Journal of Film Preservation N° 60/61 - FIAF

In the end, the fourth category was found not to be sufficiently
important to be included in the inventory. This approach to establish
the relative priorities of the collections has been acceptable
throughout the field, except for the Film Museum that followed in
this and other quantitative matters its own views and calculations.
Though the questionnaire was generally seen as a ‘tough one’, the
nature of the issue did not really allow an easier approach, and the
project has been grateful to all respondees that appreciated this
point. This applies more in particular to the regional audiovisual
archives in the provinces of Groningen, North-Brabant, Frisia,
Zeeland, Overyssel and Limburg, their counterparts in North-
Holland and South-Holland, Guelders, Utrecht, Flevoland and
Drenthe, and umbrella organisations for the industrial heritage,
regional broadcasting organisations and university archives that have
so much contributed to its success.
The questionnaire has been sent to 2,700 addresses of which 1,100
have replied. Of those who have replied 576 completed the
questionnaire and around 500 did not, explaining i.a. that their
collections had been transferred, are too small to be of importance,
that they lacked time to participate, etc. Though the effective
response has only been 21%, this, and the information gained from
the non respondents has still enabled the project to gain a good
understanding of the state of affairs, on the one hand at the national
institutions (Film Museum and Netherlands Audiovisual Archive), on
the other hand at the regional audiovisual archives and at the other
archives that, for want of a better heading, have been labelled “Other
collections”.
Results
As the chairman of the Council for Culture said in his acceptance
speech, the results of the inventory have been both enlightening and
frightening. Now, in 1999, for the first time ever, the national audiovisual
heritage of the Netherlands has been inventorised, quantified,
prioritised and backlogs have been identified. That is enlightening,
and provides an excellent starting point for a new Delta Plan for the
Preservation of the Audiovisual Heritage, as well as to establish a
national fund for audiovisual preservation that would, in UK terms,
act as a charity.
The frightening part is the sheer size of the problem and the amount
of funding that is necessary to make up the existing arrears - in
particular if one realises that new arrears are created every day again
as long as there is no mechanism to prevent them from happening.
The Dutch national audiovisual collection in moving images and
recorded sound is calculated at 830,000 hours and preserving it
would cost today DFL 371,600,000 (at US$1 = DFL 2.10 this would
be US$ 176,952,380). The inventory report contains a detailed
justification of the cost and levels of preservation and of the feet to
79 Journal of Film Preservation / 60/61 / 2000
Encuesta: la colección nacional audiovisual
holandesa
Desde comienzos del siglo XX Holanda se ha
ocupado de la salvaguardia de su
patrimonio cinematográfico. En 1987, los
cuatro archivos audiovisuales que trabajan a
nivel nacional (el Film Museum, el Archivo
Fílmico del Servicio de Información
Gubernamental , el Archivo Audiovisual y
Sonoro de la Radio y Televisión NOS y la
Fundación de Cine y Ciencia) elaboraron un
documento en el que se ponía de manifiesto
la necesidad de coordinar y acelerar las
acciones relativas a la conservación y
catalogación del patrimonio.
El primer paso importante se ha dado con la
puesta en marcha de un inventario y una
encuesta nacional cuyos resultados fueron
presentados el 16 de septiembre de 1999 al
presidente del Consejo para la Cultura en
Amsterdam.
Los puntos analizados eran:
- el origen y tamaño de las colecciones,
- la existencia de posibles subcolecciones,
por soportes, contenidos y antigüedad,
- el sistema de catalogación y el alcance del
acceso público,
- el estado de conservación y preservación,
- la importancia cultural e histórica relativa
de las colecciones y/o subcolecciones,
- las necesidades de apoyo y asesoramiento.
Los resultados de la encuesta han sido
definidos por el presidente del Consejo de
Cultura como “instructivos y aterradores:”
por primera vez el patrimonio audiovisual
holandés ha sido inventariado, cuantificado,
priorizado y los atrasos históricos han sido
identificados. Por otra, se ha dado a conocer
la dimensión real del problema y el alcance
de la inversión económica necesaria.
Las conclusiones se centran en la exigencia
de coordinación entre los archivos, la
planificación de las necesidades de
preservación, catalogación y adquisiciones y
en la importancia de los programas de
capacitación para personal de archivos
audiovisuales y sonoros.
El estudio, en suma, constituye un
importante paso adelante de la política de
preservación del audiovisual en Holanda y
de las actividades de archivos en general.