What Actions toward Standardization of Conservation will Ensure the Preservation of History - Research Paper Example

? What Actions toward Standardization of Conservation will Ensure the Preservation of History University Name Introduction Throughout American history, documentation has been made about current events, eras, inventions, politics, conflicts, and many other topics that have influenced the culture and lifestyles of many Americans. Some of the history has been recorded through hand-written journals of influential individuals, folk songs and stories passed down through the generations, and audio and visual media. The visual media that has documented major events has allowed future generations to experience past history through the camera’s lens. Individuals are able to use this documentation to perform research, gain knowledge and understanding of a by-gone era, and experience alternative opinions and views from various historians. While the documentation of history was taking place, little thought was given to the preservation. Much of the early work done by novices and private individuals was lost or damaged beyond restoration. People may not have considered the impact those early films may have on future generations. Some films were shared with other countries who considered the viewing opportunity a privilege and treated the film with care. As the years passed, historians realized the importance of these old films and historical documentation and started to search for the early works of known individuals (NFPF, 2009). Many of the early films were never located and others that were found were in such decay that restoring teams were unable to salvage them. Extensive funding has been used to find and restore old films and many are lost for good. Restoration teams have recorded information that allows newer films to be preserved by storing them in cool dry storage that is closely monitored for air, humidity, and light. A better quality of film has been used that can withstand temperatures that damaged older product (NFPF, 2009). Some of the media used today to make reproductions of an older project has allowed the restoration teams to rework minute details and enhance the image on the decaying film. Media archivist have been charged with the responsibility of cataloging and researching historical documentation that may need to be found, restored, preserved, or redistributed to share the knowledge of the American past with America’s future generations. Significance With the introduction of the movie camera in 1893, by Thomas Edison, people have been recording history on film. Scorsese noted that “…with every foot of film that is lost, we lose a link to our culture, to the world around us, to each other, and to ourselves” (NFPF, 2009). The Library of Congress has estimated that only 20% if American History as recorded on film from the 1910s and 1920s still exists. With all the shorts, documentaries, and independently produced works, there is no telling how much has actually been lost to damage and decay (NFPF, 2009). Three steps are used in the restoration and preservation methods of archivists and preservationists. The first step is to print the old film on new and better stock film. The second step is storing the old and new film in cool and dry storage facilities. The final step is providing copies of the original, to the public, for viewing through alternative medium (VHS, DVD, and Internet). In New Zealand, films that were thought to be forever lost were retrieved and sent through this three step process. One hundred and seventy-six titles are being restored through a special grant (NFPF, 2009). The earliest film recovered from the New Zealand archives was created in 1898, only five years after the camera was introduced. The restoration project started in 2010 and is scheduled to be completed in 2013, costing a total of $203,000 (NFPF, 2009). Research Methods A qualitative phenomenological research method has been chosen for this research study to further explore the phenomenon of how historical documentation has been lost. The study is also designed to learn the techniques of how some damaged files can be restored, and how preventative measures can be taken to minimize future loss of historical documentation through preservation, restoration, storage, and cataloging the archives holding digital media. The qualitative phenomenological research method allows for personal face-to-face interviews with participants to explore the parameters of a study. Creswell (2003) discussed the need for 20 participants to be included in the research project. The participants can provide valuable insight into the world of digital media archiving and preservation of past and present film. The past documents various stages of history and may help this field of study expand their efforts and build an interest for individuals looking for alternative careers in the film industry. Some of the films, reels, videos, and other documentation may never be salvage and the loss may never be fully comprehended. Old films from the early cinematography era have been located in other parts of the world where the film was stored in private collections, kept safe, and treasured. Even though these old films may be in need of serious restoration, the fact that they still exist is a phenomenon in itself. The lived experiences of the archivists and preservationists who have worked on these old films may provide suggestions for future handling and storage that could better preserve the films of the future. The ideal candidates for participants in this research study are individuals who have been introduced into the film industry by career choice or promotions and have dealt with the documentation, preservation, restoration, and