Beyond the Awe: Perspectives on Pragmatic Audiovisual Collections Care
•Télécharger en tant que PPTX, PDF•
1 j'aime•736 vues
Presented at the 56th Conference of the Michigan Archival Association (MAA) in Holland, MI; Friday, 12 June 2015. Media Preservation | Audio: Ryan Edge; Moving Image Film: Tressa Graves; Video: Matthew Wilcox; Tools & Resources: Ryan Edge
Recommandé
Recommandé
Contenu connexe
Similaire à Beyond the Awe: Perspectives on Pragmatic Audiovisual Collections Care
Similaire à Beyond the Awe: Perspectives on Pragmatic Audiovisual Collections Care (20)
Dernier
Dernier (20)
Beyond the Awe: Perspectives on Pragmatic Audiovisual Collections Care
- 1. Beyond the Awe Perspectives on Pragmatic Audiovisual Collections Care 56th Conference of the Michigan Archival Association Holland, MI; Friday, 12 June 2015
- 2. AWE?
- 3. AUDIOVISUAL PRESERVATION Ryan Edge, MSU Media Preservation Librarian
- 4. Open Reel Audio: • 2" Open Reel • 1" Open Reel • 1/2" Open Reel • 1/4" Open Reel Cassette/Cartridge Audio: • Continuous Loop Cartridge (Cart) • Compact Cassette • Microcassette • 8-Track • Digital Audio Tape (DAT) • Digital Compact Cassette (DCC) Phonograph Record: • Shellac Disc • Laminate Disc • Aluminum Disc • Vinyl Disc Wire Recording Grooved Cylinder: ● Wax Cylinder ● Plastic Cylinder Optical Media: ● Compact Disc (CD) ● CD-R; CD-RW ● DVD ● DVD-R; DVD-RW ● LaserDisc (LD) ● MiniDisc (MD) Film: ● NItrate Film (35mm) ● Acetate Film (35mm, 16, 9.5, 8, Super 8) ● Polyester Film (35mm, 16, 9.5, Super 8) Open Reel Video: ● 2" Open Reel (Quad) ● 1" Open Reel (Type C) ● 1/2" Open Reel Cassette/Cartridge Video: ● U-matic ● U-matic SP ● Betacam ● BetacamSP ● Betamax ● D-1 ● D-2 ● D-3 ● Digital Betacam ● DVCAM ● DVCPRO ● Betacam SX ● DVCPRO-HD ● MPEG IMX ● D5 ● HDCAM / HDCAM SR ● HDV ● MiniDV ● VHS / S-VHS ● Hi8 ● Video8 The A/V Media Family
- 5. The A/V Media FamilyImages courtesy of the Preservation Self-Assessment Program (PSAP)
- 7. WINTER IS COMING “...in the mid- to long- term there is a major risk that carrier degradation combined with playback obsolescence will defeat the efforts of archivists” – International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives, 2003 IASA Technical Committee. (2009). Guidelines on the production and preservation of digital audio objects. 2nd ed. Available at: www.iasa-web.org/tc04/audio-preservation
- 8. “ How much time do we have? 10 – 15 years ” – Mike Casey, 2013 ARSC Conference https://www.prestocentre.org/blog/going-going-gone-prospects-analogue-audiovisual-content How soon is now? “… many analog audio recordings must be digitized within the next 15 to 20 years ... ” — The Library of Congress National Recording Preservation Plan (p.7)
- 9. Torn film sprockets image. Credit: Wilson Library, UNC at Chapel Hill Physical Degradation
- 13. Degradation of physical carriers + Obsolescence of playback wares DEGRALESCEN CE!
