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TAPE seminar 12 October 2004
This seminar marked
the launch of the TAPE project (Training for Audiovisual Preservation
in Europe), a EU-funded programme that will run from September
2004 to September 2007. Partners in TAPE are the Phonogrammarchiv
of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, the Finnish Jazz &
Pop Archive, the Directorate of the State Archives in Poland,
and the Centre for Preservation and Restoration of the State
Archives in Italy. The European Commission on Preservation
and Access (ECPA) is the coordinator of the project. TAPE
will focus on the preservation and digitization of moving
image and sound in a programme of training events, expert
meetings, research, publications and dissemination.
At this seminar TAPE partners and invited speakers talked
about their experiences in the field and presented their views
on future work. The core of the discussion centered around
the issue of providing good and lasting access for various
groups of users. TAPE is primarily concerned with preservation
and access issues of AV materials in non-dedicated institutions,
i.e. collections not specializing in audiovisual that happen
to have AV collections. Work on broadcasting and mainstream
(commercial) film materials is done in other European programmes.
AV materials in archives and museums or academic institutions
are on the whole not easily accessible -perhaps even hidden
from view- and do not easily lend themselves for commercial
ventures. Providing continued access to such cultural/academic
heritage where economic value is no issue provides specific
challenges that were addressed at this seminar.
Presentations
Background
on speakers and participating institutions
The European Commission on Preservation and Access
is an independent foundation with the aim of promoting continued
access to documentary collections in libraries, archives and
museums that are considered important resources for research
and scholarship. The ECPA was established in 1994 and has
taken part in several European projects, the most recent one
a 4-year programme for the photographic heritage (SEPIA).
Yola de Lusenet is Executive Secretary of
the ECPA and head of the publishing department of the Royal
Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, where the ECPA is
housed.
www.knaw.nl/ecpa
The Finnish Jazz & Pop Archive (JAPA)
collects materials related to Finnish popular music, covering
Finnish jazz, schlagers, pop and rock music, both commercially
available materials (recordings, sheet music, videos, magazines,
books, newspaper clippings, concert programs, etc.) and materials
that have never been commercially released (recordings, hand-written
sheet music, correspondence, photographs, etc.). JAPA takes
part in digital conversion projects for converting old open
reel tapes and C-casettes at risk of destruction. They cooperate
in digitization programmes with the Department of Music Anthropology
at the University of Tampere, the Finnish Literature Society
and the Research Institute for the Languages of Finland.
Juha Henriksson has been the Director of
the Finnish Jazz & Pop Archive since 1997. He was chair
of the Finnish Society for Ethnomusicology from 1998-2000
and is at present involved in several digitization activities
in Finland.
www.jazzpoparkisto.net/
The Imperial War Museum in London is unique
in its coverage of conflicts, especially those involving Britain
and the Commonwealth, from the First World War to the present
day. It seeks to provide for, and to encourage, the study
and understanding of the history of modern war and how it
affects our lives.. The Film and Video Archive holds some
120 million feet of film and 6,500 hours of video tape. A
large proportion of material has been transferred to the Museum
from the Services and other public bodies as the Archive is
the official repository for such public record films.
David Walsh is Head of Preservation at the
Film and Video Archive of
the Imperial War Museum, a position he has held since 1999.
He received
an M.A. in chemistry from the University of Oxford in 1974
and has worked in the field of film and video archiving since
1975.
london.iwm.org.uk
The Laboratoire d'Acoustique Musicale (Musical
Acoustics Laboratory), is associated with the University Paris
VI, the CNRS (Scientific Research National Center) and the
Ministry of Culture and Communication. Among the research
fields of the institute is the reproduction and preservation
of sound information and decay of carriers.
Jean Marc Fontaine works as a Research Engineer
at the LAM and has been involved in research programmes of
the Bibliothèque national de France for many years.
Among his specialisms are the preservation of sound and audiovisual
media, the extraction of sound information from analog media,
and the characterization of replacement media. His tasks currently
focus on the conditions for digital transfer of analog audio
recordings and on the quality and durability of recorded data
on optical discs.
www.lam.jussieu.fr/accueil.html
The Meertens Institute for research and documentation
of Dutch language and culture studies the diversity
in language and culture in the Netherlands, with a focus on
factors that play a role in determining social identities.
The main research areas are (1) ethnological study of the
function, meaning and coherence of cultural expressions, and
structural, dialectological and sociolinguistic study of language
variation in the Netherlands. The institute holds extensive
collections and databases documenting Dutch language and culture.
Hans Bennis is Director of the Meertens Institute.
He is a specialist in language variation of Dutch and professor
of Linguistic Variation at the University of Amsterdam.
www.meertens.knaw.nl
Memoriav, association for the preservation
of the audiovisual heritage of Switzerland, was established
in 1995 and has as its main goal improving the management
of the Swiss audiovisual heritage. Its activities cover preservation,
archiving and documentation of photographs, sound, video and
film. Memoriav has a networked structure and has created a
central database of information on audiovisual collections.
It aims to increase awareness of the importance of the audiovisual
heritage, helps to organize exhibitions and publishes guidelines
and a Newsletter. Memoriav is also involved in various training
activities.
Kurt Deggeller has been director of Memoriav
since 1998. From 1993 - 1996 he was vice-president and since
2002 president of the International Association of Sound and
Audiovisual Archives (IASA).
www.memoriav.ch
The Phonogrammarchiv, an institute of the
Austrian Academy of Sciences, is the oldest sound archive
in the world. Since September 2001 the activities of the Phonogrammarchiv
also include the archiving and preservation of videographic
research documents. The activities of the Phonogrammarchiv
include preserving, producing, collecting, accessioning and
processing as well as making available research sound and
video recordings. The Phonogrammarchiv also supports scientific
field research by technical and methodological advice and
the loan of adequate recording equipment.
Dietrich Schueller is Managing Director of
the Phonogramm Archiv. A specialist in audiovisual preservation
and restoration, he has worked as a consultant to a number
of audiovisual archives world-wide. Among his present functions
are those of Vice-President of the Intergovernmental Council
for the Information for All Programme and Chair of the Sub-Committee
on Technology for the Memory
of the World-Programme of UNESCO.
www.pha.oeaw.ac.at
PrestoSpace is a EU-sponsored project that
aims to provide technical solutions and integrated systems
for digital preservation of all types of audiovisual collections.
The project intends to provide tangible results in the domain
of preservation, restoration, storage and archive management,
content description, delivery and access. Economic factors
supporting preservation services will be addressed. The principal
aim is to prepare the way for preservation factories providing
affordable services to all kinds of collection custodians
in order to manage and to allow access to their assets.
Richard Wright has been the Technology Manager
of BBC Archives since 1994. He coordinated PRESTO (Preservation
Technology), the predecessor of the current PrestoSpace project.
www.prestospace.org/
The seminar took place at the Royal Netherlands Academy of
Arts and Sciences, Kloveniersburgwal 27-29, Amsterdam.
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