I am no film scholar but have often wondered how accessible research materials documenting film history are. Has the market value of every tangible scrap from tv and film productions atomized previously intact collections? (Check out Profiles in History's latest auction, you can buy Lou Ferrigno's latex nose from the Hulk TV show!) How does this impact film scholarship? In particular, where has the history of the studio era been preserved? Am I over-estimating the importance of keeping records in public (or at least publicly-accessible) institutions?
This link, courtesy Nikki Fink's Deadline Hollywood Daily, brings up the closure of 20th Century Fox's "research library." The terminology in Fox's publicity statement (instead of using "archives," for example) seems to be an attempt to underplay the historic value of the documents.
http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/fox-to-close-its-film-research-library/
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