THE LA
PRESERVATION PRESERVACION
OF DIGITAL DE LA
TELEVISION: TELEVISION
Challenges, DIGITAL: Retos,
Requirements, Requerimientos,
and Strategies y Estrategias
Seminario de Conservación de
Kara Van Malssen Obras y Documentos Sobre
New York University Soprotes Electrónicos
kara.vanmalssen@nyu.edu
Ciudad de México, 31 de julio 2009

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Digital television:
1. Born Digital
2. Digitized from an analog / physical source

Why is preserving digital
?
television especially
CHALLENGING

Analog formats cannot wait for the cost
of uncompressed video storage to drop!

no standard
format for
production or
archiving

many LARGE files

Static Media
Viewed with the naked eye
Utilized without additional components
Very long useful life if stored properly
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Dynamic Media
Dependent on machines to view and utilize
Media are fragile
Industry changes results in format obsolescence

Digital Media
Not tangible
Even more dependencies
More frequent obsolescence of various components
Playback requirements not obvious
More content than ever before

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Preservation of physical media...
Primarily required good storage and
disaster protection

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Preservation of digital media
Much more than just good storage and disaster
protection

Preservation of
audiovisual media is
an ongoing process
There is no starting
and stopping point
No audiovisual format
will last forever
We can’t save
everything

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RISK FACTORS

Bit Rot

Software
Obsolescence
+ Upgrades
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Hardware Obsolescence

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Processor
Obsolescence

Storage Media Obsolescence
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Storage Media
Failure

“Despite storing CD-Rs
recorded in ideal conditions,
tech site TechARP unboxed
300 CDs recorded between 7
to 9 years ago, and found that
they have a failure rate
approaching 10 percent for
the first 173 discs--the
restoration is still on-going.”
Paul Mah, “The Problem of Bit Rot Revisited.”
FierceCIO: Tech Watch, 21 July 2009
http://www.fiercecio.com/techwatch/story/problem-cd-bit-rot-revisited/2009-07-21?
utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal

Lack of METADATA
“If a piece of program material is not
correctly placed and identified on a digital
system, it might as well not be there - no one
will be able to find it or even know it exists.”
Cox, Tadic, Mulder. Descriptive Metadata for Television. Focal Press, 2006. p63.

If we didn’t know
that footage of a
Harvard Law
student speaking
at a protest in 1990
existed at WGBH,
would our lives be
much different?

But because we do
know of its existence
in the archive, and
because it can be
ACCESSED,
our collective history
is enriched

Lack / loss of
organizational support
and resources
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Photo by Rob

REQ
UIRE
MEN
TS
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1. Bit
Preservation
Sustaining the 0s and 1s, or
ensuring that the video,
audio, and ancillary files
remain intact over time with
no loss or corruption of
bits
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2. Accessibility and
Usability of Content
Ensuring that video, audio, and ancillary files can be
found, retrieved, interpreted, played back, and
delivered to the appropriate users.
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3. Organizational Infrastructure
An entity (repository) explicitly responsible for keeping
the content alive and accessible.
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STRATEGIES

Redundancy
Replicated, geographically
distributed storage
Offline tape storage
Off site
Nearline tape storage
In house
Online Storage
In house
1. Bit Preservation

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Regularly audit files, repair
corrupt files with backups
1. Bit Preservation

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Refresh storage media
periodically
1. Bit Preservation

2. Accessibility and Usability of Content
Where is the content? Identification & Organization
What is the content? Descriptive Metadata
Who made it? Descriptive Metadata
Can I use it? Rights Metadata
How can I display it properly? Technical & Structural Metadata
How can I preserve it? Preservation Metadata
Where did it come from? Source Metadata
Create, update, manage, and maintain
good metadata throughout the
life cycle of the digital object
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Support current and future uses by
preserving the highest
quality version
to allow for many derivatives
2. Accessibility and Usability of Content
Preservation Version / Master
Access Versions / Derivatives

Create files using
open, standardized,
non-proprietary
file formats
and codecs,
high resolution or
uncompressed, and
avoid transcoding
during production Proprietary or open source?
Dependent on specific hardware and/or software
High market saturation?
Good documentation / support community?
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2. Accessibility and Usability of Content

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2. Accessibility and Usability of Content
Migrate to new file format
when necessary

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Establish a
PRESERVATION
And ensure sufficient
funding, and staffing
3. Viable Organizational infrastructure

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GENERAL
REFLECTIONS

Refer to the ISO standard OAIS (Open Archival
Information System) Reference Model
PRESERVATION
PLANNING
DESCRIPTIVE DESCRIPTIVE
INFO INFO
P DATA C
R MANAGEMENT queries
O
O N
D result sets S
U
SIP INGEST ACCESS orders
U
C ARCHIVAL M
E E
STORAGE DIP
R R
AIP AIP
ADMINISTRATION
MANAGEMENT

Establish
Retention
Policies
We can’t save
everything
by Simon Evans

Establish file and folder naming
conventions & workflow procedures
Implement changes during
transition to digital production
and distribution workflow

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Create
digital
content
with the
long term in
mind
Not just the
immediate
broadcast or
distribution
needs

pre- IT
production title
backup dates location
location checksum errors
names & roles
broadcast
rights broadcast
legal contract details Digital Asset dates
summaries
Management transcripts
derivatives
derivatives System
web
format user tags
stills
production logs
EDL
IDs
technical information
standardize terms
summary
air date(s)
preservation
post- final title library /
production archive
programming

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Technology watch

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Investigate cooperative
solutions

Today, many television
stations...
Don’t know what they have
Have incomplete or no catalogs for much of their
content
Lack equipment to playback much of their legacy
content
Do not know the © status of much of their content
Cannot realize the potential of their collections!

The digital era brings great opportunity to improve
discovery, re-use, and cost savings in production,
plus wider access and interaction with audiences

Lets not risk the loss of our
collective heritage, or waste the
opportunity to take advantage
of the digital transition.
THANK YOU!
kara.vanmalssen@nyu.edu