FOR THE PURPOSES OF THIS EXAM I WILL BE WORKING FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF THE ASSISTANT LIBRARIAN OF THE PARAMOUNT STUDIOS LIBRARY. IN REALITY, THE STUDIO DOES NOT HAVE AN INSULAR LIBRARY; BUT INSTEAD, ITS COLLECTION IS HOUSED AT THE UCLA FILM LIBRARY. IN LIGHT OF THIS I HAVE TAKEN INSPIRATION FROM THE UCLA FILM LIBRARY AS THE TEMPLATE FOR THIS SCENARIO.

1. Outline your typical day/week and year. Include: routine activities, special projects and milestones.

As a librarian at the Paramount studios library many of the activities I am involved in are similar to any other library. Other projects and activities are specific to my particular library. The following is an excerpt from the schedule we at the Paramount library work from.

Weekly:

Monday AM: weekly staff meeting

*set out the goals for the week

*project reports

*special events for the week

*policy changes discussion (if necessary)

The rest of the week is generally divided by employee rather than day. Individual projects are staggered throughout the week depending on the reference desk schedule and daily research needs. Librarians work a 3 hour shift at the desk in a rotating schedule. This way a librarian can plan around desk duty, and keep the various projects on schedule. We try to keep everyone on a standard schedule, but any changes that are needed are done on Tuesdays.

Monthly: The exhibit in the library is generally changed on a monthly basis. Statistics are also collected monthly. We collect from a variety of sources including number of desk requests, the number of email requests, the number of projects completed and a rough head count of those who enter the library.

Quarterly: ROI reports submitted to the director of the library to be given to the board of director. Employee evaluations are also conducted quarterly. We have a preservationist that comes in on a quarterly basis to evaluate the collection for items that need work. Those deemed damaged are carefully recorded and then repaired off-site. Items in need of immediate repair are sent to the preservationist workshop. While the preservationist is off-site they are located relatively close to the studio library. This allows us to escort the materials to the workshop and back again.

Annually: Collection weeding: the collection is reviewed annually to eliminate any redundant or outdated materials. This keeps the collection from becoming unwieldy and/or irrelevant. At least one librarian attends the professional conferences related to our filed. These include the annual SLA and ALA meetings as well as the various major film festivals such as Sundance and Cannes.

Special Projects: The library is generally involved in a variety of projects.

*The library is involved in a number of specific films in production. If a film requires a large amount of library support, either general support or specific fact-checking, a librarian is assigned to the project.

*The library has a display area that holds a variety of exhibits that rotate on a regular basis. We often use the space to feature a particular figure of interest within the Paramount family.

• The library is in the process of creating a searchable catalogue to be available on the studio intranet only. The database will include all materials held at the library, including scripts, location information, and film related ephemera.
• The library is involved in an ongoing digitization project. The goal of the project is to digitize all studio specific materials including oral histories, biographies, scripts and advertising ephemera. Eventually the project will be merged with similar projects being carried out in libraries of the smaller studios under the Paramount umbrella.

Milestones: Each new studio release is a milestone. Anniversaries are also milestones, but they generally only apply to this particular incarnation of the studio or particular products/people.

2. Are there values, attributes and competencies for info pros in my sector? Define each and explain.

Information professional in the film sector have a special set of competencies in addition to the values and attributes of a typical librarian. In addition to the SLA standards we hold ourselves to we also have many unique features.

Background: A film degree is not required, but in-depth knowledge of at least one facet of the film industry. Areas of expertise can include past, present and future film-making technology; in-depth knowledge of script-writing issues; an understanding of the business aspects of the industry; et al.

Technology: Understanding of the future trends in film making/viewing technology is essential. As technology changes the industry must be proactively aware of trends. Not every new technology takes hold with the general public. To this end the librarian needs to be aware of the benefits and drawbacks to a particular technology. The film librarian also has knowledge about past technologies, especially those that are still in use, or were until recently, like 70mm film. The librarian recognizes the necessity of technology transfer, and works to keep everything viewable. It is extremely important to either transfer an item from one technology to the newer version, i.e. transferring magnetic tape to a computer readable format. The librarian must also ensure that the library’s viewing equipment is in good working order.

Values: While every library has a certain measure of security, we at the Paramount library have extra security measures. Much of the library’s materials are under stringent copyrights that limit photocopying and handling. In this way we are similar to a rare book room. Since the studio is in direct competition with a number of other studios it is extremely important that trade secrets be protected. We are required to sign a confidentiality agreement at hire to insure the safety of trade secrets. This agreement restricts the discussion of ongoing projects to those within the company.

Attributes: A film librarian must be dedicated and proactive. The film librarian holds themselves to the highest ethical, legal and professional standards. A mistake at the librarian’s end of the film-making process can adversely affect the entire movie studio.

Competencies: The film librarian needs to be a jack-of-all-trades. They function as a liaison between film-makers and the production studio. They are both a business librarian and research librarian. They are technologically savvy without being unapproachable.

3. What are the trends that have or will have significant impacts on my sector as well as the info sources applicable?

The trends that impact the film industry impact my library as well. Many of my concerns lie in the fact that fewer people are going to the movie theater for their movie experiences. I have to be proactively aware of new entertainment technology trends to help the studio correctly react to a new technology or format proactively, not reactively. The rising costs of filmmaking are not being offset by the domestic ticket sales. This means that fewer films are green-lit for production in a given year. As the CLIC librarian I need to work closely with the studio to provide valid information to help better decide which films should be made. The viewer demographics that I provide a producer can help guide them to the most potentially profitable films ideas. Hollywood studios are growing more concerned with piracy issues; in light of the rise in digital piracy in theaters and illegal DVD productions the window between the studio and DVD releases of a film in collapsing. I can provide information on how new technologies help combat piracy as well as demographic data on who is making/buy pirated films.

As a film librarian I rely on a variety of information streams. There are trade resources in the form of papers such as Variety and The Hollywood Reporter. We also rely on technology resources such as Wired and Computerworld magazine. We also rely on a number of ‘standard’ reference resources such as travel guides to assist location scouts, talent agency listing to assist casting directors and business newspapers such as the Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times.

4. Write a position description for an info pro at any level in my CLIC. Include: reporting structure (up and down), responsibilities, required knowledge and skills, factors for professional evaluation.

Position opening: the Paramount studio library; entry level librarian

Responsibilities: assist researchers; maintain shelving of materials; assist in the formation of displays, both online and physical; assist in the teaching of seminars.

Qualifications: MLS required, secondary degree in film a plus, goal oriented team player

Desired Skills: basic searching skills, familiarity with database creation and maintenance software

Library reporting structure: As an entry level librarian you will be reporting to the research librarian who reports to the assistant librarian who reports to the library director. It should be noted that this is the official reporting structure, but it does not forestall reporting at any level, should the situation warrant it.

Professional evaluations: As part of our parent company we must adhere to company standards. To this end we at the Paramount library evaluate all our associates on a quarterly basis. These evaluations help prove our overall ROI to the Board of Directors. To preserve the integrity of the evaluation process we use a tiered evaluation system. We use surveys of patrons, statistics such as number of patrons served, and personal interviews completed annually.