- 14. Conservation: maintaining the original item and hardware so that content can be retrieved
- 15. Preservation: stewarding content of the original so that it is available for long-term use
- 16. Systems Preservationists? Components: • OBJECT (e.g. Hi8 videocassette) • ACCESS EQUIPMENT (Hi8 VCR; A-D converter) • SOFTWARE/STANDARDS supporting access (AV codec libraries; VLC media player)
- 17. Supplies & Demands • Equipment and replacement parts • Expertise: playback and repair technicians • Tools: capture hardware and signal monitors
- 18. RISK LEVEL AUDIO VIDEO FILM OPTICAL MEDIA HIGH RISK / EXTINCT Lacquer disc; Shellac disc; Cylinder; Wire; Digital Audio Tape (DAT); Open reel tape on paper Open reel video tape (½”, 1”, 2” Quad) Nitrate film -- CRITICALLY ENDANGERED Open reel audio (acetate or SBS/SSS evidence); Aluminum disc; Digital Compact Cassette U-matic/U-matic SP; Betamax; D-1; D-2; D-3 Acetate film Recordable CD/DVD (-R;-RW); LaserDisc; MiniDisc ENDANGERED Continuous loop cartridge (Cart); Microcassette; 8-Track; Open reel tape on PVC VHS/S-VHS; Betacam/Betacam SP; Video8; Hi8; MiniDV -- -- THREATENED Audiocassette; Open reel tape (polyester w/o SBS/SSS evidence) Digital Betacam; DVCAM; DVCPRO; -- -- LOW RISK / VULNERABLE Vinyl disc Betacam SX; DVCPRO-HD; HDCAM/HDCAM SR; HDV; MPEG IMX; D-5 Polyester film Pressed CD/DVD
- 19. • Degralescence factors: • Condition • Obsolescence • Significance (cultural, historical, $) • Usage & Access • Rights & Restrictions Assessment & Prioritization
- 20. AUDIO Ryan Edge, MSU Media Preservation Librarian
- 21. Authorities / Leaders IASA - International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives ARSC - Association for Recorded Sound Collections FADGI - Federal Agencies Digitization Guidelines Initiative
- 22. Audio Formats Grooved Cylinder Wax Cylinder; Plastic Cylinder Wire Recording Phonograph Record Shellac Disc Laminate Disc Aluminum Disc Vinyl Disc Optical Media DVD Compact Disc (CD) MiniDisc (MD) Open Reel Audio 2" Open Reel 1" Open Reel 1/2" Open Reel 1/4" Open Reel Cassette / Cartridge Audio Continuous Loop Cartridges (Cart) Compact Cassette Microcassette Digital Audio Tape (DAT) Digital Compact Cassette (DCC) 8-Track
- 23. Lacquer disc delamination. Image by Flickr user windthoek, available under a Creative Commons Attribution- NonCommercial-NoDerivs license (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0).
- 26. Image courtesy of the Preservation Self-Assessment Program (PSAP)
- 28. Image 2 by Flickr user windthoek, CC BY-NC-ND.
- 29. Delamination of Agfa PE39 magnetic tape (L), image courtesy of Katrin Abromeit. Severe, fibrous residue after playback (R), image by Karl-Heinz Frommolt, Naturkundemuseum Berlin. For more on Soft Binder Syndrome and other forms of magnetic tape breakdown, see the Preservation Self-Assessment Program (PSAP) guide.
- 30. For more on Soft Binder Syndrome and other forms of magnetic tape breakdown, see the Preservation Self-Assessment Program (PSAP) guide. ● Ampex/Quantegy 406, 407, 456, 457 ● Capitol Q15 ● Melody 169* ● Pyral* unknown ● Scotch/3M 206, 207, 226, 227, 806, 807, 808, 809, 175* ● Sony PR-150,* SLH, ULH Lists of known tape types are incomplete. This list compiled from Hess, 2008; Casey, 2007. *Considered to behave as SBS, not SSS; not treatable through incubation. Soft Binder Syndrome: Well-known manufacturers and types
- 31. Image courtesy of Katrin Abromeit.
- 34. EBU Tech 3285 - Specification of the Broadcast Wave Format (BWF); V2. European Broadcasting Union (2011). Available at: https://tech.ebu.ch/docs/tech/tech3285.pdf IASA Technical Committee Guidelines on the Production and Preservation of Digital Audio Objects; 2nd Ed (IASA-TC 04). International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives (2009). Available at: http://www.iasa- web.org/tc04/audio-preservation
- 35. Preservation Master – BWF (WAV) file format – Linear PCM encoding – 96 kHz sampling rate – 24-bit depth *IASA (International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives). Guidelines on the production and preservation of digital audio objects, 2nd ed., IASA TC-04. Available at: www.iasa-web.org/audio-preservation-tc04 Audio | Archival Sets * Spoken word commonly digitized at 44.1 kHz, 16-bit. spc-mss225-b01-t04_pres.wav Data/storage rate @ 96 kHz, 24-bit: 1.93 GB/hr (1977.6 MB/hr)
- 36. Mezzanine – BWF (WAV) file format – Linear PCM encoding – 44.1 kHz sampling rate – 16-bit depth *IASA (International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives). Guidelines on the production and preservation of digital audio objects, 2nd ed., IASA TC-04. Available at: www.iasa-web.org/audio-preservation-tc04 Audio | Archival Sets Data/storage rate @ 44.1kHz, 16-bit: 0.59 GB/hr (605.4 MB/hr) spc-mss225-b01-t04_mezz.wav
- 37. Access Copy – MP3 file format – 44.1 kHz sampling rate – 160 Kbps bitrate (if native mono); 320 Kbps bitrate (if native stereo) Audio | Archival Sets spc-mss225-b01-t04.mp3 Data/storage rates: @ 320 Kbps: 140.6 MB/hr; @ 160 Kbps: 70.3 MB/hr
- 38. Fig. – Illustration of multimedia container format. LPCM audio stream WAV container format BWF | Broadcast Wave Format BEXT (embedded) metadata
- 39. Fig. – Illustration of multimedia container format. Embedded Metadata Descriptive Administrative • Technical • Provenance
- 42. MOVING IMAGE / FILM Tressa Graves, UIUC Graduate Student
- 43. Why Care About Film? • šMoving images show us material that paper based manuscripts can’t always show. • šIt’s a fairly stable format and there is a good chance most archives have it in some shape or form.