distribution. Participants may be chosen from the professional career arena at universities, in Hollywood, and around the globe. Any person who has been involved with the archival, restorations, or preservation and distribution of films becomes a prime candidate for requesting their participation. Any person who is chosen to participate in the qualitative phenomenological research study will need to fill out a consent form (see Appendix 1). The consent form will describe in detail about the qualitative phenomenological research study being conducted, the basic parameters, and the ability to withdraw from the study without any ramifications to the participant (Creswell, 2003; Locke, Silverman, & Spirduso, 2004). The consent form provides information to the potential participant about the type of study being conducted, why their personal input would be valuable, and their ability to voluntarily offer their lived experiences through the interview process. Each participant will also be informed that no harm is expected to come from their participation in the research study and that they are welcome to withdraw at any time during the research process with absolutely no ramifications of any kind to them from the researcher or the university. A letter will be sent to the president of any university, where the desire to conduct research interviews are being considered, asking for permission to conduct research on that specific campus (see Appendix 2). The letter will introduce the researcher, outline the parameters of the research, and explain what is needed, from the president, in order to interview prospective participants on that specific campus. The response letter from the university president will be included in the final proposal submission to IRB at the University Name. No research interviews will be conducted until approval of the proposed research is given by the IRB from University Name. Research Questions The research questions are used to guide the direction of the study. Creswell (2003) discussed the importance of asking appropriate questions that would lead to the support of the research study. The following questions could be used as they are written or experience alterations as the use of a pilot study is implemented. RQ1: How should a person plan to train for a career in sound and media archiving? RQ2: What path of employment might a person choose to pursue? RQ3: If American citizens care about preserving our historical heritage, why is this career so sparsely promoted? RQ4: How can more clarity be provided to individuals pursuing this profession? RQ5: How important is the restoration and preservation of American history? RQ6: How can archivists impart the necessity of restoring and preserving American history to the public? Answers to the research questions should be satisfied by the responses to the interview questions, provided by the participants. When the individual doing the research can explain the phenomenon of the elimination of future loss in the film industry, then the research questions have indeed guided the study to completion. In the event that the research questions are answered and the study produces more questions, then the researcher can suggest further areas of study to other individuals interested in the topic chosen for this qualitative phenomenological research study (Creswell, 2003). By offering suggestions for future studies, the individual conducting the research can potentially include him or herself as a researcher for the continuation of this current study. Interview Questions The interview questions are created to guide the participants to share their lived experiences with the researcher. The guiding process that is used is the open-ended questions that allow the individuals to expand on the answer to the questions, based on personal experience, knowledge, and training (Creswell, 2003). The following interview questions may be used as written or may experience changes depending on the development of the research study, brought about by answers provided during the pilot study. IQ1: Explain the areas of your background that prompted you to become a professional media archivist or preservationist? IQ2: What path of employment opportunities did you pursue and why? IQ3: How has the preservation of old films influenced you in your life? IQ4: Does a discrepancy exist in the media archival field and if so, how can that be handled by professional media archivists? IQ5: Would other countries benefit from media archiving and old film preservation information and how can this career field become standardized across the globe? IQ6: Does apprenticeships and internships benefit the media archiving industry and why? It is possible that all interview questions will be used in this qualitative phenomenological research study. The number of interview questions is not dictated by any set criteria, but by the individual conducting the research. The only way the researcher will know if the number of questions are appropriate for the project is during the pilot study. Through the pilot study, the participants who agree to openly discuss their lived experiences, based on the way the questions are formed will determine if more questions are needed. The pilot study will also verify whether or not the questions are in need of revisions, which questions provide the best information, or if the questions that have been chosen actually provide the answers to the research questions that will allow the documentation of the phenomenon to be thoroughly explained. Only after the pilot study has been conducted will the researcher know if the interview questions will remain as they are currently written. Another part of the interview process is the saturation