New York Public Library digitalizes thousands of videos

The New York Public Library recently added hours of dance footage to a new archive some dating as far back as 1897.

Now the Jerome Robbins Dance Division Moving Image Archive holds 24,000 films and tapes available to viewers online, Hyperallergic.com reports.

Originally, NYPL members would need to request the tapes before taking them out individually. However, the additions to the archive will be the first time that these special films and tapes will be available to view online still to library members.

In a press release, Jacqueline Z. Davis, Barbara G. and Lawrence A Fleishman, executive directors of the library for the performing arts, said, “Digitizing these videos provides the public with unique and varied opportunities to utilize the Dance Division’s rich holdings, and serve as an important step forward in the library for the Performing Art’s efforts to enhance NYPL’s Digital Collections.”

They added, “With a team of curators, designers, technicians and other NYPL staff, we collaborated to solve the challenges involved in modernizing such materials. Dance scholars, creative professionals, student and others now have greater ability to interact with and learn from the videos in our collections.”