An introduction to the purpose of audiovisual collections -- and to the purpose of the two-day workshop

1. Preserving Sound and
Moving Images –
and Providing Access !
Introduction of participants
Significance of film and broadcast archives
Significance of all sound and moving image
collections
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2. Preservation

"Preservation is the totality of the steps
necessary to ensure the permanent
accessibility – forever - of an audiovisual
document with the maximum integrity" –

CCAAA/UNESCO publication - Audiovisual Archiving:
Philosophy and Principles, Revised edition – Ray
Edmondson

Preservation of what?

Significant objects and information: things that matter

So: does film (and broadcasting and other sound and moving
image content) matter?
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3. Significance of audiovisual
heritage

Cinema

Broadcasting: Radio and TV

Recorded Music

Other film, video and audio
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4. Cinema

The one medium that people love

Popular for over a century

Very wide reach compared to TV – for most of
the 20th century

More diverse than TV (many more production
companies, including individuals)

British cinema clips:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=bQiTf5lRC0g&feature=plcp
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5. Broadcasting
What people listened to and watched in the 20 th
Century (and still do!)
- 80% of young adults in the USA use broadcasting as a
primary source of news
- 30% use newspapers
Americans watch 38 hours of television per week
Britons are not far behind:
- 31 hours per week of television
- 22 hours of radio
[2007 data]
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6. Recorded Music
 Oldest of all – Edison cylinders
 Widest reach of all
 Widest production base
 Economic significance:
 UK £3.8 billion/year
 UK cinema: £1.6 b/yr
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7. “Other” audiovisual content

Most videotape is NOT bought by broadcasting

Even in professional formats

Film, video and audio used widely in

Industry: pharmacy, oil exploration, space ...

Research: documentation, disseminaton, data ...

Academia: ethnology, endangered languages ...

Advertising and Entertainment

Personal use: note the YouTube explosion
− 72 hours uploaded every minute
− 1 trillion views in 2011 = 140 per every living person !!
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8. Break – our collections

What does the VFI collect?

What else is being preserved in Vietnam?

What is the access?
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9. Tea/Coffee

After the break: Conservation, Digitisation
and Preservation
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