point. This is the point where the answers to the interview questions start repeating the themes that were first presented in the answers of the participants (Locke, Silverman, & Spirduso, 2004). When saturation occurs, the individual conducting the research can then feel confident that the information that has been gathered through the interview process is complete and further search for more participants is futile. The interviews will each be recorded separately and then transcribed for inclusion in the final document. During the transcription and analysis process themes will emerge from the information provided by the participants. Keeping track of these emerging themes will allow the repetitive themes to be categorized appropriately and then recorded in the compiled data. The data that are used in this specific study may influence future research in other related fields (Locke, Silverman, & Spirduso, 2004). Ethics This section will include the parameters the researcher will use to ensure the research is valid and reliable and free from bias for the duration of the study. The maintenance of anonymity and confidentiality will be included to assure the reader of the researcher’s intention to maintain a professional research study and document. Professional conduct throughout the qualitative phenomenological research study, by the individual conducting the research study will begin the process of ethical adherence to the rules and guidelines of ethical research. It is the responsibility of the researcher to accurately report the findings of the research study without bias, convoluted arguments, or inaccurate data (Locke, Silverman, & Spirduso, 2004). Part of the ethical procedure in research involves the individual doing the study to act professionally at all times during the collection of data. By keeping in mind the need to do no harm to anyone involved in the research project, the creation of the research questions, the interview process, the collection of surveys, and any recorded information will need to be kept confidential at all times during the research study and for the duration of three years past the conclusion of the study. One way to ensure anonymity and confidentiality is to provide each participant with a pseudo name for reference throughout the research documentation. The pseudo name can be chosen by the participant or the person conducting the research study and can even be a numeric code that only the researcher will know (Creswell, 2003). All written documentation of the participants and audio or video recordings will need to be kept in a safety deposit box at a chosen financial institution for the minimum amount of three years. The safety deposit box can be registered under a pseudo name with the permission of the branch management. The financial institution will be chosen according to the list of available merchants that offer this type of service and the location of the safety deposit box will be included in the final document. After the three-year period is completed, all existing written documentation will be destroyed through the act of shredding. Companies exist that take sensitive material, shred the documents into small pieces, and then recycle the paper for future use. As soon as a company of that nature is located within the parameters of the research, the name of the company will be listed as part of the final document to complete the ethical practice of anonymity and confidentiality. Audio and video tapes will be erased and the only thing that will remain of the original study will be the final document of the research study that was published and the copies that will exist at that time. Author’s Qualifications A media archivist organizes and preserves collected films, making them available to the public for research and entertainment viewing. The archives contain more than just film. Newsreels, videotapes, DVDs, CDs, and other forms of digitally transferred films, scripts, film production schedules, still pictures, and other movie-related media is preserved in the archives. A reference for every piece in the collection, for easy locating and record keeping, is essential to the archive and film industry. The skills necessary for a film archivist are similar to that of a librarian. An archivist needs to be able to conduct research on films to discover important information regarding the creation timeline, casting information, production and directions individuals, and restoration or preservation needed on the film. Media archiving is the only part of the film industry that maintains regular working hours (NFPF, 2009). The introduction of technology in the field of media archiving has enabled archivists to do thorough searches on old films and catalog them according to topic, type, and condition. Internet searches have allowed archivists to find lost footage of old films in obscure locations, in other countries, and personal collections. Technology has also enabled restoration teams to use digital techniques to restore and recolor faded and damaged film from early Americana (NFPF, 2009). An undergraduate degrees in History, English, or the humanities is needed by anyone pursuing a career in media archiving and needs to be followed by a graduate degree in Library Science, Archiving, or a similar field of study (FSU, 2012). Human Subjects (IRB) Protection The responsibility of protecting human subjects falls upon any person(s) conducting research. The objective to any research is to find the answer to questions without introducing harm or risk to those individuals who volunteer to participate in the study. In order to successfully conduct research, it is necessary for any researcher to understand the parameters and ramifications that accompany the research