Services under the LC/FEDLINK BOA that AVPS is able to offer include:

Collection Assessments and Inventories
Preservation Planning
Facilities Assessment
Training for Archiving and Preservation
Metadata Development
Digitization Planning
Repository Development
DAMS Selection
Digital Preservation Planning
Disaster Preparedness and Recovery
Digital Content Management/Delivery Support Services

Along with our special expertise with audiovisual and digital assets, we are able to provide these services for all media types, including graphics, photography, and paper/text materials. FEDLINK members can contact us through our webform or directly to discuss how we can help with the preservation and collection management needs of all your analog and digital media and documents.

AVPS FEDLINK Lead: Joshua Ranger, Senior Consultant
josh{at}avpreserve.com
212.564.2140/917.475.9630
Service ID: CI
LC/FEDLINK BOA#: LC11G7907
Transfer or Direct Payment Options

PASIG is an international community of IT professionals “focused on sharing open computing solutions and best practices” in the areas of OAIS architecture, repository technologies, preservation and archiving of data, and the uses of various commercial and community-developed technological solutions. PASIG is not a standards-setting organization, but much of their work revolves around sharing and learning from practical experience in order to find new areas of development and collaboration.

Given the major challenges that face the preservation and management of digital audiovisual materials, we are very pleased to see groups like PASIG take an interest in the issues and devote a panel specifically to media. It is becoming more and more apparent that greater communication and collaboration among the various disciplines that create, manage, and care for digital media is needed in order to address those challenges. We’re proud of Kara and excited to be a part of the conversation.

Also available for viewing now is the 2010 holiday card, which features a punch-hole design of the AVPS logo in recognition of the history of punch cards in the development of modern digital technologies.

As in past years, the cards are inspired by the field that we work in and its history. As audiovisual and digital media become a more ingrained part of society, we often forget the moments of origin or the amazing advancements they represented. The original art work is created by Stephanie Housley, a New York based artist/designer.

We are pleased to send these greetings to our clients and all of the other members of our community who are dedicated to the preservation of our audiovisual heritage. We are especially delighted to note that we often see the cards posted in the archives we work in long after the holiday season has ended.

2010 and 2011 Holiday Cards:
http://www.avpreserve.com/uncategorized/avps-holiday-cards-2010-2011/

2008 and 2009 Holiday Cards:
http://www.avpreserve.com/uncategorized/avps-holiday-cards-2008-09/

2006 and 2007 Holiday Cards:
http://www.avpreserve.com/uncategorized/avps-holiday-cards/

Before the conference proper begins, AVPS Senior Consultant Kara Van Malssen will be one of the instructors for the day-long PBCore Cataloging Workshop, and later in the week she will Co-Chair both the panel “Archive and the Commons: Why Archives Should Embrace Openness” and the International Outreach Committee meeting. Kara has been a strong advocate for education, international collaboration, and technological innovation in archives; she and her co-panelists look to present some highly informational and entertaining sessions.

Look us up if you’re in Austin for the conference, and keep an eye out for Senior Consultant Joshua Ranger who will be toting around the Official AVPS Audio Reader for some magnetic media fun. We’re looking forward to another great conference, seeing all of our friends and colleagues, and spending time in one of the great American cities.

According to the ARSC press release, the study was designed by the Technical Committee to evaluate “support for embedded metadata within and across a variety of audio recording software applications” in order to assess two primary questions:

1. How well does embedded metadata persist, and is its integrity maintained, within any given file as it is handled by various applications over time?

2. How well is embedded metadata handled during the process of creating a derivative?

The findings of the study are of major importance to individuals and organizations concerned with the long-term use and management of digital audio files, concluding that “persistence and integrity issues are prevalent across the audio software applications studied”. Until now the internal workings of files and software studied here have been obscure or inaccessible to the majority of people who work with digital audio. Thanks to the methodologies developed by the Technical Committee and the development of tools like BWF MetaEdit, that knowledge and the means for integrity testing have been opened up to archivists, producers, engineers, and other stakeholders. AVPS is honored to have had the opportunity to contribute to this work.

As a follow up to the ARSC Technical Committee research study he led and AVPS’s work with the Federal Agencies Digitization Working Group, Chris’ presentation will focus on the use and persistence of embedded metadata in content digitized from analog audio sources. Chris’ article published in this summer’s International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives Journal discussing this topic and the ARSC-TC study gave an eye-opening look at how various audio processing and editing tools handle digital files and the implications they may have on the fidelity of archival materials in a digital preservation environment. Important stuff, this. Check out the article or come see us at the Convention.

Kara and John will be presenting about the NYPR Archive’s role in the difficult transition many media companies are facing in the shift from radio/television producers to multi-platform content producers. As the manager of legacy content and the repository for newly produced content, the Archives are at the center of this transition with the responsibility to make sure that assets can be used by producers, editors, hosts, and the public with consistency and quality across those many internal and public-facing platforms. As part of John’s larger discussion about NYPR’s efforts to digitize, preserve, and provide access to their 80+ years of content, Kara will be there to discuss AVPS’ role in developing an Archives-centric collection management tool and metadata exchange mechanisms. These projects are contributing to NYPR’s abilities to integrate content management systems across multiple departments and provide greater access to materials in-house and via their website.