- 44. Film Gauges Most Common • 35mm • 16mm • Super 8 • 8mm Rare • 9.5mm • 28mm • 70mm
- 45. Film Stocks • Three Kinds: – šNitrate: 1895- 1950s – Acetate: 1909*-present – šPolyester: 1950s-present
- 46. Good Storage is Key • Proper storage conditions can extend the life of film. • Moving film from room temperature (68F) to a cooler temperature (54F) can dramatically improve longevity even though it does not reach ISO standards.
- 47. :( :)
- 48. The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly
- 49. Storage Recommendations • šRecommendations are set by IPI & ISO. • šThere are guidelines but no set temp & RH for film because it depends on a film’s gauge, stock, & possible deterioration.
- 50. Graph is from a IPI online publication Acetate Decay
- 51. From The Film Preservation Guide
- 53. KISS KISS
- 54. 1956 Bay City Parade
- 56. VIDEO Matthew Wilcox, MSU UAHC Audiovisual Archivist & Department Aide
- 57. MSU Archives & Historical Collections Multi-Media Lab Matthew Wilcox, Michigan State University Archives
- 59. Additions and Upgrades: February 2015 June 2015
- 60. Equipment List • 13” CRT TV monitor – Panasonic CT-1383Y • Time Base Corrector – I.DEN IVT-7 • Analog to Digital Converter – Canopus ADVC-55 • Computer – Apple iMac w/ 27” monitor • Betamax deck – Sanyo VCR 4030 • S-VHS deck – Panasonic PV-S4670 • Digital Betacam deck – Sony DVW-A500 • Betacam SP deck – Sony PVW-2600 • ¾” U-matic deck – Sony VO-5800
- 61. Betamax
- 62. VHS
- 63. Digital Betacam
- 64. Betacam SP
- 65. ¾” U-matic
- 66. Obtaining the Equipment •eBay / Craigslist / Online auction sites / etc. •Salvation Army / Volunteers of America / Garage Sales / Estate Sales •Utilization of Social Media Contacts •Utilization of Work Relations
- 67. Typical Workflow •Assessing the collection •Preparing the analog playback •Implementing the digitization process •Doing quality control • Pennington, S., and Rehberger D. (2012). The preservation of analog video through digitization. In D. Boyd, S. Cohen, B. Rakerd, & D. Rehberger (Eds.), Oral history in the digital age. Institute of Library and Museum Services. Retrieved from http://ohda.matrix.msu.edu/2012/06/preservation-of-analog-video- through-digitization/
- 68. MSU Archives Multi-Media Lab Workflow •VTR (videotape recorder) – TBC (time base corrector) – ADC (analog-to-digital converter) – iMac computer – Final Cut Pro X – KORA (digital repository, where metadata is created) – On the Banks of the Red Cedar website (http://www.onthebanks.msu.edu)
- 69. Analog Video Capture: Multi- Media Lab • Preservation Copy: QuickTime wrapper (.mov extension), audio encoded at 48kHz • Access Copy: MPEG-4 wrapper (.mp4 extension), encoded as H.264; audio encoded at 44.1kHz
- 70. Examples Of Titles In MSU Archives Collection • The Campus at War for Peace (16mm film to U-matic transfer, 1944) • Postmark: East Lansing (16mm film to VHS transfer, 1952; about the on-campus educational facilities at MSU) • Stevie Wonder Speaks at Fall Commencement (U- matic, 1989) • MSU Convocation with President Bill Clinton (VHS, 1995) • University Archives: Film Review (2005; highlights from a promotional DVD about the UAHC)
- 71. ONLINE RESOURCES & TOOLS Ryan Edge, MSU Media Preservation Librarian
- 72. • A/V Artifact Atlas (AVAA) • Format ID Guide (PSAP) • Museum of Obsolete Media [☍] Reference Guides
- 73. • Care of AV Originals: Handling and Storage of Audio and Video Carriers (IASA-TC 05) [$20] • Media Storage Quick Reference, 2nd Ed. (Image Permanence Institute) [PDF] Media Preservation Survey Reports –IU Media Digitization & Preservation Initiative http://www.indiana.edu/~medpres/ –University of Illinois Libraries https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/handle/2142/50106 Essential Resources | General
- 74. • Sound Directions: Best Practices for Audio Preservation [PDF] • ARSC Guide to Audio Preservation [PDF] • Guidelines on the Production and Preservation of Digital Audio Objects (IASA- TC 04) [$20] Essential Resources | Audio
- 75. • Video at Risk: Copyright Guidelines (NYU) [PDF] • How Video Works (Weise, Weynand) [Book] • Digital File Formats for Videotape Reformatting (FADGI) [☍] • Determining Suitable Digital Video Formats for Medium-term Storage (G. Blood) [PDF] Essential Resources | Video
