Confronting the Crisis: Sustainable Preservation and Access Solutions at Scale

Joshua Sternfeld, National Endowment for the Humanities
Chris Lacinak, AVPreserve
Rachael Stoeltje, Indiana University
Jean-Louis Bigourdan, Image Permanence Institute
Bono Olgado, University of the Philippines Film Institute

Recent work suggests that moving image preservation and access is in the midst of a “crisis” with a narrow window for taking action. Limited infrastructural and financial resources, coupled with expanding digital collections and the deterioration of magnetic media, could potentially lead to the obsolescence of much of our audiovisual heritage. This panel, structured as a series of brief presentations followed by an open discussion among panelists and the audience, will explore current and emerging options for conducting preservation and access at scale that can occur at the institutional, regional, and international levels. Sustainable options under consideration include basic assessment for at-risk materials, mass digitization, consortia planning, and preventive conservation of analog formats. The panelists will present a mixture of tools and methodologies coupled with anecdotal evidence of their real-world application that may assist preservationists in navigating this complex decision-making process.

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