For this assignment, I chose to explore the finding aid for Walt Disney Productions Publicity Ephemera, which is an archival collection provided by the UCLA Library of Performing Arts Special Collections and stored off-site at the Southern Regional Library Faculty (SRLF). The collection consists of a total of 280 pieces–photographs, press books, press kits, film stills, and other print resources of the Walt Disney productions and films from 1938 to the 1980s. Many of the pieces come from over 150 Walt Disney films, which were mostly produced from 1950 to the 1980s.
The finding aid for this collection was processed by N. Vega and includes a descriptive summary of the collection, as well as information about the Walt Disney company and a container list of the projects that are organized in an alphabetical order. The container list specifies the boxes and folders in which the collection pieces are stored at SRLF. The finding aid also provides contact information for inquiries about the collection and requests for access to the collection, which allow viewers to learn more about the earlier productions of Walt Disney and gain deeper insights on how the company came to be one of the global leaders in animation production and family entertainment.
While the scope of the collection covers a large number of the early works of Walt Disney Productions, I found that the finding aid is quite limiting and may not be very helpful for viewers to further look into the collection. Although the finding aid comprises of a biography section that briefly mentions the development of the animation films, it does not provide any images of the pieces from the collection nor any detailed descriptions, making it difficult for viewers to fully understand the narrative that the collection is trying to portray. In addition, the projects are indexed alphabetically, which viewers may find confusing, as it would make more sense to view the collection chronologically. This would enable viewers to follow the progress that Walt Disney Productions has made in the film and entertainment industry, and examine the incorporation of technologies, such as color and sound, into these productions.
This sounds like a really interesting collection! I enjoyed reading your post. I definitely agree with your critique of the organization of the finding aid – indexing the projects alphabetically does not allow for any insight into a potential narrative. Perhaps it is organized this way for viewers who may be looking to see if a particular project is part of the collection.
Dear Christineyou,
Though I did not look into this finding aid as closely as you did, I will agree that an alphabetical ordering of the finding aid is much less helpful than a chronological one, as the contents of this particular aid seem to focus on commercial film production, which is usually indexed by date (or genre) in archival settings.
Even though I didn’t write my piece on this, I’m curious if the illustrations themselves would be of much use in looking at this archive as data or providing a narrative. Overall, however, I agree with your assertions.