- 76. • The Film Preservation Guide: Basics for Archives, Libraries, and Museums (National Film Preservation Foundation) [PDF] • Home Film Preservation Guide (AMIA) • Storage Guide for Acetate Film (Image Permanence Institute) [PDF] Essential Resources | Film
- 77. • VLC Media Player • QCTools, or “Quality Control Tools” • Handbrake (leans on FFmpeg) • BWF MetaEdit Advanced Studies (command line) • FFmpeg • MediaInfo • ExifTool (Post-Capture) Tools
- 78. VLC http://www.videolan.org/vlc/ The Most Supreme Media Player
- 79. QCTools http://bavc.org/qctools Quality Control Tools for Video Preservation
- 80. http://ffmpeg.org/ ...or Handbrake, if you prefer a GUI https://handbrake.fr/
- 81. MediaInfo Telling you everything you need to know about media X, Y, Z. ...and Exiftool https://mediaarea.net/en/MediaInfo http://www.sno.phy.queensu.ca/~phil/exiftool/
- 82. • NEH Preservation Assistance Grants for Smaller Institutions [☍] • NEH Challenge Grants [☍] • NEH Humanities Collections & Reference Resources [☍] • ARSC Preservation of Classical Music Historical Recordings Grants Program [☍] • NHPRC Digital Disseminations of Archival Collections [☍] • IMLS National Leadership Grants (for Libraries, Museums) [☍] • NFPF: National Film Preservation Foundation Grants [☍] Relevant Grant Opportunities
- 83. David Shrigley, Join Us (1999) (detail). Private collection, courtesy Stephen Friedman Gallery. Preservation in this century will involve collaboration.” – National Digital Stewardship Alliance (NDSA)
- 84. David Shrigley, Join Us (1999) (detail). Private collection, courtesy Stephen Friedman Gallery. Media Preservation rising (IU, UIUC, CIC) Media interest groups (everyone likes coffee, donuts) Keepers of the Flame: NDSA - National Digital Stewardship Alliance AMIA - Association of Moving Image Archivists ARSC - Association for Recorded Sound Collections Collaborate | Contribute
- 85. Ryan Edge, MSU Media Preservation Librarian edger@msu.edu | @rynedg Tressa Graves, UIUC Grad Student tmgrave2@illinois.edu Matthew Wilcox, MSU UAHC Audiovisual Archivist & Department Aide wilcox36@msu.edu THANK YOU QUESTIONS?
Notes de l'éditeur
- What do we mean by “Awe”? Most presentations about AV media tend to convey how overwhelming and cool archival audio, video, and film is. And how profoundly demanding it can be, in terms of $ and digital storage. Instead, we hope to reach past show-&-tell, in order to spell out best practices -- and shed light on acceptable practices at MSU. But also bear in mind that this 75 min panel is not a workshop; so we will be raising awareness around some critical details and pointing you toward the freely available, readily accessible applications and publications that you can consult long after 10:15am.
- We’re hoping to peel off the layers of fear and trepidation, To encourage folks to get started. Because time waits for no consumer-focused time-based media format. Hopefully there will be traces of our own less-than-graceful paths. We all have skeletons to hide--and most of those skeletons are highly compressed files from yesteryear, stored in the gray zone of our servers, the not-ready-for-primetime players waiting for us to circle back and save them from themselves.
- I’m going to start by talking about the factors that impact audiovisual collections health, and the current lay-of-the-land in the media preservation field. Then each of us will speak about the different subclasses of AV: Recorded Sound, Film, and Video. Here is just a greatest hits compilation of physical formats typically found in cultural heritage orgs... This, along with equipment obscurity, is why we have vendors. And why some are going to do pretty well for themselves in the next 15-20 years.
- This is a more direct snapshot of our historical offerings.
- Perhaps the biggest baddest and most common among our mid to late 20th century collections is MAGNETIC TAPE: the foremost problem carrier Based on observation of magnetic audio and video tape formats over the past decade, AV Archivists began to connect the dots and agree that this stuff is in its twilight years--and we better reach for Media Pres Conch...
