to the list of containers)
  • CURRENT LABELING PRACTICE (2018):
    • Note: In the context of container labeling, there are only two relevant container types: “film canister” vs. non-film-canister (i.e. RC, Audio box, etc.). In reality, there are several container types, but for these purposes, let’s pretend there are only 2, mentioned above.
      • non-film-canister containers are sorted sequentially, and appear in the list before all of the “film canister”s. Scroll to where the non-film-canisters end, take note of the last container number.
      • Then, scroll to where the film canisters end, compare the previous number to the last film canister number. If the last film canister number is greater than the last non-film-canister number, use the number that follows the film canister number; if the non-film-canister number is still greater than the last film canister number, use the number that follows the non-film-canister number.

        Small Cans / Boxed Cans

    • If can fits in a box, the film can does not get a container label - the box receives a container label and the can is assigned a CMS number.
  • Duplicating existing can labels:
    • Use the barcode duplicator to create a new barcode label if an item must be rehoused to a new can.

      Film leader

    • Using the footage counter to measure your leader, apply 10ft of leader to head and tail of each film.
    • In marker, hand-write the items’ CMS ID number on the head and tail leader of each film. Example: CMS# 123456 HEAD

Ephemera

  • Paper ephemera (i.e. lab notes, photographs, pamphlets, hand-written notes, and narrative / descriptive documents that are inside or adhered to original housings) must be either removed or photocopied and retained in a separate file folder.
    • Fragile original documentation may be protected with poly-sleeves
    • Non-original documentation (i.e. photocopies of annotations written on housings or adhesive notes that cannot safely be removed from housings) does not need to be in poly-sleeves, they can go straight into the file folders.
    • Some Examples:
Scenario Action Notes
A commercially printed adhesive label that describes the full content of a film, placed on the inside of a can and not easily removable Photocopy this inner label, as it may more accurately describe the content than any cataloger (who may not be familiar with or able to research the content / film). Place copy in file. Copy does not require poly-sleeve
A very small handwritten note on thin, fragile paper or paper with adhesive (Post-It) Small poly-sleeve, inside file folder  
A photographic print or other glossy paper ephemera Poly-sleeve, inside file folder  
A film lab report describing camera roll numbers and key codes, and date of development Place ephemera into archival file folder, without a poly-sleeve  
Short annotation on exterior of can, such as “Sunrise - R1 of 2” Transcribe these notes in the ‘Notes” field of CMS Do not photocopy
Printed label with address of production company and title of film Transcribe label content into “Title” and “Notes”  
  • Create only one ephemera folder per CMS object as needed.
    • Label the folder in the upper-left hand corner - in pencil - with the item’s 3-letter division code (“DAN”) followed by the CMS ID. Example: DAN 123456
    • If used, poly-sleeves should be labeled with the original object’s CMS number. The poly-sleeve should be labeled on the outside with archival marker. Do not write on any original ephemera (writing on photocopies is acceptable).
    • When inspection if the item is complete, place the file folder into a designated archival file box, in numeric order.
    • Each workstation is provided two gray boxes - when one is full, bring the box to SFP Manager or leave it on SFP Manager’s office table with a note (“film assessment ephemera”) and continue collecting in your free box.
    • SFP Manager will enter ephemera into a data system maintained by SFP.
    • When SFP Manager is done entering the ephemera into the data system, they will leave the empty box in their office, where it may be retrieved when the next box of ephemera is brought in.

Nitrate Film

If an item is suspected or identified to be nitrate film, please follow the internal guidelines provided by NYPL’s Collection Management team: