Retrieval of archival moving imagery -CBIR outside the frame?

Abstract

Digitization may offer a means of making archival film content more accessible by allowing moving imagery to be delivered via the Internet and by CBIR-enabled mitigation of the effects of archivists’ inconsistent indexing practices. This paper reports on research which sought to gain an informed view on this potential. Working in collaboration with eleven representative film collections, evidence was gathered relating to subject access facilities and to client requirements in the form of 1,270 requests. The work revealed that the formulation and satisfaction of requests for archival footage places a heavy reliance on human intellectual input for which CBIR techniques offer little prospect of being an effective substitute. The conclusion is drawn that the combination of limited CBIR functionality and lack of adherence to cataloguing standards seriously limits the Internet’s potential for providing enhanced access to film and video-based cultural resources.