- Optimistically people believed that We had the span of 1 (or 2) Generations to digitally preserve the 20th century’s weakest formats Before obsolescence and degradation would either make reformatting impossible or prohibitively expensive… This included most audiotape/videotape, grooved cylinders, wire, and nitrate/acetate films. On closer inspection—It then narrowed: We have 15-20 YEARS...
- But the field had been saying this for almost 5 years. Playing loose with the numbers at this pace creates a problem. [CLICK] Realists now say: 10-15 YRS, clock set in 2013. We’ve got precious few years to see these formats to their new vessels. So a bold deadline has been DECLARED for audiotape and videotape formats. [CLICK] The End is nearly upon us!... And though I’m goofing on the fire-&-brimstone, this is a fairly elastic prophecy that flexes both ways. Catastrophic loss is already occurring regularly, as media rots on our shelves.
- ALL PHYSICAL MEDIA IS VULNERABLE to decomposistion, particularly in poor and fluctuating environments. Do you recognize any of these calling cards? PALMITIC ACID deposits on a laminate disc; CD-R DYE MIGRATION; Torn film sprockets as result of acetate film shrinkage and embrittlement SPOKING DEFORMATION of acetate base audiotape (also mold) And this is where I briefly tell you what you already know about storage: Regulating temp and RH is the most crucial preservation action to sustain the life of these inherently cheap, flawed information carriers.
- As natural as death and decay, playback technologies dependably rise and fall at the pace of commercial competition... CED SelectaVision Betamax Digital Audio Tape (DAT) Mini-DVD-R (Handycam)
- Leaving unique recordings behind in the process. 9.5mm film Dictabelt recordings Wire recording MiniDiscs Technological obsolescence is perhaps the most significant threat because it sneaks up on us.
- And interoperability errors also extend to digital formats. Obsolescence comes in many forms here. Access is a more slippery fish, so to speak. Have you ever tried to play back video or access images from an old mobile phone? Many of these are in obscure proprietary formats. Personal Anecdote: I have friends who recently had a baby, and they both send me video and audio files of their son. And because they both have Android devices, it’s in a format that I have to spend 10 minutes transcode on my laptop. Often its just a 5 sec video of a fart or eye blinking.
- Taken together, it’s the 2-headed threat of Degralescence that threatens machine-base access Obsolescence of playback hardware, software Unstable formats and carriers (Material deterioration) Precarious scaffolding, no format is safe. And it all can be reduced to that issue of time…
- Media collections care is a holistic effort: We sometimes must act as Conservators for problematic formats caring for physical items (hardware, the AV signal carrier) so that the information can be retrieved now and in the future.
- And we preserve the content by migrating encoded information (video/audio signals) to more stable digital files, and then we steward these surrogates through digital preservation environments and technology migrations into an indeterminate future full of valuable research use.
- In short, we preserve access systems. Any weak link can break the chain (or lessen the integrity of the original)… Object / information carrier. Retrieval technologies: playback equipment, tools. Software/standards that enable capture, replay, and future transcoding. ....
- ...It’s esoteric and cost intensive (time, $, IT) This is the creeping dread that keeps us up at night. Equipment, Parts --Studer reel-to-teel tape playback heads: last run (2012) Vendor Expertise: playback, repair --1” video machines reassembly: ~$16,000 --2” Quad video playback heads (2012): $5200 Tools Capture hardware; Signal monitoring equipment Components: suppliers stockpile the rarities (like record collecting: top shelf’ll cost ya; shop smart)
- So we have to PRIORITIZE our repair and reformatting efforts. The first step is admitting to ourselves that not all of this stuff can be saved. And then progressing through an assessment of collections along considerations of degralescence... Physical condition of the item you have at hand. Is it safe to attempt playback and capture? Obsolescence rating of the medium: do you have working playback equipment at hand? Will you ever realistically, or is it more prudent to send the few items you have in this format out to a vendor? This Table of Format Risk is based primarily on obsolescence: The scale derived from the Conservation Online Video Preservation resource and Preservation Self-Assessment Program development survey (2013), which factored obsolescence ratings provided by audiovisual professionals across cultural heritage and broadcast organizations. High-Risk / Extinct. Very fragile/volatile composition, or few playback machines exist at specialist laboratories. Critically endangered. There is a small population of aging playback machinery, with no or little engineering or manufacturing support. Anecdotal evidence indicates that there are fewer working machine-hours than total population of tapes. Endangered. The machine population may be robust, but the manufacture of the machinery has stopped or is very limited. Manufacturing support for the machines and the tapes becomes unavailable. The tapes are often less expensive, and more vulnerable to deterioration. Threatened. The playback machines are available; however, either the tape format itself is unstable or has less integrity than other available formats, or it is known that a more popular or updated format will be replacing this one in a short period of time. Vulnerable. This is a current but highly proprietary format. Low Risk. This format will be in use over the next five years or is quite stable.
