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Purpose - The article is focused on the issue of the screenplay, until recently completely neglected despite its key role for filmmakers, historical research and its irreplaceable position in the collections of memory institutions. The aim is to clarify on a theoretical level the paradoxical and ambiguous nature of the screenplay and to reflect our own approach to this entity on the level of classification and cataloging procedures, as applied in the Library of Národní filmový archiv, Prague. Design/Methodology/Approach - The New Film History implicitly serves as a foundational and overarching paradigm. Following its example, emphasis is placed on the analysis of a wide range of primary sources. Theories, concepts and methodologies from related fields, such as literary science or librarianship, are also taken into account. In an effort to cover the topic in a more comprehensive way, the methods of qualitative and quantitative research (for example: textual, discursive, statistical analyzes) are used in partial respects. Results - The main, contradictory theoretical concepts of the screenplay as "work" and "text" are presented, a perspective reconciling these approaches is proposed, and with regard to the changes in the formal aspects of the screenplays the direction for rethinking the question of the screenplay as a generic and conceptual problem is indicated. Finally, a collection of the Library's screenplays and classification cataloging procedures are presented, and the possibilities of their further development and the shortcomings of the methods and tools used are critically evaluated. Originality/Value - The topic is opened with regard to the number of approaches to the phenomena of a screenplay across disciplines, as well as to the insufficient research of the problem outside the field of film studies and screenwriting studies and also as to the absence of classification cataloging standards for screenplays. Be it the shared practical know-how or the conclusions of the analysis, such as the proposed flexible and prospectively sustainable approach to screenplay, these represent the sum of potentially transferable knowledge usable by other disciplines and institutions for the screenplays and similar ephemeral entities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]