Cataloguing & Documentation Commission

The CDC members in January 2024.

The mission of the Cataloguing and Documentation Commission is to promote the exchange of information, expertise, and materials among FIAF colleagues and others in the areas of film cataloguing and of documentation related to the cinema. We define documentation related to the cinema as any records containing information generated in the pre-production, production, publicity, distribution, exhibition and merchandising, study, and archiving of film. Film cataloguing encompasses the creation and use of guidelines, standards and rule interpretations for describing moving image collections in archives. Our goals are to survey and standardize working procedures in the areas of cataloguing and documentation in film archives, to encourage interoperability of systems, and to facilitate exchange at all levels. To achieve these goals, the members of the Commission meet regularly, conduct workshops, present and publish papers, and contribute to the Commission's ongoing projects.

Commission members revised the FIAF Cataloguing Rules, now titled the FIAF Moving Image Cataloguing Manual, which was released as an e-publication in May 2016. The Commission continues to develop the revised Glossary of Filmographic Terms, which currently offers translations in twelve languages. Commission members also regularly contribute to the International Index to Film Periodicals; the International Directory of Film-Related Collections and Libraries; and Treasures from the Film Archives, which are all available via FIAF Databases Online. Past publications of the Cataloguing and Documentation Commissions include the FIAF Cataloguing Rules; the Glossary of Filmographic Terms; the FIAF Classification Scheme for Literature on Film and Television; the Bibliography of National Filmographies; and the Bibliography of FIAF Affiliates’ Publications, among many others. Most are freely available on the FIAF website.

The Cataloguing and Documentation Commission has always intended that its work should benefit both FIAF itself and international film culture in general.

CDC's e-resources are accessible HERE.

You can write to the FIAF Cataloguing and Documentation Commission at cdc@fiafnet.org.

Commission Members

Head:

Adelheid Heftberger, Bundesarchiv, Berlin

Members:

Anna Fiaccarini, Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna, Bologna (Deputy Head)

Murchana Borah, Film Heritage Foundation, Mumbai

Paul Duchesne, National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, Canberra 

Natasha Fairbairn, BFI National Archive, London

Rutger Penne, FIAF – Periodicals Indexing Project, Brussels (ex-officio)

Circe Itzel Sánchez González, independent researcher, Mexico City

Mats Skärstrand, Swedish Film Institute, Stockholm

Elżbieta Wysocka, Filmoteka Narodowa – Instytut Audiowizualny (FINA), Warsaw

Corresponding Members:

Katerina Kampoli (Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée, Paris); Stephen McConnachie (BFI National Archive, London); Torbjørn Pedersen (National Library of Norway); Maria Assunta Pimpinelli (Fondazione Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia / Cineteca Nazionale, Rome); Leon van Wissen (University of Amsterdam); Eva Hielscher (DFF - Deutsches Filminstitut & Filmmuseum); Alberto Jiménez Pérez (Central American and Nicaraguan History Institute (UCA, Managua); Rolando Diaz Jaimes (Cineteca Nacional de México); and Filippo Mengoni (University of Udine).

FIAF Executive Committee Interlocutor: Cecilia Cenciarelli

Current CDC Task Forces

Linked Open Data Task Force

Rapporteur: Paul Duchesne

The Linked Data Task Force was created to investigate how data relevant to film archives can be linked and made accessible. Linked Open Data refers to a specific family of W3 standards for linking data between different sources, enabling queries across larger data sets than are generally held in any one institution. The Task Force members have committed to writing an ontology consistent with the FIAF Cataloguing Manual and the CEN 15907 structure. Aside from this ontology, the group is looking into how value lists and controlled vocabularies can be integrated into both resources to provide standardisation to facilitate interoperable data exchange. Other related sub-projects include how sources like Wikidata might be useful for film archives, and how vocabularies may be derived from existing archival corpora.

Manual Task Force

Rapporteurs: Natasha Fairbairn and Circe Itzel Sánchez González

The Manual Task Force completed its initial remit and tasks to “define and propose a methodology and structure for a 5-year formal revision update plan for the FIAF Moving Image Cataloguing Manual, including soliciting feedback in advance from the community, with deadline”. Due to external factors impacting that plan and deadline subsequently, the Task Force has now renewed further post-survey work connected with the revision of the Manual. This includes further analysis of results and gathering documents and examples from other institutions regarding key areas identified as needing enhancement in a new edition.