- Significance – This factor is most consciously in step with larger institutional goals. Items and collections are typically identified by collection managers or curators as having too great a value—be it cultural, historical, or research value—to risk losing. Use & Access – Demands to access the item or collection (by patron, researcher, or donor request) are such that digitizing the content is determined to be the most prudent approach to easing access and mitigating stress on the original artifact. Are there Restrictions on what you can do with the content – imposed by copyright or a donor agreement? These last few bullets also yield some interesting thought experiments, particularly around commercial availability and defining the “uniqueness”of media content. ... One might figure that there’s no reason, for instance, to digitize a crappy VHS transfer of a 1980s Johnny Carson episode. This is a work to which we can claim no legal right to exhibit and no responsibility to preserve, as we know that Carson Enterprises has this taken care of and makes its holdings available for a fair-and-reasonable price It pains me as a completist to say it, but if we are hurting for resources, how can we justify the time/$ spent on a transfer that will not be made accessible to researchers. Or, in another case, a mixtape made by a contemporary author. It is fully comprised of commercially available pop music. Is this worth our time if we can verify that nothing besides the listed music tracks are on the tape?
- In the arena of audio, ARSC is a really great organization for audiovisual archivists. The listserv is free, and likely more information than anyone needs, but there is a searchable archive. IASA and FADGI release standards and recommendations for both audio and moving image formats. When they speak, the whole AV Archives community listens, reads, consents, follows
- Here’s the audio side of the media family, with a few examples: Wax cylinder; Lacquer Transcription Disk; Aluminum, too; And Ol’ Man Magnetic
- So, circling back to decay, I’m going to run through some images of common carrier damages, both avoidable and not. Maybe this is presumptuous, but feel free to approach me afterward this to talk further about remediation or treatment of anything you recognize here. Lacquer disc delamination. Not salvageable at this point.
- Palmitic acid deposits on a transcription disc's nitrocellulose laminate surface. This can be resolved, insomuch as it can be cleaned and transferred before the plasticizer leaches up to the surface again.
- CD-R disc rot: Organic dye degradation/migration (L). Delaminating metal reflective layer (R), likely the result of oxidation caused by damage to lacquer layer. These are totally cashed; digital-physical media is often very quick to shift from minimal damage into catastrophic loss / danger zone.
- CD-R disc rot. Also toast.
- Now here is something to be profoundly terrified of: actual mold. AUDIOTAPE is very vulnerable to mold damage. Recovery of moldy magnetic tape is time/resource intensive, especially once it has infiltrated the tape pack, gotten into the wind.
- Don’t mistake MOLD (L) and LUBRICANT LOSS / Tape Binder Breakdown (R) on the tape pack. Mold will appear fuzzy or lattice-like. Lubricant loss will have a powdery appearance. But both are often quite time/$ intensive to responsibly recover, unless you have a scientific oven or dedicated mold remediation facilities.
- Now a word about Sticky Shed Syndrome: Magnetic Tape SHEDDING: Delamination, pinholing of Agfa PE39 magnetic tape (L); Severe, fibrous residue after playback (R). These are both very extreme examples, both are great illustrations of Soft Binder Syndrome (aka sticky shed), a failing common for many open reel audiotapes of the 1970s - 80s. The polyurethane binder that holds the recorded magnetic particles on the tape surface, when it is exposed to humidity, absorbs moisture from (chemical process called hydrolysis). The water molecules absorbed then cause the urethane to migrate to the tape surface, resulting in the aforementioned fatal errors that can hinder or even prohibit playback.
- AV specialist Richard Hess recommends the term “Soft Binder Syndrome” as the inclusive term be used for "all tapes that show stickiness, shedding, and/or squealing, whether they respond to baking or not." This category can include tapes with Sticky Shed Syndrome and with what in the past has (incorrectly) been referred to as Loss of Lubricant. Tapes with advanced SBS will audibly squeal on playback. Other telltale signs of SBS may include jerky and/or strained tape movement during unspooling. At its worst, binder breakdown will prevent playback or cause tapes to distort due to high tension from playback. On direct inspection, simple SBS tapes will not shed or produce gummy residue to the extent that Sticky Shed Syndrome tapes typically do.
