September, 2008 – AVPS Participating in “Preservation Oriented Production Workflows” Session at the AMIA Annual Conference on November 13, 2008
Chris Lacinak of AudioVisual Preservation Solution will be speaking at a session at the Association for Moving Image Archivists (AMIA)annual meeting in Savannah on the topic of “Preservation Oriented Production Workflows”. He will be chairing a panel joined by Brian Hoffman and Kara Van Malssen of NYU, and Jonathan Marmor of WNET.
The summary program description is as follows:
“Traditional workflow models pose great challenges to preserving and managing content over the long term. After years of grappling with them, these challenges have become all too evident to the AMIA community. A new model of production has begun to evolve from this awareness, and with some surprising consequences. “
We welcome all AMIA Conference attendees to join us as we share in our experiences while defining a new model of preservation oriented production workflows that will undoubtedly impact the future of archives.
The website for the 2008 Annual AMIA conference is here:
http://www.amiaconference.com/index.html
The link for the all of the programs in the conference is here:
http://www.amiaconference.com/2008/program-01-tue.htm
top
of the page
September, 2008 – AVPS Participating in the 125th Annual Audio Engineering Society (AES) Convention in San Francisco October 2-5, 2008
Chris Lacinak of AudioVisual Preservation Solutions , and a long term participating member of AES will make several contributions to this year’s convention. He will be presenting at a tutorial titled “Audio Preservation at the National Audio-Visual Conservation Center (NAVCC)”, and will introduce Brad McCoy, who is a Senior Sound Engineer at The National AudioVisual Conservation Center, Culpeper, Va.
“This tutorial will discuss audio preservation at the Library of Congress’ National Audio-Visual Conservation Center (NAVCC) that was recently completed in Culpeper, VA. It will also give an overview of the NAVCC, a state-of-the-art facility for storing and preserving recorded sound, video, and film materials.” The tutorial will take place on October 4, 11:00 am — 12:00 pm
In addition, Chris will be co-chairing the standards committee workgroup on audio metadata and will be working towards the standardization of the emerging audio metadata (SC 03-06)
Chris hopes to have an active and productive conference and looks forward to sharing what he learns from his colleagues.
The link to the 2008 AES Conference Website is here:
http://www.aes.org/events/125/
top
of the page
September, 2008 – The Archivist Round Table of Metropolitan New York (NYART) is Hosting a Workshop on “Digital Asset Management and Institutional Repositories” on November 10th, 2008
Chris Lacinak, founder of AVPS and Education Coordinator at NYART is pleased to announce an upcoming workshop titled “Digital Asset Management and Institutional Repositories: Case Studies Addressing the Development and Implementation of Systems”, which will be held on November 10th at The NYU Kimmel Center in New York City.
This workshop consists of three presentations from a group of five experts. These presentations will present case studies of projects in which they have been involved. The projects span all relevant content and media types including documents, still images, moving image and sound. The presenters will share their valuable experiences, focusing on covering concerns and questions that many NYART members are, or will soon be asking as they embark on their own projects.
The Speakers will be Leala Abbot – Digital Asset Librarian, Enfatico; Einar Brendalen - Image Systems Analyst, Metropolitan Museum of Art; Jonathan Marmor – Manager of IT and Broadband Operations, Thirteen/WNET New York; David Rice – Digital Media Archivist, Thirteen/WNET New York, and Sunny Yoon - Digital Resources Coordinator, The City University of New York, Office of Library Services.
Development and implementation of these systems is a topic that has been, or will soon be tackled for the first time in many organizations. For those organizations beyond this initial milestone, the challenge and experience serves as practice as they look forward to repeating the process many more times to come.
