This project aims at simplifying the time-consuming and costly process of locating archival materials across European moving image collections, and identifying the copyright owners. MIDAS has developed procedures allowing film archives to contribute cataloguing data towards a common, publicly available database. Between 2005 and 2007, eight archives from six European countries have joined the project and further nine archives are joining in 2008.
The MIDAS database is available at http://www.filmarchives-online.eu/.
Metadata formats and specifications will play a key role in the long-term success of the MIDAS project. Large-scale co-operation between film archives requires that partners can agree on a common structure and interpretation of filmographic data elements. For this reason, MIDAS maintains close ties to standardization initiatives such as CEN/BT TC 372 while also implementing bridges to communities using standards from the library sector (e.g. MARC21, Dublin Core).
A metadata specification for record exchange among MIDAS partners has been released in the form of an XML schema. Full documentation for the current release (Version 1.1) is available on this site. The schema has been implemented as an export format for filmographic records the MIDAS database.
Rev. 04-Aug-2008