For years since the advent of mass communication, millions of hours of film, television and radio are produced globally every day, and they need to be preserved. History is no longer transmitted through word of mouth or recorded in long epic stories. Audiovisual archives will form the records of the future, preserve our cultural […]
For years since the advent of mass communication, millions of hours of film, television and radio are produced globally every day, and they need to be preserved.
History is no longer transmitted through word of mouth or recorded in long epic stories. Audiovisual archives will form the records of the future, preserve our cultural identities and propagate our value systems to future generations. Worn by time, eaten away by acidity, victims of wars, dictatorships, natural disasters or due to plain mismanagement, the audiovisual archives of humanity are continuously at the risk of destruction. We cannot resign ourselves to losing volumes and volumes of the worldwide audiovisual heritage. It remains imperative to ensure that we preserve these valuable archives and are able to transmit the audiovisual memory of our times to future generations.
The place of the archive and of the archivist has changed dramatically in the television industry over the last decade. Because of the role in collecting, organising, preserving, and retrieving media, the archivist is a national asset.
The growing criticality of the archivists role is evident from the fact that every year, a number of seminars and conferences are held about the preservation of archives and for the archivists to share their experiences and brainstorm new ideas. Organisations continue to invest in archiving and manufactures continue to develop newer systems and technologies regularly to address the fundamental question how to safely, securely and efficiently store and manage our archives.
There are two universally accepted major players in managing the archives; the data itself which is media; and metadata which is indexing. Metadata is a vital pre-requisite to successfully retrieving and utilising the media stored in the archives making it more critical in the sense that without proper metadata, you could end up spending hours viewing the media just to find a specific shot. Therefore, it is vital that metadata is stored with pictures and relevant time codes for future use and future generations. News cannot be recreated. Television stations have a huge responsibility to protect the media in their archives.
As a first step, it is critical to set out the correct workflow plan that works for the organisation and ensure that it is followed to the T. Remember its all about the workflow and not the technology. No matter how advanced the technology, it is still the professional archivist who holds the key to making digital asset management a success.
One should not embark on any data management exercise without a clear picture, proper workflows and proper metadata to ensure investments in technology and time are not wasted. Broadcasters need to ensure that they do their homework, determine future requirements, and properly train their archivists if they wish to move ahead in the 21st century. The determination of need and the roadmap to fulfillment of the need should be clear and one should avoid the temptation to change for the sake of change or just because others are changing. Broadcasters should also make available the use of their footages and techniques to schools teaching media studies to ensure availability of the right resources for the future.
Another significant factor that is often overlooked is the content rights. This is a major stumbling block with broadcasters worldwide and in the Middle East, it is an even bigger problem. Metadata should be tagged from the beginning showing the original source of the footage i.e. relevant contract details that could be retrieved if required in the future. It is not fair to the producers of media to spend a lot of money, time and resources making programmes, when piracy is widespread.
Broadcasting is an ever changing environment. The mindset of the audience is fluctuating and expectations are ever increasing; companies are looking at ways to stay ahead of the competition, so it is all the more important that the archives are preserved correctly and are accessible for own use or for sale to other broadcasters or independent producers.
Dorothy Donan is the head of Libraries with MBC Group.
