Moving Beyond the Item:

DACS as a companion standard for moving images and

sound recordings

Andrea LeighSAA Annual Meeting, Austin, TexasSession 504, More than Just Passing Acquaintances: DACS and Companion StandardsAugust 15, 2009

Describing moving image and sound recordings Assumption is that the item in hand

constitutes a work that has been published/distributed in multiple copies

Traditionally described at the item level following rules for bibliographic description (AACR2R)

Description dependent on transcription from a chief source

Describing the content of the resource

NewsreelNews of the Day, vol. 10, issue 259

People

Places

Topics

released soundtrack version

moving image Excerpt:Nation’s capital gets a lesson in tolerance

Title: News of the day. [Vol. 10, no. 259--excerpt].

Nation’s capital gets a lesson in tolerance. Publication/Distribution:

United States : A Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer release, [1939-04-10]

Version: [Released sound track version]

Credits: John B. Kennedy [commentator] [Cameramen, Rossi-Green-Upton-Rickman-

McKeon] Notes:

Footage shot on April 9, 1939 at the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C.

Summary: "Nation’s most impressive Easter demonstration: 75,000 mass

before Lincoln Memorial to hear Marian Anderson, colored contralto, make her capital debut at the Great Emancipator shrine. Refusal of the D.A.R. to let her use their hall, and a countrywide controversy with this great gathering as the climax. The singer was invited by Secretary of the Interior Ickes, who attends with Secretary of the Treasury Mogenthau. Spectators include Supreme Court Justice Black, New York Senator Robert Wagner, and a host of notables, here to listen to the voice acclaimed by many as the finest in a century"--Voice over. Includes various shots of the crowd showing the Washington Monument and reflecting pool, Anderson with the statue of Lincoln behind, a closeup of Anderson waving from the stage, and medium shots of Ickes (seated with Mr. and Mrs. Henry Morgenthau), Wagner, and Black. Closes with various shots of Anderson singing "America," intercut with shots of the crowd and the Lincoln statue.

Access points established for creators and distributors

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

Anderson, Marian, 1897-1993

Rossi, LeoGreen, RoddyUpton, KennethRickman, TeddyMcKeon, James

Performer Cameramen Distributor

Access points for topics and genres

Topics: Anderson, Marian, 1897-1993 Ickes, Harold L. (Harold LeClair), 1874-1952 Morganthau, Henry, 1891-1967 Black, Hugo LaFayette, 1886-1971 Wagner, Robert Ferdinand, 1877-1953 Concerts --Washington (D.C.) African Americans --Civil rights --Washington (D.C.) African American women singers. Lincoln Memorial (Washington, D.C.)

Genres Newsreels Short films

Moving images and recorded sound often record events

Public and private performances Natural disasters (Hurricane Katrina) Historical events (9/11, Hindenburg disaster, Kennedy

assassination, etc.) Birthdays, holidays, parades, or other celebrations Auditions, rehearsals or behind-the-scenes footage

associated with a known work Natural and ambient sounds Conversations and interviews Artists’ video series Edited compilations, rough or pre-broadcast edits, raw

footage, outtakes, etc.

“Formal titles” ? DACS 2.3 suggests that archivists “use professional

judgment to determine when it is appropriate to supply a title rather than transcribing a label on a container that may be misleading” An evening with Carrie Fisher, Charles Playhouse, Boston,

March 29, 2003 Spoken word event, formal title on accompanying program

Zapruder film of the Kennedy assassination How the home movie has come to be known

Ambient sounds of a rock music festival, circa 1990 Supplied title

DACS 2.3 suggests using AACR2 to record formal titles

1939 Easter Sunday Concert at the Lincoln Memorial

Newsreel stories and raw footage

NBC radio broadcast Photographs Personal papers

Marian Anderson Eleanor Roosevelt

Archival records Dept. of Interior NARA NAACP D.A.R.?

Creator: Anderson, Marian, 1897-1993Title: Marian Anderson papers, circa 1900-1993 (bulk 1926-1980)

Extent: 495 boxes + 3 map case drawers Abstract:

The Papers comprise correspondence; business records and contracts; manuscript and typescript biographical materials; Anderson's notes, journals, calendars, and financial documents; programs and publicity materials; awards and honorary degrees; clippings; scrapbooks; memorabilia; and some materials belonging to her sisters Alyse Anderson and Ethel De Preist, her mother Anna D. Anderson, and her husband, Orpheus H. Fisher. Series: Correspondence Series: Programs and publicity

Printed programs from performances• 1916-December 1935• January 1936-April 9, 1939

– Etc. Series: Memorabilia

Program for the Lincoln Memorial concert

Separation List

Keep materials together

Besides the archival principles of provenance and original order, a general principle in DACS is that the rules of description apply to all archival materials regardless of form or medium; in essence, no records are excluded from the description (Principle 5)

Creator:Anderson, Marian, 1897-1993Title:Marian Anderson Papers, circa 1900-1993 (bulk 1926-1980)

Series: Correspondence Series: Programs and Publicity Series: Performances

Subseries: Lincoln Memorial Concert, Washington, D.C., April 9, 1939

• NBC Radio Broadcast– Marian Anderson at the Lincoln Memorial

• Hearst Metrotone Newsreel Coverage– Marian Anderson sings at Lincoln Memorial--unedited

footage– News of the day. Vol. 10, no. 259--excerpt. Nation’s capital

gets a lesson in tolerance Series: Memorabilia

Event as a separate collectionTitle: Marian Anderson Sings at Lincoln Memorial, Washington, D.C.,

April 9, 1939 Series: Programs and Publicity Series: Photographs Series: NBC Radio Broadcast

Marian Anderson at the Lincoln Memorial Series: Hearst Metrotone Newsreel Coverage

Marian Anderson sings at Lincoln Memorial--unedited footage News of the day. Vol. 10, no. 259--excerpt. Nation’s capital gets a

lesson in toleranceRelated Materials: Marian Anderson Papers available at Annenberg Rare Book &

Manuscript Library, University of Pennsylvania

Some questions How much of the event should be re-created in the finding

aid? Correspondence? All the material available in preparation for the event? Programs? Newspaper accounts? Photographs?

At what point does re-creating an event break with the principle of provenance and original order? UCLA’s event re-creation of Marian Anderson’s Lincoln

Memorial concert How practical is it to describe and arrange material based

on events in an era of “more product, less processing?”

Next Steps DACS for Archival Sound Recordings

subcommittee (ARSC) Formed in 2008 to prepare online guidelines on the

application of DACS to the description of archival sound recordings

Addressing the need for the establishment of guidelines for unpublished sound recordings

AACR2R Chapter 6 are rules grounded in bibliographic tradition

Marsha Maguire, chair; mmag@loc.gov No formal subcommittee established in AMIA

Thank you!

Andrea LeighMoving Image Processing Unit HeadMotion Picture, Broadcasting and

Recorded Sound DivisionLibrary of Congress202-707-0852alei@loc.gov