NYU MIAP program and UH West Oʻahu announce internship placement

Intern to assist with preservation of important audiovisual collections

University of Hawaiʻi-West Oʻahu
Contact:
Chris Conybeare, (808) 454-4774
Center for Labor Education and Research
Richard Pierce, (212) 998-6796
New York University MIAP
Posted: Aug 4, 2010

The Moving Image Archiving and Preservation Program (MIAP) in the Department of Cinema Studies at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in collaboration with the Center for Labor Education and Research (CLEAR) at the University of Hawai‘i–West Oʻahu (UHWO) have announced a MIAP student has been placed in a UHWO summer internship working with audiovisual materials in library collections.
 
The internship is sponsored by a grant through MIAP from the Laura Bush 21st Century Librarian Program at the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS).
 
MIAP student Brittan Claire Dunham is spending 10 weeks this summer at CLEAR assisting staff in the management and preservation of the center’s audiovisual collections. Among other activities, she will perform assessments of audiovisual materials and prioritize them for preservation, catalog tapes and other materials, and update relevant databases.
 
"We are delighted that CLEAR has been chosen for the NYU MIAP internship program,” said Chris Conybeare, media specialist at CLEAR. “CLEAR's collection of video tape, film and other audio visual material, contains important documentation of Hawai‘i history and it is at risk. Ms. Dunham's work will help preserve this body of work for future generations."
 
CLEAR has been involved in documentation of Hawai‘i's labor, political, and cultural history for more than 30 years. In addition to a long-running television series (Rice & Roses 1976-1987) on PBS Hawai‘i and documentary specials, the center maintains video cassettes containing full interviews with labor leaders, political figures, academics, and perhaps most important, workers, their families, and friends who shaped Hawai‘i's history in the 20th and beginning of the 21st centuries.
 
These materials are contained on more than 2,500 videocassettes in a variety of formats and many are at risk. UH West O‘ahu is in the midst of an ambitious development plan that will result in new library facilities (to be completed in 2012) and the new Henry K. Giugni Moving Image Archive. The CLEAR collection is closely involved with both initiatives.
 
“With CLEAR's collection of valuable moving image material facing format obsolescence and preparations for the Henry K. Giugni Moving Image Archive underway, now is the perfect time for this preservation work to be done,” said Dunham. “I'm excited to take the skills I've learned in MIAP and apply them to a collection that is so important to the history of Hawai‘i.”
 
Dunham is one of five MIAP students who are receiving funding this summer through MIAP’s IMLS grant, which addresses the fact that circulating and archival collections in libraries hold some of the most culturally significant audiovisual artifacts. Often, these artifacts remain neglected, despite substantial developments in best practices for film, video, and audio preservation.
 
The three-year IMLS grant aims to increase the number of trained moving image professionals in libraries by providing intensive work experience for MIAP students and graduates, and through extensive discussions with library professionals about the current state of moving image collections in libraries and professional positions for moving image specialists.
 
The MIAP program is a two-year course of study that trains future professionals to manage preservation-level collections of film, video, new media, and other types of digital works. The program provides prospective collection managers and archivists with an international, comprehensive education in the theories, methods, and practices of moving image archiving and preservation.
 
The Institute of Museum and Library Services is the primary source of federal support for the nation’s 122,000 libraries and 17,500 museums. The Institute's mission is to create strong libraries and museums that connect people to information and ideas. The Institute works at the national level and in coordination with state and local organizations to sustain heritage, culture, and knowledge; enhance learning and innovation; and support professional development.
 
About UH West O‘ahu and CLEAR
 
UH West O‘ahu became a four-year, regional comprehensive university when it served its first class of freshmen in fall 2007. The University offers quality education, small classes and personalized attention at convenient locations. Construction is set to begin in August 2010 on the first phase of a new, state-of-the-art UH West O‘ahu campus in the City of Kapolei. It is expected to serve more than 2,750 students for spring 2012 classes. For more information, visit uhwo.hawaii.edu, twitter.com/uhwestoahu, facebook.com/uhwestoahu or call 454-4700 or toll-free (866) 299-8656.
 
CLEAR serves as the clearinghouse for labor education matters in the State of Hawai‘i and provides credit and non-credit labor studies courses, and labor-related research and educational services for workers and their organizations.