For additional information and registration please visit the NYART website below:
http://www.nycarchivists.org/workshop.html
top
of the page
August, 2008 - AudioVisual Preservation Solutions Prepares Legacy Audio Recordings for MoMA Exhibitions
Working with MoMA conservator Glenn Wharton and Associate Curator, Department of Media, Barbara London, AVPS recently reformatted works by artists Vito Acconci, Laurie Anderson and others for upcoming MoMA gallery exhibitions. The current Exhibition is titled “Looking at Music”.
According to MoMA, this exhibition, organized by Barbara London, “looks at the dynamic connections that occurred from the mid-1960s to the mid-1970s with a display of early media works by Nam June Paik, Bruce Nauman, Steve Reich, Joan Jonas, Yoko Ono, Laurie Anderson, and David Bowie presented alongside related drawings, prints, and photographs by John Cage, Jack Smith, Ray Johnson, and others.”
AudioVisual Preservation Solutions worked with the original sound elements at MoMA to produce preservation masters and exhibition copies for the audio portions of the exhibit.
The unique challenges faced by arts organizations for preservation and exhibition of both sound and moving image aspects of multimedia art works require close coordination between the artists, curators, conservators and preservation reformatting experts like AVPS.
Unlike static art objects, dynamic media requires reformatting for the purposes of both preservation and future exhibition or access. These requirements present choices which must be made in an environment of developing standards that are significantly different than the well established standards and practices for preservation and exhibition of traditional fine art pieces.
AudioVisual Preservation Solutions is pleased to work with The Museum of Modern Art, and other museums and performing arts institutions in developing the expertise required to preserve their legacy works well into the future.
The exhibition dates are August 13, 2008–January 5, 2009, and it is located on the second floor of the museum in the Yoshiko and Akio Morita Gallery.
For additional information about the exhibition click the link below.
http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/2008/lookingatmusic/audio.html
top
of the page
July, 2008
- AVPS Working in Ghana to Help Save the Country's Moving Image and Sound Heritiage
Chris Lacinak of AVPS traveled to Ghana for three weeks early this summer as part of the Audiovisual Preservation Exchange (APEX) team. APEX is a recently established effort stemming from NYU's Moving Image Archiving and Preservation (MIAP) Program . The team's activities were multi–faceted and focused on Ghana's moving image and sound heritage.
These activities included visiting and interfacing with partner organizations, vendors and technicians to determine current audiovisual preservation capabilities, and to obtain the functional resources needed for local involvement in preservation efforts.
The APEX team met with archives and libraries of cultural institutions located in Accra and Cape Coast, Ghana. These institutions hold rich collections of sound and moving images documenting Ghana's history. These meetings focused on issues of archiving and preservation while exploring ideas for possible collaborative projects with NYU and MIAP in Ghana.
A considerable amount of Chris Lacinak’s time was spent in supporting Seth Paris, a Fulbright Scholar, who is in Ghana working on preserving the recordings of Ghanaian music legend Kofi Ghanaba (Guy Warren). Chris Lacinak performed an assessment of the audio collection and installed an audio digitization lab at the NYU in Ghana Academic Center. Documentation of preservation workflows, metadata specifications and training materials were also developed in support of the current and ongoing efforts of the audio lab. The lab is capable of preserving content housed on open reel audiotape, audiocassette and analog discs.
The Ghanaba collection serves as a pilot project for the audio digitization lab. The goal is to establish ongoing capability for use as a resource in the preservation of Ghana's audio heritage.
top
of the page
March, 2008 - AVPS Moves Office Location to Flatiron/Chelsea, Manhattan
AudioVisual Preservation Solutions has moved its operations to the historic Masonic building on the corner of 6th Avenue and 23rd Street, Manhattan. This move brings us closer to a greater number of our New York clients, and affords us the opportunity to conduct hands-on audiovisual preservation workshops for our clients in an easy to reach location.
While we will miss Williamsburg, Brooklyn, we are pleased to be better situated to serve our clients in the historic Masonic building.
