International Review of Educational Cinematography (Jan-Dec 1932)

— 104 — is essential to eliminate and to complete. It is necessary therefore to keep an original copy of the film, then a transitional copy, and finally a new copy. The same thing applies to series of slides. One cannot show Berlin in 1931 with a series of slides dating from 1805. Such slides andfilms will be the historical documents of tomorrow and their disuse is therefor temporary. A well arranged collection of films and slides should therefor provide a means of preserving this material, and from time to time a revision of its use. From these considerations, of which some served as basic principles and others as consequences of work, were born the cinematographic archives of the city of Berlin. First of, all, twelve Geyer cupboards and fifty seven Gamy cupboards were installed, and others have since been added. The doors are of asbestos plate, practically incombustible, so that a fire breaking out around the cupboards would not be able to ignite the films within. The films are in hardwood boxes covered in asbestos so that they cannot be ignited. These boxes are quite heavy (8 pounds without the film), they contain up to 4 reels ; their weights then attains 36 pounds. As nearly all the work in the archives is done by women, we have taken these boxes out of the Geyer cupboards, and we now use them to hold negatives of particular value that are not in daily use. The material constructed by Geyer is thus not used to its true end, to prevent a fire, for if the fire were now to break out in one of these cupboards it would destroy everything within. The compartments and the divisions are in asbestos and the doors close hermetically. The compartments do not touch the back wall m order not to interrupt the circulation of the air, and the fire could therefor pass in this way. However, we have had to use this material in spite of its disadvantages. The back wall of the cupboards is constantly cooled by air, which maintains the necessary degree of humidity and prevents the dessication of the films. This jet of damp air also serves as heating. Other methods of heating have been abandoned. Ordinary systems of heating were abolished because it was thought that they had to some degree been responsible for the fire at Cleveland. On the ground floor, beneath the Archives, an electric hot air blower was installed. The hot air is humidified by a special device and is then circulated in pipes throughout the building and to the archive cupboards. In very cold winters this system is clearly far from ideal for the interior temperature of the rooms never exceeds 9 degrees C, obviously too low a temperature to allow the employees to work efficiently in them. This state of affairs is perhaps due more to the special arrangement of the roof than to the method of heating. The roof is so arranged that should the pressure increase in the rooms the windows are automatically opened. Of a total wall area of 73.45 m2, 25 m2 consist of windows ; 5.46 m2 of these open automatically. In order to be sure of this working in the case of fire the opening mechanism has been so adjusted that even breezes are sufficient to set it in motion. For this reason there are always drafts in the rooms. It has therefore been necessary to arrange special rooms for the employees of the Archives to work in, notably for the splicing girls. These rooms are arranged for easy working conditions and with free exits in case of danger. A lift with a 1 50 Kilo capacity transports films to and from the dispatching rooms and thus staircases are not encumbered. The particular form of the building allowed of the construction of three series of staicarses : a large principal staircase, a safety staircase and one leading to the film storage rooms. Corridors, floors and rooms giving on this staircase are fire-proof, gas-proof and hermetically sealed,