New online gateway to the UK 's Screen Heritage collections launched
 The first online guide to the UK 's screen heritage was launched this week at the Foyle Centre, The British Library. The Researcher's Guide to Screen Heritage is the result of a project to identify the whereabouts of collections of artefacts, ranging from costumes and sets to cameras and cars, and gives access to the collections of over 700 institutions .
The website ( http://joseph.bufvc.ac.uk/rgo ) delivers a comprehensive links directory to the leading collections of content and artefacts related to the history of moving image and sound in the United Kingdom . Aimed at anyone with an interest in the history of cinema, television and related media, it is a gateway which is of particular interest to students, researchers and academics. For the first time, it is possible to discover immediately where films, television programmes, documents, images and associated physical artefacts are held in the UK .
The Researcher's Guide to Screen Heritage is the result of a partnership between the National Media Museum, the British Universities Film & Video Council, and Screen Archive South East which are all members of the UK Screen Heritage Network. The project was funded by the Museums Libraries and Archives Council UK .
Building upon the BUFVC's established database of moving image archives and document collections, the project sought to add the missing part of the jigsaw – information on the physical objects or artefacts residing in museums and other collections nationwide. It has uncovered some surprises, such as entire cinemas that have been painstakingly relocated brick-by-brick to museums, such as the Museum of Welsh Life at St Fagans and the Black Country Living Museum. Then there are those undergoing large-scale restoration, such as the Plaza Super Cinema in Stockport and Tyneside Cinema.
Specialised collections relating to or donated by film and television industry personnel are often ‘ hidden' in museums or universities. Through this gateway you will find your way to the collections of Stanley Kubrick at the University of the Arts, London , John Logie Baird at the Hastings Museum and Art Gallery and Lindsay Anderson at the University of Stirling . Magic lanterns and other pre-cinema objects are to be found in unlikely organisations such as Anti-Slavery International.
Michael Harvey, Curator of Cinematography at the National Media Museum said: “This has been a successful collaboration resulting in an extremely useful tool for everyone interested in finding out more about the UK's rich screen heritage. Even those familiar with the field will make new connections and discoveries that will enrich their knowledge.”
Murray Weston, Director of the British Universities Film & Video Council said: “Following a productive national survey led by BUFVC Research Executive Linda Kaye, the Researcher's Guide to Screen Heritage now identifies some 90 specialist collections of film and television-related artefacts alongside data on around 600 film, television and radio collections. The Researcher's Guide to Screen Heritage will link in with the planned outputs of the UK Film Council/BFI Strategy for UK Screen Heritage. The British Universities Film & Video Council, which is building upon a 60-year track record promoting moving image and sound in scholarship, is delighted to have been associated with this initiative.”
To start your own screen heritage discovery trail, go to http://joseph.bufvc.ac.uk/rgo |
