Reinventing Archival Methods – Description and Preservation Brendan Somes 30 November 2012

Audiovisual Preservation Introduction Description Audiovisual Preservation This presentation will be on description and preservation with specific focus on the description of digital archives and the preservation of audio-visual archives.

The Archive 380 kilometres 294k paper, 28k maps, 18k bound volumes, 31k AV, 4k photos, 4k microforms 42 million items To start with the Archive and some facts and figures. The Archive contains 380 kilometres with 294 kilometres of paper, 28 kilometres of maps, 18 kilometres of bound volumes, 31 kilometres of audio-visual, 4 kilometres of photographs, 4 kilometres of microforms. We estimate there are 42 million items.

About 85,000 series; about 47,000 series ‘hold’ the collection Description About 85,000 series; about 47,000 series ‘hold’ the collection About 9,400 Agencies About 1,000 Persons About 10 million items The Archives uses the Commonwealth Record Series model to describe the archive. In the past, the record group system was used. In terms of numbers, we have registered nearly 85,000 series, of which 47,000 series hold the archive, we have registered 9,4000 agencies, about 1,000 persons and we have entered around 10 million items. The Archive is accounted for at the agency and series level. We have consignment lists for most/all of the archive.

Thirty years Agency (n/e) Series (n/e) Items 1983/84 288/165 1855 N/A 1988/89 152/1472 1748/3957 1997/98 2,082,466 2002/03 5,228,380 2011/12 14/36 235/526 10,309,627 This table provides a 30 year statistical overview of the descriptive program. These figures are mainly from the Annual Reports. The two figures in the agency and series column refer to new and enhanced registrations. The N/A means that they were not reported in the Annual Report. The focus in the 80s of the descriptive program was at the agency series level. In the early 1990s, a decision was made to focus on item level entry as the primary means of providing access to the collection. This corresponded to implementations of business systems to capture item level information.

Items left to do Transfers since 2002 fully item entered So left to do - Items prior to 2002 – approximately 30 million items So from a purely statistical point of view what items we have left to do. We have, since 2002, entered all new transfers at item level. We have received agency metadata and imported that into our systems. So what is left to do is approximately 30 million items.

Digitised Items Viewed Items Entered Queries Items Issued Digitised Items Viewed Items Entered 1983/84 3,446 27,205 N/A 1994/95 33,004 45,336 1,568,158 (95/96) 2002/03 147,790 49,448 110,568 5,228,380 (4,959,078 public) 2006/07 123,734 125,406 1,485,145 7,590,074 (6,922,542 public) 2010/11 84,295 107,608 1,928,552 9,889,479 (8,104,905 public) So why the focus on item level entry? The reason is access. It is the best means we have of providing access to the archive. It also facilitates the digitisation program where a digitised copy of a record can be placed adjacent to the item registration. This table provides information on the reference queries we have received, the physical items issued to service reference queries, the amount of digitised items that have been viewed and the amount of items that have been entered.

Describing Digital Archives Commonwealth Record Series Model RecordSearch To describe digital archives, we have used the same intellectual model, the CRS Model, as we use for non-digital archives. We identify the series, and then we identify the items. We receive exports of metadata from agency systems and then import that into our collection management system, RecordSearch. We use the same business system to describe digital records that we use for non-digital, RecordSearch.

Description - Future Business systems – greater workflow automation, harvesting, crowdsourcing Agency metadata quality Mediation between users and the archival intellectual model

Description - Future Administrative History Quality Maintenance Metadata models Utilisation of existing information (eg records authorities)

Audiovisual Preservation 30 kilometres; 600,000 items Film – 250,000 Video – 100,000 Audio – 250,000

Preservation Purpose To maintain accessibility by copying to new formats and/or storing in appropriate environmental conditions [read purpose] for AV, contrast to paper, the game has been to move to new formats. Why, paper is generally stable.

Transition to digital preservation formats Preservation Copying Transition to digital preservation formats First audio Second video Third film (some)

Preservation Formats Open standards Industry standards Interoperability constraints Lack of open formats for video, film

Preservation Formats Audio – bwf and flac Video – jpeg2000 Film – avi Always – the original

Challenges Obsolescence Deterioration Workflow management Storage management Preservation formats

Now and the Future New AV management system AV Digital Archive New Low Temperature Storage

End thoughts Business systems The requirements of the archive The requirements of the stakeholders The requirements of the environment The requirements of the future Business systems as critical – we can provide access to items online as we have a system to do this. The AV system will enable management of analog and digital content. Business systems are the transformation mechanisms.