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Chapter 4: Recommended standards for training
4.1 The recommended standards refer to academic
education
4.2 Individual qualifications expected from av
archivists
4.3 Definition of av archive jobs
4.4
Curriculum
4.1 The recommended standards refer to academic education
- 2 year course for senior staff (top management) of audiovisual archives
- 1 year course for specialist workers (middle management) of audiovisual archives
- 2-year course for technicians/engineers (diddle management) of audiovisual archives
4.1. 1 The curriculum has boon conceived for the education and training of av archivists, to enable them to operate and handle all types of moving images and recorded sound material. There are three reasons in favour of a combined and non-specialist education:
- integration of audiovisual materials in an individual archive or a department of a larger institution
- common features in the preservation, cataloguing and using of audiovisual materials
- greater flexibility of placement after completion of training
4.1.2 The curriculum recommended for the education and training of av archivists shall serve students, who wish to take up an additional course following university or college education. The curriculum can also be applied to course integrated instruction. The recommended curriculum shall not be regarded as a substitute for full-time academic education.
Specialist education of audiovisual archivists should be based on or be integrated in basic education of - history, archive science, librarianship, information science, documentation, museology, media science or technical science.
4.1.3 The curriculum wee drawn up with the intention of integrating the education and training of av archivists in the syllabus of existing institutions.
4.1.4 Academic education cannot dispense with the following:
- continuing professional education. Audiovisual media develop at a rapid pace, and all changes in technology have repercussions on the work of archives. Continuing education of top and middle management personnel of av archives is imperative to enable them to cope with their duties. This aspect will not be dealt with in detail, as the recommended curriculum does not include any measures in this direction
- education and training of skilled workers for specific jobs by in-service training
There is no known establishment offering specialist vocational training - to skilled workers of av archives. It is therefore considered necessary to provide them with a minimum of training to enable them to carry out their duties competently. The length of such training would depend on the size of the institution and the staff available. It could spread over a period of time, but a minimum of 20 working days i. recommended. It should be regarded as an induction period, including a general introduction to all departments of the archive, not only the one in which the trainee is to work.
4.1.5 It is recommended that the education and training of av archivists should be as practice-related as possible, including work in film, television and sound archives. By the use of fieldwork and/or practical periods students, should be given the opportunity to loam by experience to help them find suitable work after completion of training. A practical period of several weeks should be part of the curriculum.
4.1.6 Extensive knowledge of the history of film, video, broadcasting, the technical processes and feasible audiovisual recording modes is a prerequisite for a career as an av archivist. The curriculum provides only 30 hours for the imparting of theoretical knowledge on the history of the media and 120 hours for demonstrations. This is not nearly enough time for students to cover the subject thoroughly. Students should therefore be encouraged to acquire as much knowledge as possible by availing themselves of any options offered. The teaching establishment is expected to arrange film screenings and provide video and sound recordings thus stimulating students to further research.
4.1.7 The pattern suggested for the study programme is based on the following calculation:
The 2-year course will cover 44 weeks per year, leaving 8 weeks holiday. Seven hours per week will be devoted to lectures and/or demonstration. Students are expected to spend at least 30 hours per week studying literature and dealing with the materials.
4.1.8 Top management students, should be expected to speak two foreign languages fluently, middle management students, should have a good command of at least one foreign language.
4.1.9 On completion of specialist education an av archivist should be awarded a certificate or diploma, whichever may apply in accordance with national conditions.
4.2 Individual qualifications expected from av archivists
Every profession requires motivation - an av archivist needs more than this: 'The majority of staff employed for archival work with historical records, tv productions and films have received their training in a wide variety of fields, including librarianship, literary studies, museology and even direction and production. They all share a devotion to their media which might oven be said to dominate their lives, a statement which does not apply only to cinema enthusiasts working with film archives. Such devotion has come to characterise the pioneers of the archival preservation of sound archives and of tv production and the traditional written records in broadcasting corporations'. (Prof. Dr Kahlenberg, President of the Bundesarchiv of the Federal Republic of Germany).
An av archivist shall be motivated by his great love and devotion to the medium, its history, artistic and documentary feasibilities, the creators and interpreters and also the technical aspect of the medium. He is expected to have a thorough knowledge of general history, in particular of the 20th century. The nature of his work requires an av archivist to be meticulously accurate, be able to concentrate and apply himself in pragmatic and systematic work. The close ties between av archives and av media, and the frequent combination of production archive with historical archive, and the large number of users tend to beget a contradiction between the thoroughness expected from an archivist and his operative ability.
Top and middle management staff shall be expected to show decent social behaviour when associating with employees to give them expert guidance. They should be able to motivate staff and interest them and also external individuals in the work of av archives. Their bearing in public should also contribute to enhance an archive's reputation.
