Caroline Roll, La MaMa Archives, Spring 2016
While interning at La MaMa Archives, I focused primarily on their collection of 16mm films, which go back as far as the mid-1960s. Many contain footage of past productions, but there are other films as well. There are interviews, narrative films, and films that were projected during productions at the theatre. With the help of my supervisor, I set up a film rewind station so that I could inspect these films. I took notes on their physical condition and content, and inputted that information into La MaMa's CollectiveAccess catalogue. I also tried to improve storage conditions by ensuring that the films were on cores, rather than reels or nothing at all. I believe that I left the collection in better condition than I found it, but there is still more work to be done by the next archivist who comes along.