Our new Address is:
AudioVisual Preservation Solutions
71 West 23rd Street
Suite 504
New York, NY 10010
top
of the page
February, 2008 - New York Archivist Roundtable Workshop on Moving Image and Sound Preservation
Serving as Education Coordinator for NYART, Chris Lacinak of Audiovisual Preservation Solutions hosted and participated as a speaker in a workshop titled "Preserving Your Moving Image and Sound Collections: An Overview of the Present with a View Toward the Future".
The workshop featured an array of impressive speakers including Howard Besser, Director of the Moving Image and Preservation Masters Degree Program at NYU; Lee Shoulders, Getty Images; Joshua Ranger, NYU; Tanisha Jones, The New York Library for the Performing Arts, and Peter Kauffman, President of Intelligent TV.
Attending archivists from the New York Metropolitan area represented a wide array of commercial, academic, non-profit, governmental and arts institutions. While some attendees have been working with the preservation of their moving image and sound collections and were seeking to learn new developments in the field, others are just beginning to overcome the unique challenges posed by efforts at preserving dynamic media and content.
The workshop quickly reached maximum capacity early in the enrollment process. Initial feedback provided by the attendees indicates that the event was an overwhelming success.
To see the program for the workshop click the link below.
http://www.avpreserve.com/news/NYART_Feb_Workshop_Description.pdf
top
of the page
January, 2008 - AVPS Project with Cunningham Dance Foundation and NYU Featured in New York Times Article
AudioVisual Preservation Solutions is designing and installing a system for the recording and editing of “Mondays with Merce”, a project aimed at capturing the technique of living dance legend Merce Cunningham. AVPS plays a multi-faceted role in this Mellon Foundation grant funded project involving the Cunningham Dance Foundation and New York University.
The capturing system includes a single operator with remote control over 4 High Definition video cameras, 2 of which are on robotic arms. AVPS is additionally developing highly innovative preservation oriented workflows for the Cunningham Dance Foundation that will deliver preservation worthy deliverables to the NYU digital library team.
NYU is serving as the digital preservation repository and host of the content, as well as acting as team members in the development of applications, workflows and processes.
This highly technical and complex system will be installed by AVPS at the beautiful Cunningham Dance Foundation Studio which is part of the historic Westbeth Complex in the West Village neighborhood of Manhattan.
The New York Times article linked to below features the "Mondays with Merce" project.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/arts/dance/20bloo.html
Dance: An Old Mentor's New Medium
Sunday New York Times, January 20, 2008 By JULIE BLOOM
The link below will bring you to The “Mondays with Merce” website, where you can obtain additional information. This site will also feature a series of webcasts which will be available for free download beginning in late 2008. Each episode will include segments from Merce Cunningham’s Company Class, and rehearsals with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. The programs will also include interviews with Merce Cunningham and his associates.
http://www.merce.org/studioandclasses_mm.html
top
of the page
January, 2008 - Chris Lacinak Becomes Vice Chair of AES Standards Committee 03-07 on Audio Metadata
Chris Lacinak of AudioVisual Preservation Solutions was honored to receive an invitation to co-chair the Audio Engineer Society (AES) Standards Committee Working Group on Audio Metadata. As a long time participant in the development of metadata standards for moving image and sound, Chris enthusiastically accepted the invitation to take on this role.
Chris co-chairs alongside his esteemed colleague Chris Chambers of the BBC and long time standing chair of SC 03-07. The scope of the SC-03-07 Working Group on Audio Metadata includes the co-ordination and support of metadata activities within the AES, and harmonization with other bodies through working-group level liaisons and the preparation of related documents.
top
of the page
December, 2007 - AVPS Releases Their 2007 Holiday Card
AudioVisual Preservation Solutions released its second annual original greeting card for the 2007 holiday season. The 2007 card features an illustrated disk with an original AVPS label that pays homage to the production of the wide array of classic decorative 78RPM labels that exist in audio libraries all over the world.
The 2006 holiday card features the VR-1000 Quad videotape machine in honor of the 50th anniversary of videotape.
