DIGITISATION OF AUDIOVISUAL HERITAGE

IN FLANDERSRony Vissers (PACKED vzw)

PACKED VZW

§ give our insights regarding audiovisual collections through theframework of digitization

§ introducing one of the projects with which we are involved

PACKED VZW

§ PACKED vzw: centre of expertise in digital heritage§ support caretakers of different types of digital heritage § special interest: audiovisual heritage, collaborations with

museums§ we do not focus on cultural heritage content but on ICT processes

linked to it§ not only technical aspects§ processes: creation, storage / conservation, cataloguing, online access,

exchange, use and re-use, … § they correspond to basic stages (digital) content moves through§ to realise potential of digital cultural heritage: take digital life cycle into

account

DIGITAL CONTENT LIFE CYCLE (DigitalNZ)

DIGITAL CONTENT LIFE CYCLE (DCC, UK)

AUDIOVISUAL CULTURAL HERITAGE

§ audiovisual cultural heritage: characteristic for 20th century§ large part: analogue, or digital but carrier-based§ can not be used in current digital environment, and thus potential

can not be realised§ urgency: will be lost within next 5 -10 years if not digitised§ analogue and digital carriers degrade rapidly§ playback equipment disappears from market § playback equipment is required for digitisation§ if digitisation still possible in future, it will be more expensive§ if not digital, no (re-)use > loss of interest in it§ complex copyright situation

NEED FOR COLLABORATION

§ audiovisual heritage can be found everywhere, also in places where technical expertise is lacking > poor condition?

§ digitisation of audiovisual heritage § is expensive: mass digitisation reduces cost per unit§ requires technical expertise: sharing expertise through collaboration

§ infrastructure and services for digital archiving§ is expensive: and requires technical expertise: shared (networked)

infrastructure and services for digital archiving§ challenge: even big organisations / institutions and public

authorities (on different levels) § solutions need to be found§ cross-sectoral collaboration? good examples of public-private

partnerships?

SITUATION IN FLANDERS

§ since 2006 Flemish Ministry of Culture supports PACKED:§ 2006 – 2010: platform organisation for archiving and conservation of

audiovisual arts / heritage § 2011: centre of expertise in digital heritage§ task: support heritage caretakers with expertise

§ since 2013 Flemish Government supports VIAA (Flemish Institute for Archiving)§ digitalisation of audiovisual heritage§ archiving digitised and born digital audiovisual heritage§ making digital audiovisual heritage accessible for education, research and

general public§ do this in collaboration with content partners (broadcasters, cultural

heritage institutions, public archives, art organisations)

SITUATION IN FLANDERS

§ inventory:§ 2013: identified 680.000 carries that need to be digitised (film, video,

audio), 80% broadcast sector – 20% cultural heritage sector§ since 2013 inventory further developed and expanded, registration of

carriers by content partners§ 2015: first inventory in the arts sector: performance arts organisations§ 50 responses: 24.000 carriers, more than 60 formats

§ goal: at least 580.000 carriers digitised by 2020§ digitisation of film material will take longer, less threatened§ (2014-2015: also digitisation of WW1 press (260.000 pages))

§ ingest:§ current: material digitised byVIAA§ future: material already digitised by content partners, born digital material

SITUATION IN FLANDERS

§ Archiving:§ digitisation: still a long way to go…§ 950 TB: 71% video (broadcast), 26 % video (heritage), 1,7% newspapers

1,5% audio§ maximum capacity: 17 PB (= 17.000 TB)§ 325.970 items: 269.976 (newspapers), 30.275 (video, broadcast), 16.835

(audio), 8.884 (video heritage) § Access – use / (re-use):§ still a long way to go§ limitations richness of metadata, funding, expertise§ limitations copyright situation§ through content partners: often in-house, exhibition > still need to rethink

their policy and activities in order to explore digital possibilities > but no clear idea yet

SITUATION IN FLANDERS

§ VIAA: access – use / (re-use):§ WW1 press: https://hetarchief.be/ > since September 2015 21.500 users,

further explore possibilities open data§ education: Testbeeld

§ web platform with audiovisual content§ demand-driven instead of supply-driven§ metadata and contextualising customised for this purpose§ current situation:

§ 6.000 video and audio excerpts§ 15% of schools in Flanders involved (since 2014-2015)§ focussed on certain school subject (primary education, secundary

education§ developped in collaboration with schools and educational

organisations

SITUATION IN FLANDERS

§ there is a potential, but needs to be explored further > societal benefits§ strategy:§ cross-sectoral collaboration, shared infrastructure and services are

possible > expansion possible§ requires changes on the side of the content partners§ realising strategy takes time, while environment and expectations evolve

quickly and preservation needs are urgent§ requires big financial investment (public money…), financial

sustainability?§ situation even more complex for born digital material

THANK YOU!RONY@PACKED.BE