DELFT

As part of the project the Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB) – German National Library of Science and Technology will undertake the digitization of the ethnological film collection from the former Institute of Scientific Film (IWF), comprising 1.953 films.

Description

The collection of ethnological films of the former Institute for Scientific Film (IWF) is the world’s largest of its kind and comprises 1.953 films. This collection will be digitalized by the  Technische Informationsbibliothek (TIB) – German National Library of Science and Technology. In addition to this the films will be digitally preserved, allocated a DOI name, indexed with metadata and integrated into TIB's AV-Portal as part of the well tested and successful digitization-concept of the TIB.

The film collection documents the habits and handcraft traditions as well as the (socio-)cultural processes of highly varying nationalities and ethnic groups, from the material culture, economy, craftsmanship and the arts – especially music and dance – to traditions, rituals, religion or medicine. Today these films are partly the only surviving documents of extinct cultures and their representatives. As cultural heritage objects of considerable significance, these films will be made accessible through digitization for research and higher education purposes, primarily for minor scientific groups such as ethnology, anthropology and movie science.

To date the film material could not systematically be scientifically evaluated because most of the films are analogue or, if digital, only in low resolution. For the digitization process the 16mm archival print is first preference. For a high-quality digitization of the original sound (music and dance) magnetic film of the original soundtracks are available. The planned high-resolution digitization is the prerequisite for further scientific research of the film collection. The results of the project are of great interest to European and international research as well as offering a point of departure for future research projects.