The cards are inspired by the field that we work in. 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.
To see the 2006 and 2007 holiday cards click here:
http://www.avpreserve.com/news/holiday/holiday.html
top
of the page
November, 2007 – AVPS is recognized by the Association for Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) in their Annual Report
AVPS was pleased to receive acknowledgment from AMIA in their annual report for contributions made to the organization.
Chris Lacinak was recognized for representing AMIA at the National Recording Preservation Board Hearings. Chris was also acknowledged for his work with Moving Image Collections (MIC), where he worked alongside Hannah Frost of Stanford University chairing the MIC Preservation Portal Working Group and presented on the MIC Metadata Schema at the 2006 AMIA Conference in Anchorage, Alaska.
MIC is sponsored by the Library of Congress and the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA), and funded in large part by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through the first development phase (2002-2005). MIC is part of the National Science Digital Library.
For more information on Moving Image Collections please visit their website below:
http://mic.loc.gov/
top
of the page
August, 2007 - Audio Recording of AVPS Oral Testimony at NRPB Hearing Available Online
As previously noted, Chris Lacinak of AudioVisual Preservation represented AMIA and AES at the National Recording Preservation Board Hearings in December of 2006. He provided oral testimony as well as written submission to the NRPB .
The oral testimony is now available to hear online at the Library of Congress website: http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/nrpb-comments.html#NY.
top
of the page
July, 2007 - Chris Lacinak Elected to the Post of Education Coordinator of New York Archivist RoundTable (NYART)
The New York Archivist Round Table (NYART) elected Chris Lacinak of AudioVisual Preservation Solutions to the position of Education Coordinator. Chris is proud to carry on the great work of his predecessor Mary Hedge in serving NYART, a professional association of archivists in the New York Metropolitan area.
He aims to provide a rich set of programs and workshops relevant to the needs of the association. These workshops will include topics addressing moving image and sound preservation, emerging metadata and cataloging tools, and media asset management systems.
To find out more about NYART click below
http://www.nycarchivists.org/
top
of the page
July, 2007 - AVPS Receives a Letter of Thanks from the Archivist of the United States
Chris Lacinak, founder of AVPS, was honored to receive a letter from Dr. Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States, thanking him for his contribution to the 21st Annual National Archives Preservation Conference held April 30th through May 1st, 2007. The title of the conference was “Managing the Intangible: Creating, Storing and Retrieving Digital Surrogates of Historical Materials.”
AVPS is proud to support the National Archives in their effort to offer continued leadership to the field and ensure ready access to essential evidence that documents the rights of citizens, the actions of federal officials, and the overall national experience.
We would also like to thank Dr. Weinstein for his opening remarks at the conference in which he exhibited a deep understanding and passion for the issues we face on a daily basis in the preservation of our heritage.
To see the letter to Chris Lacinak from Dr. Allen Weinstein click below:
http://www.avpreserve.com/resources/Weinstein_NARA_AVPS_letter.pdf
top
of the page
July, 2007 - Chris Lacinak joins the Technical Committees of IASA and ARSC
Chris Lacinak, founder of AudioVisual Preservation Solutions, has been accepted into the technical committees of the International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives (IASA) and Association of Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC).
As chair of the Audio Engineering Society (AES) Technical Committee on Archiving Restoration and Digital Libraries (TC ARDL), Chris now contributes as a member to all of the relevant organizations which develop best practices and standards for sound archiving and preservation.
The IASA technical committee has produced extremely important and definitive publications for sound preservation over past years. Chris looks forward to contributing to current efforts, and will begin with the revision of TC-04: Guidelines on the Production and Preservation of Digital Objects, which places a heavy emphasis on metadata for sound preservation.