- This is what you are more likely to have discovered in your collections, a mild hint of adhesion to the tape pack. Test for Sticky Shed Syndrome BEFORE attempting playback. To do this, slowly turn the reel and watch to see whether the tape unspools naturally from the pack or whether it sticks/lingers on the pack. The affected tape surface may exhibit a soft and gummy quality, and, on playback, will leave a dark brown residue on tape player components; this is a result of binder and back coat shedding. Do not playback an SSS-affected tape. A recovery method for tapes of the sticky shed variety has been to remove moisture from the binder. This can be done by applying low heat to the tape for several hours (8+). "Baking" the tape can be destructive if not done correctly, and is best done by an AV conservator or technician using a highly precise oven. Baking is only a temporary fix; but, if successful, it allows normal playback (without defects) for weeks or months before reverting and becoming unplayable. In this time, one can transfer the recording to a stable format. Do not bake acetate tapes or tapes exhibiting lubricant loss (i.e. white residue). A less risky, but far less immediate method of hydrolysis reversal is natural environmental conditioning. Simply place the tape in a low humidity environment—and wait for however long it takes for the effects of hydrolysis to recede.
- Now a PSA about equipment: strike while the iron is hot, and cheap. SUccessful media preservation infrastructure building is about recognizing opportunity and stockpiling hardware to support recovery. If you know the formats that appear in high volume in your collections, can recognize obsolete media, you will make better decisions about procurement. And research the units, test the equipment or know the right questions to ask online vendors when purchasing used.
- Also-- never trust used equipment with collection materials until it is proven innocent and free of media eating tendencies. Buy sacrifice tapes, for instance. Here’s a simple audio digitization signal chain. Digital reformatting at MSU Libraries actually has a digital audio mixer at the center of their setup, which handles the analog-to-digital signal conversion before it’s passed to the workstation. So this is my humble sketch of how I remember the workflow at my previous organization.
- Here’s an upshot of audio digitization: WE HAVE STANDARDS! There are clear standards for lossless archival-quality audio reformatting practices ...we also have HTML5 guidelines for appropriate web access formats… WHich also means -- from a decision making standpoint -- we have no excuse.
- A Preservation Master, in this context, is the highest quality digital file, to be maintained in perpetuity and for creating copies of the original (but not for transcoding access files). Whether it is struck from an analog or digital source, it is intended to maintain the fidelity of the original while also avoiding secondary digital obsolescence. Audio properties WAV file containing Linear Pulse-Code Modulated audio; 96 kHz Sampling rate; 24-bit depth At MSU we use a fairly descriptive file naming convention that corresponds to each repository’s organizational structure. This is a preservation master from our Special Collections department.
- And here are the specs for a Mezzanine File: a mid-level surrogate for the master: robust yet not unwieldy. This is the file used for transcoding to other access files, editing, or in cases where close review is necessary. Also referred to as a “production-quality” or “intermediate” file.
- And the Access File, available to researchers on-site or for streaming/download via the local network. Levels of access will depend on the rights MSU Libraries has to distribute the content.
- I’ll be brief…there are many elements of a A BWF audio file that I’m leaving out here, but embedded metadata is a large part of what makes a WAV a BWF.
- We use the BEXT metadata chunk to describe each WAV file, which is like labeling the object rather than the box. BEXT carries information like: collection and source object ID originator (repository) origination date digitization signal chain specs
- Using a free application called BWF MetaEdit, we have retrospectively embedded administrative metadata into our Preservation WAV files. Fortunately there is a batch processing option: [Click] we were able to easily transform our database fields into the fairly rigid BEXT core fields, and then pull these values from a CSV file through MetaEdit into each corresponding BWF file. [Click] (MetaEdit developed by FADGI and AVPreserve)
- ... but would clearly be even happier to see an elegant stamp of ownership on our dissemination MP3 files that we pass to researchers. Later this summer I hope to co-opt the ID3 metadata container to hold our homegrown elements, including basic descriptive metadata. Relatable example: iTunes All data types in the format work together —synchs—to give end users a Whole Object. Descriptive and technical metadata, cover art, all seamlessly integrated as an MP3 file. Multimedia container formats such as MPEG-4 or Matroska can package audio and video, chapters, subtitles/captions, and more.
- We’re a media based society.
- Film is surprisingly robust (unless nitrate, decaying acetate, mag stock, etc) Gauge = size.
- Later I am going to briefly discuss acetate decay in relation to storage. *1909 is when it was documented it was first created. Earliest existing example currently is from 1912.
- Another example that I don’t have a picture of is rusty film containers. The top right is an example of archival film containers.
- IPI = Image Permanence Institute Institutions also have to work with storage guidelines for other materials bc it’s not realistic that institutions can set up many different storage environments. Paper vs Film vs Video vs Photographs
- .5 acidity is where vinegar syndrome sets in. After that point, the rate of deterioration sky rockets.
