With a biography of over a hundred years, film offers more behavioural certainties than video and other technologies.  Also, because the technology of film has essentially developed within the materials of the stock, rather than the equipment, the useful life of the cameras and projectors is very long.

The follow up to these factors, in terms of preservation, is that the practice of looking after film has developed with unified procedures.  In technological terms, this is useful for experimental or artist's film but at the same time it makes it easier to forget the individual nature of each particular work.

This overall section draws on this knowledge to provide advice about how to look after film but makes room for different possible applications.  It provides advice divided into the following sections:

- Gauges and decay with information about soundtracks and film base material, e.g. acetate, with a useful case study from Mark Toscano, in part, about different types of film stock and experimental films.

- Handling, broken down into processing, the physical holding, winding, splicing and projection of film, with advice in respect to these, to ensure a long-term life.

- Inspection and repair acting as an overview of processes with links to elsewhere within this section.  A case study by Janet McBain provides illustration with reference to restoring the films of Margaret Tait.

- Cleaning of film prints.

- Copies and Transfer with information and advice about reversal stock and transferring to video for possible access purposes.

- Labelling and Documentation of films and your overall film collection.

- Storage, in terms of both individual films and the environments in which you place them.

- Resources, providing a list of labs, equipment stockists, information resources, links and mail listings.