The ARSC technical committee has served the field for many years. There is currently a very important project in process under the direction of Bill Klinger to produce the ultimate archival storage container for cylinders at a cost effective price. Chris looks forward to working with the knowledgeable and respected members of the ARSC technical committee.
top
of the page
June, 2007 - AVPS sponsors the 2007 Joint Technical Symposium (JTS)
AVPS shows continued commitment to advancing audiovisual preservation standards and methods by taking on a sponsorship role for the 2007 Joint Technical Symposium.
The JTS is a very important symposium to the field of audiovisual preservation. The symposium provides an international stage for the community to assess the technical progress of the field, and presents current projects for peer review and discussion.
AVPS views this symposium as having a definitive stake in the evolution of moving image and sound archives. It contributes to the vibrancy of the preservation community of forward thinking and well-informed committed professionals.
We are pleased to support the sustained efforts of all the attendees in continuing to make this symposium the success that it is.
For more information on JTS 2007 click the link below:
http://www.jts2007.org/program.htm
top
of the page
May, 2007 - AVPS coordinates the most Comprehensive Assessment and Prioritization Session to Date for the 2007 Joint Technical Symposium (JTS)
AVPS has organized an international seven participant session for JTS 2007 on the topics of collection assessment and prioritization that is groundbreaking in both its comprehensiveness and scale.
The session is a survey and review of the most significant recent moving image and sound collection assessment and prioritization projects. This is the first session within any conference that has covered these important topics with such depth and with such broad representation.
As a community long operating without adequate tools, this session is needed more than ever. With a great focus on digital reformatting for preservation, tools for the appropriate and efficient selection of collection items for this purpose are increasingly necessary for institutional archives. All of the speakers in this session understand that need and are helping to increase those capabilities. The speakers and subjects include:
Chris Lacinak: AVPS - Introducing the topic of assessment and prioritization for moving image and sound objects.
Léon-Bavi Vilmont: Presto Space/CRCDG - Media Condition Assessment Work Package
Jean-Louis Bigourdan: IPI/NEH - Magnetic Media Study
Tanisha Jones: NYU/Mellon - Magnetic Media Assessment Project
Mike Casey: Indiana University/Sound Directions - The Field Audio Collection Evaluation Tool
Janet Gertz: Columbia University/Mellon - Special Collections Materials Survey Instrument
Dietrich Schueller: Phonogrammarchiv/IASA - The Task Force on Selection for Digital Transfer Report
For more information on the session and full program please click below. We hope to see all of you there!
http://www.jts2007.org/program.htm
top
of the page
April, 2007 - AVPS to Coordinate a Session on Audiovisual Asset Assessment at the 2007 AMIA Annual Conference
AudioVisual Preservation Solutions is coordinating a session for the AMIA Annual Conference which will take place during November2007 in Rochester, New York. The session is based on the premise that assessing audiovisual signals stored on magnetic media has proven to be an evasive task. This session aims to provide information and direction that will inform good collection management and preservation planning.
The speakers and subjects are:
Chris Lacinak: AVPS - Assessing dynamic audiovisual objects; Related research and development projects.
Jean-Louis Bigourdan: Image Permanence Institute (IPI) - Report on the IPI Magnetic Media Study.
Ian Gilmour: Media Matters - Discussion of emerging assessment methods and technologies.
The lack of tools and the need for relevant training has left the moving image and sound archivist in a quandary over how to accurately perform this activity. Assessment efforts have typically combined visual inspection of the media with informal experiential and speculative data. These are imprecise approaches that disregard the whole of the system responsible for producing the signal. They are not accurate or effective enough to inform solid preservation strategies or large expenditures.
For more information on the session and full program please click below. We hope to see all of you there!http://www.amiaconference.com/2007/forms/Program.Download.01.pdf
top
of the page
January, 2007 - AVPS asked to speak at the National Archives Preservation Conference
Every year the National Archives (NARA) puts together an impressive collection of topics and speakers to make up their Preservation Conference. This year will bring the 21st Annual Preservation Conference, titled “Managing the Intangible: Creating, Storing and Retrieving Digital Surrogates of Historical Materials.”
