2018 Charleston Library Conference

As media formats, and the machines used to play them, become obsolete, it is essential for institutions to act now to digitize and preserve this content before it’s lost for good. Libraries and archives hold large numbers of obsolete audio and video formats that are actively degrading, many of which contain content with high research value. In addition, acquiring and maintaining equipment to play these items is becoming increasingly problematic. If projects continue to be postponed, it may be too late. However, the complexity and costs of digitizing and preserving these formats often puts projects out of reach for many libraries and archives. Small institutions may struggle to find the needed resources where large institutions struggle to combine resources across many units. One way to address this impending loss of content is to build support across the institution for a digitization and preservation project. Whether an organization chooses to digitize the materials in-house or outsource the work, the scope, costs, and technological challenges of these specialized formats require broad participation. Librarians and archivists are uniquely poised to establish a vision, and work with IT and Media experts to build the strategies and partnerships to bring a project to fruition. This session will use Indiana University’s Media Digitization and Preservation Initiative as a case study; however, we will focus broadly on how to develop a media digitization plan, discuss some of the key workflow decisions and technological needs, and explore how to effectively build a case to turn this into a campus wide-initiative.