Ethical Approach to Research (Particularly Important for Primary Sources)
An Archive… (With a Capital A!) “is an organization dedicated to preserving the documentary heritage of a particular group: a city, a province or state, a business, a university, or a community.” - The Society of American Archivists definition
For example,
are all responsible for the preservation and management of archives.
special collection
n. “a cohesive collection of noncirculating research materials held together by provenance or by a thematic focus…,
Archives are used for their informational value because they capture and preserve First Hand information, often in rare or unpublished form that details the context of a person, place, object, artwork, (including music, dance, performance) theory or publication.
This is particularly important for film because an actors/director/producers work is ephemeral - meaning occurring for only a short time. Often after a film is done all we see is the finished product. The material used in the making of the film often ends up in an archive.
For example:
Documentation of film found in archives are routinely consulted for the restaging productions.
Based entirely on the 1955 novel by William Golding, Lord of the Flies revolves around a large group of English schoolboys, stranded on an desert island in the South Pacific after their aeroplane crashes. Shot entirely in Puerto Rico on the island of Vieques with beautiful cinematography by Tom Hollyman and Gerald Feil and a backing score by Raymond Leppard. Source: 8mmtv
Ralph (Balthazar Getty) runs for his life as Jack (Chris Furrh) and the others hunt him down, but is saved when he runs into a marine officer (Bob Peck). Source: Rotten Tomatoes