Chris Lacinak of AVPS accepted the invitation to contribute to this conference by speaking about Quality Control and Digitization involving dynamic audiovisual objects - two topics that AVPS has gained extensive recognition for. The presentation on Quality Control will be on day one of the conference, and the Digitization presentation will be on day two.
Chris finds himself in good company with an illustrious array of speakers lined up to discuss a fascinating and relevant group of topics.
For more information on the conference and to see the program and presentations please visit the National Archives Conference website below.
http://www.archives.gov/preservation/conferences/2007/
top
of the page
December, 2006 - AVPS recognized in the Image Permanence Institute's Magnetic Media Study Report funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
AVPS was honored to collaborate with the stellar team at the Image Permanence Institute (IPI) on their Magnetic Media Study. This study aims to find correlative and causal relationships between detectable degradation mechanisms and quality of reproduction. In finding such relationships, tools can be created similar to the IPI Acid Detection Strip, which will detect a known indicator of failure.
AVPS was proud to be asked to share our experience and knowledge on the matter of assessment and we are thankful to the Image Permanence Institute for the opportunity to work together. You can view the special thanks to AVPS, and more importantly the full report from the study in the coming months.
For more on IPI contributions to Magnetic Media Preservation, you can visit their website below.
http://www.imagepermanenceinstitute.org/shtml_sub/pr_magnetic.asp
top
of the page
December, 2006 - AVPS represents AMIA and AES at National Recording Preservation Board Hearing
Chris Lacinak of AudioVisual Preservation Solutions (AVPS) was honored and privileged to receive a request from the Association of Moving Image Archivist (AMIA) Executive Director , Keith LaQua and President, Janice Simpson to represent the AMIA community at the New York Hearing of the National Recording Preservation Board (NRPB) held on December 19th , 2006. The hearing was attended by a broad range of experts filled with passion on the topic of the preservation of recorded sound.
As a co-chair of the Audio Engineering Society (AES) Technical Committee on Archiving, Restoration and Digital Libraries, Chris also represented the AES community at the hearing.
The National Recording Preservation Board (NRPB) was formed through a mandate of the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000. The Librarian of Congress, in consultation with the National Recording Preservation Board, is conducting a study on the current state of recorded sound preservation and restoration in the United States. The NRPB's activities in this area will be compiled into a report for the Librarian of Congress to raise awareness and inform policy affecting our cultural heritage.
More information can be found at the website below.
http://www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/nrpb-clir.html
top
of the page
November, 2006 - AVPS contributes to the Newly Launched Electronic Arts Intermix (EAI) Online Preservation Resource
When AVPS was asked to contribute to the EAI online preservation resource by bringing clarity to the client/preservation vendor relationship, we gladly accepted. The client/vendor relationship and matching of audiovisual preservation goals with institutional capability is the primary activity of AVPS. Given the present state of audiovisual preservation standards and best practices, this is a topic worthy of a lot of conversation and in need of much clarification.
We were happy to have the opportunity to lend a helping hand in navigating this difficult path. You can download the resource created by AVPS in the resources section of our website.
You will also find the EAI online preservation resource below.
http://resourceguide.eai.org/
top
of the page
August, 2006 - AVPS Invited to Sit on the Advisory Board for the Recently Launched NYU Preservation Department Assessment Project, Funded by the Mellon Foundation
AVPS was asked to join the advisory board for the project due to our experience with assessing dynamic objects (audiovisual media and content) and for our perspective on the landscape of current assessment projects and technologies.
The project titled "Developing Principles and Methodologies for Moving Image and Audio Preservation in Research Libraries" will conduct research to develop new surveying methodologies for video and audio collections.
Results will ultimately aid in the development of best practices for assessment and preservation planning. We are proud to serve on the advisory board and look forward to working with the excellent team assembled to take on the project.
top
of the page
