Television networks use dozens of tapes for their daily broadcasts. Archivists or video librarians are tasked to store and file these video materials for in-house production use. Increasing access of their material to the public is not their main purpose. So why then push the issue of increasing access and digital archiving to broadcast groups who have little time and resources?

These were one of the many questions answered and topics discussed in a 2-days workshop entitled "Digital Archiving of Audio Visual Content in Public Service Broadcastings" recently in Metro Manila, Philippines. It was the first time broadcast television archivists from the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Mongolia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam gathered to discuss archiving issues and guiding principles in digital archiving of materials in public service broadcasting. The Probe Media Foundation, Inc. (PMFI) conducted the workshop through the funding support of UNESCO.

The workshop (13-14 December 2004) aimed to give participants an overview and degree of familiarity about the digital frontier, orient participants on techniques, issues and technology for digitizing and increasing access of their AV materials, and provide a venue to define or describe issues, obstacles and alternatives regarding digitization in the Asian context.

Providing input on various issues on digital archiving for the twenty workshop participants were resource persons. Ruben Canlas, Web Information Systems Consultant at the Asian Development Bank, Belina Capul, President of the South East Asia Pacific Audio Visual Archives Association (SEAPAVAA) and Ray Edmonson, Director of Archive Associates, Australia and a UNESCO Memory of the World Committee Member.

Each participant had varied experiences and skill levels in digital archiving. Though healthy discussions and sharing, six important issues were identified as barriers preventing TV archivists on fully embarking on digitization of archives. These are (1) Unavailability or obsolescence of a player to convert their materials to digital; (2) Limited storage space for all their material; (3) Reuse/wiping of archival tapes; (4) Lack of expertise and skill of the TV archivist; (5) Lack of resources and knowledge to increase access - internally and externally and (6) Lack of understanding of top management on importance of archiving.

The resource persons stressed that most AV Archives in the world face these issues. Issue 3 is unique to developing countries, such as those who are part of the workshop, and lack of funding and resources also poses a greater difficulty in overcoming the other issues. Issues 4 and
5 were highlighted in the workshop because these can be addressed with minimal funding or resource requirements. The sharing on all these issues were healthy and gave archivists a chance to release their frustrations on archiving. Ray Edmonson was able to provide encouragement and inspiration on their crucial role as archivists.

The two-days were jam-packed with lectures, discussions that provided information on digital archiving, as well as existing standards and guidelines that many were not aware of. Games and hands-on exercises were designed to show what is available on the internet (reading materials, existing guidelines and discussion groups) so they may continue to increase their knowledge and understanding on archiving. Cost effective ways of digitizing AV materials and providing access were presented, such as using open source programs available on the web.

Perhaps the greatest achievement in this workshop, aside from the linkage of broadcast archive people, was the realization that their materials have an impact in the history and development of their country. With the wealth of material coming in daily to TV broadcast archives and prioritization of profit-making activities, it is easy not to see their role in contributing to the preservation of national heritage. The introduction of the possibilities of digital archiving and the need to increase access was an eye-opener to some of the participants as well.

PMFI is to create web pages on digital archiving for AV broadcastings to be linked to the PMFI website. These pages shall contain the material distributed in the workshop and other important information to embark on a digital archiving in public service broadcastings.

Links :

Probe Media Foundation, Inc. (PMFI) <http://www.probefound.com>
Asian Development Bank http://www.adb.org/
South East Asia Pacific Audio Visual Archives Association
(SEAPAVAA) http://www.geocities.com/seapavaa/
UNESCO Memory of the World Programme
<http://www.unesco.org/webworld/mow>
UNESCO Charter on the Preservation of the Digital Heritage
http://portal.unesco.org/ci/ev.php?URL_ID=13366&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201&reload=1067609511 >

Contact :

Susanne Ornager UNESCO Office in New Delhi s.ornager@unesco.org

Article on PSB from unesco paris/unesco-psb/lorie/01-26-05