The FIAF Moving Image Cataloguing Manual

Linda Tadic

• Publisher: FIAF
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9782960029635
• eBook ISBN: 9782960029642
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Film & Video

The FIAF Moving Image Cataloguing Manual is the result of many years of labor and collaboration with numerous professionals in the moving image field. It addresses the changes in information technology that we've seen over the past two decades, and aligns with modern cataloguing and metadata standards and concepts such as FRBR (Functional Requirements for Bibliographic Records), EN 15907, and RDA (Resource Description and Access). The manual is designed to be compatible with a variety of data structures, and provides charts, decision trees, examples, and other tools to help experts and non-experts alike in performing real-world cataloguing of moving image collections.

1. Moving Image Works and Variants

1.0 Definitions

1.0.1 Moving Image Work

1.0.2 Moving Image Variant (i.e., Versions)

1.1 Boundaries between Works and Variants

1.1.1 Boundaries between Works

1.1.2 Boundaries between Works and Variants/Manifestations

1.1.3 Boundaries between Variants

1.2 Attributes of a Moving Image Work/Variant

1.2.1 Work/Variant Description Type

1.2.2 Variant Type

1.3 Elements of a Work/Variant

1.3.1 Work/Variant Identifier

1.3.2 Title

1.3.3 Country of reference

1.3.4 Year/Date of reference

1.3.5 Language(s)

1.3.6 Content description

1.3.7 Notes

1.3.8 History

1.4 Relationships of a Work/Variant

1.4.1 Agent(s)

1.4.2 Event(s)

1.4.3 Subject/Genre/Form terms

1.4.4 Other relationships

1.4.5 Variants

1.4.6 Manifestations

1.0 Definitions²⁴

Brief definitions of the standard CEN terms Work/Variant/Manifestation/Item used in the Manual were provided at the end of the Introduction (see Introduction). This and the following sections provide in-depth definitions of the terms as used in these guidelines, beginning with the highest level in the description hierarchy: Moving Image Works and Variants.

1.0.1 Moving Image Work

A moving image Work comprises both the intellectual or artistic content and the process of realisation in a cinematographic medium, e.g., what it is called, when it was made, who made it, who was in it, what it is about, etc.

A Work as a conceptual entity is the topmost level of description. It may be published or unpublished, complete (whole) or incomplete (unfinished or missing content), edited or unedited. It is intended to function as the “node” that relates all Variants and Manifestations of a Work to a common creation. A Work contains the characteristics that are inherited across any Variant, Manifestation, or Item derived from that Work. It also reflects the original intentions of its realisation, including: circumstances of the creation process such as date(s) and place(s) of production, most contributions by agents such as directors, screenwriters, production companies and cast members, as well as certain statements about the contents.²⁵

The concept of moving image Work includes moving image realisations of events or performances – such as edited or unedited recordings of a play or concert performed in a theatre, a sporting event, a street performer, a medical procedure, etc.

In addition, moving images created by use of automatic devices such as surveillance cameras or vehicle-mounted cameras, can also be considered moving image works if they are subject to collecting or publishing activities.

The presence of artistic intent in the creation of a moving image entity is not a prerequisite for considering it a moving image Work. A moving image entity can be considered as a Work on a very broad spectrum of creative intent, from the classic fiction feature film at one extreme (with artistic input from dozens or hundreds of creative contributors), through amateur film (with a modicum of creative intent by one individual), to CCTV footage or other automatic recording outputs at the other extreme.

Works may have one-to-many relationships with instances of Variant and Manifestation/Item and many-to-many relationships with instances of Agent(s,) Event(s), Content(s), Subject(s) and Other Relation(s).²⁶

Works include:

• moving image realisations based on new scripts or adapted from pre-existing textual works such as novels, plays, etc.

Examples:

Hamlet (UK, 1948, Laurence Olivier)

Hamlet (USA, 1996, Kenneth Branagh)

Les misérables (France, 1958, Jean-Paul Le Chanois)

Les misérables (USA, 1998, Bille August)

Trollflöjten (Sweden, 1975, Ingmar Bergman)

Il flauto magico (Italy, 1976, Giulio Gianini and Emanuele Luzzati)

Tosca (Italy, 1939, Karl Koch)

Tosca (Italy, 1973, Luigi Magni)

• moving image realisations of scheduled performances or events such as concerts, original theatre performances, sports events, etc.²⁷ These are distinguished from cinematically staged theatrical or musical events for the purpose of creating a unique moving image work such as the Tosca and Hamlet examples provided above.

Examples:

Simon and Garfunkel: The Concert in Central Park (USA, 1982, Michael Lindsay-Hogg)

Olympia 1. Teil – Fest der Völker (Germany, 1938, Leni Riefenstahl)

Olympia 2. Teil – Fest der Schönheit (Germany, 1938, Leni Riefenstahl)

Marathon (Spain, 1992, Carlos Saura)

• moving images created by use of automatic devices such as surveillance cameras, scientific or medical instruments, etc.²⁸

Examples²⁹:

Birmingham Town Hall Car Park. Camera 7. (United Kingdom, 2015, NCP)

University College Hospital. Endoscopy – Colonscope. Patient HX3456. 2010 (United Kingdom, 2010, University College Hospital)

1.0.2 Moving Image Variant (i.e., Versions)³⁰

A moving image Variant is an entity that may be used to indicate any change to content-related characteristics that do not significantly change the overall content of a Work as a whole. Such Variants can be produced by minor additions, deletions or substitutions to the content. As a general guideline, changes that would result in a different content description should be treated as a separate Work rather than a Variant.

Changes that could be described as Variants are detailed below, in 1.1.2 Boundaries between Moving Image Works and Variants, and may include the addition of subtitles, dubbing, and editing as a result of censorship or adjustment of duration, e.g. for TV programming. For institutions that have made a policy decision not to use the Variant, these changes may constitute Manifestation differences.

The determination of a Variant requires human analysis, and as such is an interpretative practice. It is not always easy to establish what the Variants may be. For example, an institution may have a television recording of a motion picture broadcast but no way of comparing it with an original theatrical copy as to whether it has been altered in terms of subtle censorship of content or duration

Therefore, this entity is optional. If employed, each instance of a Variant is related to a Work and can have one-to-many relationships with instances of Manifestation(s), Event(s...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Dedication
• Acknowledgements
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• 0. Preliminary Notes
• 1. Moving Image Works and Variants
• 2. Moving Image Manifestations
• 3. Moving Image Items
• Appendix A, Titles and Title Types
• Appendix B, Cataloguer’s Notes
• Appendix C, Sources of Information
• Appendix D, Value Lists
• Appendix E, Aggregates (Compilations, Multi-component productions)
• Appendix F, Additional background on the manual update
• Appendix G, Elements of Description comparison
• Appendix H, Rights/Copyright/IPR Registration
• Appendix I, Examples of records containing core elements in the different levels of hierarchy
• Appendix J, Bibliography
• Appendix K. List of Elements