John and Kara join other panelists Steven Anastasi, Vice President Technical Operations and Media Archives at Warner Bros.; Andrea Kalas, VP of Archives at Paramount Pictures, Sean Vilbert, Director of Digital Archives at Paramount Pictures, and Mark Lemmons, CTO at Thought Equity Motion; Steve Davis, VP/COO at Crawford Media Management; Brewster Kahle, Digital Librarian and Founder of Internet Archive; and Sam Gustman Executive Director at USC Digital Repository. Quite a show! Registration is still open online through the 21st of September, so check it out if you’re in town.

The article draws on our work with the Federal Agencies Digitization Guidelines Initiative Audio-Visual Working Group (FADGI) in developing the BWF MetaEdit tool for embedding, editing, and exporting metadata in WAVE files, as well as on a study of embedded metadata support within and across audio recording software applications AVPS spearheaded on behalf of the Association for Recorded Sound Collections Technical Committee (ARSC TC). Using these experiences, Chris illuminates the real world importance of embedded metadata for the use and preservation of digital materials and, perhaps more so, the great need for practical tools and guidelines that will help people review and manage that metadata with the same integrity as the associated object. Our thanks to all of the contributing FADGI and ARSC members, without whom the projects could not have been realized.

A big shout out as well for Carl Fleischhauer’s article “Developing an MXF audiovisual preservation file wrapper specification in the Federal Agencies Digitization Guidelines Initiative” appearing in the same IASA Journal, another FADGI project that AVPS is proud to be a part of. The Federal Agencies are doing amazing work to drive the field of digital preservation forward and are becoming an invaluable resource, so check ‘em out.

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Through a new partnership with AudioVisual Preservation Solutions (AVPS, http://avpreserve.com), the Metropolitan New York Library Council (METRO, http://metro.org) will offer three workshops and create a pilot project to serve critical needs to libraries and archives charged with preserving and providing access to audiovisual resources. The partnership enables professional development for the library and archives community and provides greater accessibility to collections held in archives and special collections in the metropolitan New York region.

The cornerstone of the partnership between AVPS and METRO will be three workshops in June and July 2011 aimed at serving the professional development needs of archivists, librarians, and collection managers who work with audiovisual and file-based collections. On June 1, AVPS experts will lead “Managing File-Based Collections for Small Institutions” – introducing digital collection caretakers to utilities and processes that will help them perform routine archival tasks in the file-based domain. On June 16, “Using Metadata for Audiovisual Collection Management” will address how, with legacy and digital audiovisual materials, the array of technical, relational, administrative, rights, and preservation related metadata fields present a great deal of utility in the management, distribution, and monitoring of materials. On July 12, “Processing Audiovisual and Video Collections” will focus on core knowledge and skills needed to process audio and video materials for planning, budgeting, cataloging, access, grant applications, and long term storage. Details and registration for these workshops can be found on METRO’s calendar at http://metro.org.

In addition to the three workshops, the partnership also supports the creation of an Audio/Visual Community Cataloging (AVCC) tool set. The AVCC will offer a set of guides, templates, and utilities that libraries and archives can download as a tool to assist in planning and performing a cataloging project for audiovisual materials making use of collaborative or volunteer efforts. AVPS Senior Consultant Joshua Ranger notes, “The backlog of under-documented or unprocessed AV materials is one of the primary impediments to enabling access and planning for preservation. We are dedicated to finding new, cost-effective approaches to overcoming these types of hurdles and helping libraries and archives better manage collections, and we’re proud to be working with METRO towards these goals.” After initial development is complete, AVPS and METRO will be looking for libraries and archives in the region to help test and refine the tool set later this year in preparation for general release of this free resource via the METRO website.

METRO’s Documentary Heritage Program also supports work at New York University’s Tamiment Library (http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/research/tam/index.html) and Asian/Pacific/American Institute (http://www.apa.nyu.edu/) to document the history of the Asian/Pacific/American community in the New York metropolitan area.

“Collaborative relationships like this are essential to sustaining the important work being done by our region’s archivists and librarians,” says Jason Kucsma, Acting Interim Director at METRO. “By leveraging the expertise of consultants at AVPS, METRO is able to offer quality professional development resources to under-resourced libraries and archives that hold some of the region’s greatest treasures.”

This partnership and the services produced are made possible with funds from the Documentary Heritage Program of the New York State Archives, a program of the New York State Education Department.

About AVPS
AudioVisual Preservation Solutions is a full service audiovisual preservation and information management consulting firm. AVPS provides effective individualized solutions founded on our broad knowledge base and extensive experience in the area of collection assessment, metadata development, digital preservation, and strategic planning. With a strong focus on professional standards and best practices and the innovative use and development of technological resources, we aim to help our clients achieve efficient, high-quality capabilities to meet the challenges faced in the preservation and access of audiovisual content and institutional data.

As the largest reference and research resources (3Rs) library council in New York
State, METRO members reflect a wide range of special, academic, archival and public library organizations. In addition to training programs and support services, METRO also works to bring members of the New York City and Westchester County library and archives communities together to promote ongoing exchanges of information, resources, and ideas.