- Huckleberry Railroad is a part of Crossroads Village, which is maintained by Genesee Co Parks. Railroad is section of railbed originally used by the Pere Marquette company. Originally #152, later called #2 by a company that bought it (Referred to as #2 also by Genesee Co Parks). Built in 1920 for the building of the Alaska Railroad, changed hands many times, eventually bought by the park. Refurbished and put into use in 1976, currently going through another multi-year refurbishment process. Footage is from the train in it’s primary purpose, footage is held by the Alaska Film Archives at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks. They have clips of various collections on Youtube and as a student worker editing the Youtube page (in my very brief grad career at UAF before switching to UIUC), I found in the comments in the video that people thought it was the train at Huckleberry Railroad.
- Cadillac - Oct 9 & 10, 1975 Won a contest and KISS performed as part of the HS’s homecoming festivities. Large two day event that included a parade. I CAN’T FIND the Channel 9 & 10 footage of it. Photos courtesy of the Kiss 8mm project. Found the group when a member of the group posted on the AMIA listserv asking if any institutions had films of KISS that they might not be aware of.
- Aladdin Company - Bay City Redimade homes (catalog kit homes) company from 1907-1989, created and ran by the Sovereign family (bros - William & Otto, later William’s son Billy (also William)). 2nd in kit home sales, 1st Sears & Roebuck. Continued producing kit homes after Sears & Roebuck stopped production. William Sovereign vs Mary Sovereign divorce case - Created no-fault divorce laws in Michigan. Neither of them wanted to admit fault. Had spies and detectives on each other - Parade film was mixed in with a box of films secretly following Mary & son, Billy. Stalker films were not kept.
- Most of the resources I talk about here are freely available online.
- Foundational reading from IASA, on the care of original physical media carriers (bullet 1). And then 2 of the recent media preservation surveys looking at university campus-wide media preservation needs. These efforts not only inform intelligent preservation planning, but also raise important questions regarding priority and our roles to researchers, donors, and the community.
- Foundational reading from IASA, on audio digitization (bullet 3)
- All of this software is free, and most are open source (for what it’s worth). I’ll evangelize on behalf of the graphical user interface (or GUI) application first, and then touch on the next-level command line interface tools.
- VLC MEDIA PLAYER! Audio and video player GUI. The most robust media player out there. Leveraging the exhaustive libavcodec library, VLC is capable of handling nearly any format you throw at it. Available for every platform, including Mac OSX, Windows, Linux… I also hear good things about MPlayer, but have yet to try it.
- QCTools or “Quality Control Tools” – Video quality assurance GUI. Enables visual analyzation of digital video and detection of corruption or visual artifacts. This has been particularly useful for those scanning for interstitial errors post-digitization, but that sells it short. Here’s what the YUV chroma and luma values look when broken out. [Click]: And here’s what the waveform view looks like. Available for Mac and PC. More details on QCTools, its applications and updates (current version 0.7), can be found through the Bay Area Video Coalition, which developed the tool along with an excellent team of media preservationists. Another excellent BAVC project is the A/V Artifact Atlas, an online resource used to identify and diagnose artifacts and errors in media and analog-to-digital workflows.
- FFMPEG: Comprehensive suite of AV tools: transcoder, editor, player, analyzer, and validator. Converts, records, and plays audio and video of nearly any format. FFmpeg comes bundled with an unparalleled number of codec libraries, as well as transcoding and authentication functions. Many other well-known software employ FFmpeg (albeit with restrictions), including Handbrake, FFmpegX (an outdated GUI, don’t mistake the two), and nearly any other open source or web application that touches audio or video. FFmpeg is my favorite tool and I seem to use it every day; it can perform nearly every function detailed in this list. Available for Mac and PC.
- MediaInfo is an AV format-specific technical metadata extractor and identifier. Unlike more widely used characterisation tools like JHOVE and Droid, MediaInfo supports the analyzation of components and tags unique to audio and video files. Available for Mac and PC; also available on Mac as a lightweight GUI for a reasonable price (~$2). [Click] ExifTool is another metadata extractor, identifier, and editor. Supports many metadata formats, and has been a part of general digital preservation ingest workflows for some time, but has recently increased support for audiovisual files. Available for Mac and PC; GUI available for Windows only.
- Opportunities exist locally, externally, and across disciplines: Partnerships, pooling resources, contributing to community resources This is how the challenge will be met. A Media Pres program is only as strong as its reach…and we are all adjacent here in Michigan!
- MW Media Pres programs are growing/hungry for meaningful collaboration... Willing collaborators, service providers, and friends Everyone is feeling their way thru this, and most of us that you see at conferences are concealing our own inadequacies and oversights. So purge your insecurities. I try to, just not on stage. Pro Organizations and Consortiums (AMIA, ARSC, NDSA)…
- THANK YOU. What Questions do you have?