process. Because of past practices that were harmful to human participants, new guidelines have been implemented to ensure reoccurrences of harm or excessive risk do not happen. A person conducting research is charged with the responsibility of making sure that the guidelines are observed through the entire research process. The choice of participants for research needs to avoid certain types of individuals. Those types of individuals include individuals who are in prison, any person who is under the age of 18, anyone who is mentally incompetent, a person who is under a doctor’s care or taking prescribed medication, pregnant women, or anyone the researcher my deem unqualified to participate in the specific study. Under special consideration, human research subjects have included some of the voided groups, but greater caution has been demanded of the researcher to protect the subjects from harm or risk. When voided groups are included in a research study, there needs to be a specific reason for including these individuals in the study and the outcome of the research would only be valid and reliable by using these people. Strict guidelines are enforced when a voided group is included; observation only, witnessed interviews, medical overseeing of patient care by a licensed doctor throughout the research project, and information being censored out of the final document. The human subjects for the qualitative phenomenological research study being proposed will limit the participants to individuals over 18 years old, current media archivists, media restoration teams, media preservation professionals, and private film collectors who are willing to share their lived experiences, involving the film industry, with other film enthusiasts. Assumptions It is the assumption of media archivists across the United States that many films that were created were not given proper care and this may have caused some of the damage that many restoration teams are experiencing. The individuals in control of the finished product may not have understood that storing the film in a tin in a basement storage was not conducive to preservation of the images on the film. Constant temperature changes in the basement, elevations in humidity, ground water levels rising and flooding the basements, and rodents and insect infestation all played a part in the deterioration. Another assumption may have been the expectation that the film would last longer than it actually did. Many individuals may have thought that because it was a film with a gelatinous coating that it would not dry out and crack. Extreme heat proved that theory wrong as some storage areas were not climate controlled and the cold and heat fluctuated with the outside temperature. Some of the films were destroyed by natural disasters like the earthquakes, fires, and mudslides in California that did extensive damage across that state. When individuals would borrow the films for private viewings, sometimes they were never returned and simply disappeared. No matter what the reason for the non-availability of some historical documents that were recorded on film, the fact that they are gone leaves a hole in the timeline of America. Summary The qualitative phenomenological research study involving the media archiving of films and other historical memorabilia is expected to enlighten film enthusiasts of the necessity of proper preservation methods, restoration of older films, and continued copy creation to continue to circulate the historical events to future generations. The significance of the study highlights the need for continued preservation methods to be practiced in the film industry. Preservation is especially important as the boundaries of the United States continue to expand with the global interaction of the Internet and the influx of immigrants from other countries. The research questions are created to guide this qualitative phenomenological research study and help explain the importance of career choices like that of a media archivist. The interview questions will prompt the participants to share their lived experiences within the film industry with the other film enthusiasts across America and around the globe. The experiences of the archivists, preservationists, restoration team members, and private collectors who participate in this study can educate the public on the importance of preserving American History. By the researcher maintaining professional and ethical conduct throughout the entire research process and ensuring anonymity and confidentiality, the world may learn some facts about the past that may have been lost. The protection of all the participants in the study is essential to prevent harm from occurring to any person involved in the study. The assumptions that film will last forever is the reason behind the need for the qualitative phenomenological research study. Educating the public will occur at a later date as more individuals make the career choice to become media archivists in the film industry. People need to realize that the only proof that an event occurred is the record that is kept regarding each situation and an accurate accounting of the outcome. When the event is not remembered or the outcome does not instill a powerful lesson, people tend to forget what happened and re-write history to their liking. References APA 6th edition will be used Creswell, J. W. (2003). Research design: Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed method approach. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Full Sail University (FSU) (2012). Film archivist. Retrieved from http://getinmedia.com/careers/film-archivist Locke, L. F., Silverman, S. J., & Spirduso, W. W. (2004). Reading and understanding research (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage National Film Preservation Foundation (NFPF) (2009). Preservation basics. Retrieved from http://www.filmpreservation.org/preservation-basics Appendices Appendix 1: Informed Consent Form Informed Consent: Participants 18 years of age and older Dear _______________________________, My name is Student’s Name and I am a student at the University Name working on which degree. I am doing a research study entitled “What Actions toward Standardization of Conservation will Ensure the Preservation of History.” The purpose of the research study is to determine if adult students face any challenges that traditional students do not encounter, and if so, provide suggestions for policy and procedural adjustments. Your participation will involve answering two interview questions, honestly, about personal experiences with media archiving, restoration, and preservation. The interview will be digitally recorded and the responses to the interview questions will be recorded into Dragon Naturally, a computer program that transcribes the interview in real time. All data will be kept confidential and digital recording and transcription of the interview will be locked in a safety deposit box at a bank in City, State for the duration of not less than three years, under a pseudo name. The interview should take between 10 and 30 minutes, depending on the individual’s response. The sample size of this research is expected to be 20 participants. You can decide to be a part of this study or not. Once you start, you can withdraw from the study at any time without any penalty or loss of benefits. The results of the research study may be published but your identity will remain confidential and your name will not be made known to any outside party. In this research, there are no foreseeable risks to you. Although there may be no direct benefit to you, a possible benefit from your being part of this study is future practices for preserving and archiving film may occur. If you have any questions about the research study, please call Student’s Name at Phone # or send an email to email address. For questions about your rights as a study participant, or any concerns or complaints, please contact the University Name Institutional Review Board via email at email address. As a participant in this study, you should understand the following: 1. You may decide not to be part of this study or you may want to withdraw from the study at any time. If you want to withdraw, you can do so without any problems. 2. Your identity will be kept confidential. 3. Student’s Name, the researcher, has fully explained the nature of the research study and has answered all of your questions and concerns. 4. If interviews are done, they may be recorded. If they are recorded, you must give permission for the researcher, Student’s Name, to record the interviews. You understand that the information from the recorded interviews may be transcribed. The researcher will develop a way to code the data to assure that your name is protected. 5. Data will be kept in a secure and locked area. The data will be kept for three years, and then destroyed. 6. The results of this study may be published. “By signing this form, you agree that you understand the nature of the study, the possible risks to you as a participant, and how your identity will be kept confidential.  When you sign this form, this means that you are 18 years old or older and that you give your permission to volunteer as a participant in the study that is described here.” () I accept the above terms. () I do not accept the above terms. (CHECK ONE) Signature of the interviewee ____________________________________ Date _____________ Signature of the researcher _____________________________________ Date _____________ Appendix 2: Permission to Conduct Research Letter To: College/University President Address City, State & Zip Code Date: Date of letter From: Student’s Name Address City, State & Zip Code Phone # including area code Re: Permission to Conduct Research Dear President’s Name; My name is Student’s Name and I am a student at the University Name. I am doing a research study titled “What Actions toward Standardization of Conservation will Ensure the Preservation of History.” The purpose of the research study is to determine the necessity and importance of the restoration and preservation of American history that has been documented through film over the decades and how media archivists can relate that importance to the citizens of America and the world. I am requesting permission to approach students, on campus, who are enrolled at University Name, who are involved in media archival, and who are willing to participate in this research study. I will adhere to the strict guidelines that are associated with research in that the individuals will fully understand that their participation is completely voluntary. At no time either present or future will monetary compensation will be offered for the individuals participation in the research study. That the participant can choose to withdraw at any time during the process with no ramifications to their person or grade from the individual conduction the research or the university named in the research documentation. In order to actively research this topic on the University Name Campus, the University Name requires a signed document, by the college president, on college letterhead, granting this request. This document will be submitted, along with the research proposal, to the University Name IRB for acceptance. Research interviews will commence only after approval has been given by the University Name IRB. Thank you in advance for your time and help regarding this request. Respectfully, Student’s Name Read More