Hello all, For anyone involved in preservation of audio materials, the report announced below (fresh off the digipres list) may be of interest. A quick glance at its text and appendices suggests that it will be a key resource with a usefully broad scope encompassing transfer practices, metadata, file formats, and a wide range of related factors. --Rob
> -------- Original Message -------- > Subject: [digipres] Sound Directions publication > Date: Wed, 5 Dec 2007 09:42:19 -0500 > From: Casey, Michael T <micasey@[...]> > To: digipres at ala.org <digipres at ala.org> > > > Dear Digipres List members, > > The Sound Directions project team is pleased to announce that the publication > of our findings is now available on the web. Below you will find the official > "press release" with details on access to the document. It is our sincerest > hope that you find the document useful and well worth the wait. > > Mike Casey > > ---------- > Mike Casey > Associate Director for Recording Services > Archives of Traditional Music > Indiana University > > (812)855-8090 > > Co-Chair, ARSC Technical Committee > > > The Sound Directions project at Harvard University and Indiana University > announces the publication of Sound Directions: Best Practices for Audio > Preservation, which is available as a PDF from the Sound Directions website > at www.dlib.indiana.edu/projects/sounddirections/. This 168-page publication > presents the results of two years of research and development funded by the > National Endowment for the Humanities in the United States. This work was > carried out by project and permanent staff at both institutions in > consultation with an advisory board of experts in audio engineering, audio > preservation, and digital libraries. > > Sound Directions: Best Practices for Audio Preservation establishes best > practices in many areas where they did not previously exist. This work also > explores the testing and use of existing and emerging standards. It includes > chapters on personnel and equipment for preservation transfer, digital files, > metadata, storage, preservation packages and interchange, and audio > preservation systems and workflows. Each chapter is divided into two major > parts: a preservation overview that summarizes key concepts for collection > managers and curators, followed by a section that presents recommended > technical practices for audio engineers, digital librarians, and other > technical staff. This latter section includes a detailed look at the inner > workings of the audio preservation systems at both Harvard and Indiana. > > This first phase of the Sound Directions project produced four key results: > the publication of our findings and best practices, the development of much > needed software tools for audio preservation, the creation or further > development of audio preservation systems at each institution, and the > preservation of a large number of critically endangered and highly valuable > recordings. All of these are detailed in this publication, which provides > solid grounding for institutions pursuing audio preservation either in-house > or in collaboration with an outside vendor. > > For further information on the Sound Directions project: soundir at > indiana.edu ______________________________________________ Rob Lancefield (rlancefield [at] wesleyan.edu) Manager of Museum Information Services / Registrar of Collections Davison Art Center, Wesleyan University 301 High Street, Middletown CT 06459-0487 USA 860.685.2965 Vice President / President-Elect, Museum Computer Network (MCN)
