Audiovisual Records and Related Materials Created by Government Agencies – a Presentation at The 2nd Seminar Held by the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) in Washington, D.C., USA, is the nation’s record keeper, preserving and managing historically valuable government records. Established in 1934, NARA holds the “Charters of Freedom” – the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Bill of Rights – as well as diplomatic documents, war-related documents, immigration records, veteran’s service records, and others that form the nation’s “memory.” The holdings are vast and diverse, including 13.5 billion pieces of paper, more than 137 million meters (450 million feet) of film, 41 million photographs, 40 million aerial images, 10 million maps, charts, and architectural drawings, and 837 terabytes of electronic records (as of October 2023).
NARA has been accepting transfers of audiovisual records (such as films and videos) along with related materials documenting their production process over many years. At the 2nd seminar held on May 14, 2024, Ms. YAMANAGA Naomi, an Associate Fellow of the Department of Art Research, Archives and Information Systems, presented a report titled “Audiovisual Records and Related Materials Created by Government Agencies.” The report detailed the findings of an on-site survey of these related materials conducted in August 2022.
According to information from the Textual Records Series Register (1990) provided by the archivists, their new building (Archives II) handling special media holds approximately 300 series of related materials, and digitization has been progressing in recent years. This presentation described the wide-ranging contents of related materials, including production files, scripts, correspondence, index cards, and interview transcripts, accompanied by photographs. In the subsequent question-and-answer session, various opinions were exchanged regarding the necessity of preserving and managing records that are created in the course of production activities and ensure their context. Based on this discussion, the presenter will continue to explore ways to contribute to the preservation of such related materials.