Share these talks and lectures with your colleagues
Invite colleaguesPractice paper
Safety in numbers: Criteria for the mass digitisation of obsolete videotape recordings
Journal of Digital Media Management,
10
(4),
350-357
(2022)
Abstract
A key aim of preservation is to retain the essence and goodness of the original creation. In the case of videotape, however, this covers a vast and constantly evolving technological landscape. This paper discusses the substantial challenges faced by audiovisual archivists, who must effectively reinvent their collections of videotape recordings in data form to save them from impending format and carrier obsolescence. This paper describes such challenges as the lack of both skills and parts, and the paramount importance of quality assurance.
Keywords: video; archive; engineering; technology; obsolescence; quality; digitisation; collections
The full article is available to subscribers to the journal.
Author's Biography
Charles Fairall is the Videotape & Engineering Adviser at the British Film Institute (BFI) National Archive, where he has spent a 35-year career as a film and television archive manager and lead technologist. Having recently shifted focus from administrative responsibilities to maximise value from his extensive experience as an accredited engineer, his focus is now tightly concentrated on the urgent necessity to digitise videotape collections of all varieties in very high volume, while maintaining the highest quality standards and archival values possible within the limited resources available.