4.3 Definition of av archive jobs
4.3.1. AV archive jobs can be divided into three categories, each fulfilling different qualification requirements:
| Top management | |
| (level 1) | Heads of archives, Heads of departments. |
| Require basic academic qualification with university degree in relevant disciplines, plus additional or integrated 2-year education as an av archivist. | |
| Middle management | |
| (level 2) | Division heads, specialist workers |
| Should have a good basic education to at least diploma or first degree level in relevant disciplines plus additional or integrated 1-year education as an av archivist | |
| (level 3) | and in case of technicians/engineers plus 1-year specialised technical training |
| Skilled workers | should have completed vocational training in a related profession plus additional in-house training |
4.3.2 TOP MANAGEMENT (LEVEL 1) INCLUDES
Head of Acquisition
Duties:
- to organise av materials accessions and possibly also related materials through deposit systems, purchase, exchange
- to keep in contact with potential originators of av material (producers, distributors, broadcasting stations, private collectors, museums and archives)
- to contribute to the drawing up of fundamental rules of an archive's stock, formation and principles of appraisal and selection.
Knowledge required:
- history and contemporary history of the national and international production of audiovisual materials, artistic, documentary significance
- copyright, archive law, law of contract
- organisation and management
- professional knowledge of properties of av materials, cataloguing, appraisal and selection
- specific personal characteristics, including application, interpersonal skills when representing archive in public
Recommended basic education: archive science, librarianship, information sciences.
Head of Cataloguing
Duties:
- to develop cataloguing systems to record ownership, compile filmographic data, technical data and content data
- to develop cataloguing systems
- to organise data-flow between departments
- to organise descriptive cataloguing duties
- appraisal of stock
Knowledge required:
- basic knowledge of general history
- extensive knowledge of the history of the medium
- detailed knowledge of cataloguing principles
- basic technical knowledge of technical aspects of the medium
- knowledge of appraisal and selection
- extensive knowledge of cataloguing methods, including computer applications
Recommended basic education: librarianship, information science, archive science, computing studies
Head of Documentation
Duties:
- to organise the stock and related material, structure of collection, cataloguing, storage, use and restoration
- to organise accessions (if this is not included in acquisition),
- including appraisal
- to cooperate in drawing up genera rules of stock formation
- to guarantee permanent preservation and use
Knowledge required:
- history of the medium, history and aesthetics of related materials
- extensive knowledge of the origin of related materials
- cataloguing, information processing including computer applications
- technical knowledge of storage and preservation of related materials, reproduction techniques
- legal knowledge
- documentation science and qualified to coal with bequests
- museology and qualified to deal with objects of museum value, practical skills in arranging exhibition
Recommended basic education: archive science, librarianship, information science, arts degree
Head of Technical Services
Duties:
- permanent safeguarding, storage, technical inspection, restoration and preservation of av materials
- procurement, maintenance and repair of an archive's technical equipment
Knowledge required:
- history of the medium, in particular its technical development
- storage techniques, air conditioning, operation and handling of av materials
- basic knowledge of aesthetic, economic and legal aspects, cataloguing, in particular of technical data
Recommended basic education: electronic and mechanical engineering, film, sound and video techniques
Head of Library
Duties:
- responsible for supplementing, organising, making accessible, safeguarding and preserving the stock of books and periodicals
- to initiate stock and acquisition policy
- to organise accession through purchase, exchange and donation
- to direct stocktaking, cataloguing and use
- to guarantee the safeguarding of stock
Knowledge required:
- history of the medium, and in particular of publications dealing with the medium
- thorough knowledge of cataloguing and documentation, in particular indexing of periodicals
- general archive knowledge and of collections of related materials
- knowledge of bibliographic duties
Recommended basic education: librarianship
Head of Publications
Duties:
- to see over all publication activities, including topics and contents and also technical and organisational aspects
- to initiate publication programmes
- to cooperate with internal and external authors
- to organise publication, publicity, distribution and cooperation with publishers
- to act as a public relations officer
Knowledge required:
- history and aesthetics of the medium
- sociology, in particular knowledge of publications and information in demand
- to manufacture and design printed material
- economy and law
- journalistic flair
Recommended basic education: journalism, publishing
Head of Education/Exhibition
Duties:
- to initiate and organise an archive's cultural activities in public, using film theatres, clubs, exhibitions, lectures, retrospectives, seminars, concerts and others
- to organise cooperation with museums and other partners in disseminating an archive's cultural activities
- to organise cooperation with partner institutions abroad
Knowledge required:
- extensive knowledge of history and contemporary history of the medium
- sociology, cultural requirements
- teaching skills on how to propagate aspects of culture
- museology and skills of arranging exhibitions
- general knowledge of archive stock and how to locate material
Recommended basic education: archive science, museology, pedagogics
Head of Public Relations
Duties:
- to make entire stock accessible to users
- to initiate access policy and practices
- to organise user information, user education and advice
Knowledge required:
- history of the medium
- journalism
- technical knowledge of medium and playback techniques
Recommended basic education: -archive science, cultural policy, journalism
Head of Administration
Duties: - internal management, fund raising, planning, accounting, record of ownership, procurement, personnel management
Knowledge required:
- history of the medium
- basic knowledge of archive structure
- knowledge of economic, planning, legal aspects
Recommended basic education: management, economics, law
The aforementioned functions of top management are considered as recommendations. There are no rules regarding the internal allocation of duties applicable to all types of archives. An archive's structure always depends on its adze and the national tasks it has to fulfil. Responsibilities and duties shall therefore be assigned to suit individual needs.
4.3.3 Division heads and specialists of departments referred to in pare 4.3.2 come under middle management (Level 2). Previous education for people working in the archive at this level is high school education, diploma, technical college or university education in relevant disciplines.