Archive digitisation: Move it or lose it
Organisations with large audiovisual archives are facing the challenge or digitising their libraries, or risk missing out on business opportunities or even losing their collections forever. In this article, DAMsmart! Business manager Adam Hodgkinson analyses the challenges facing large audiovisual collections.
Digital television, smart phones, laptops, netbooks, web radio – there are now so many ways in which people access audiovisual material that in recent years the demand for content has grown exponentially. While those organisations that have large audiovisual collections containing videotape, film and audiotape, should be well placed to capitalise on the seemingly insatiable demand for content, many such organisation have been hamstrung by having large sections, if not the entirety, of their archives confined in ageing and deteriorating content carriers.
For the owners and managers of large collections, the questions of whether and how to convert their tape libraries into more accessible and maintainable digital formats have been plaguing them for many years. While not wanting to miss the opportunities that the recent digital explosion could afford them, taking the step to digitise large collections has been fraught with questions of economic and logistic viability, format choice, security and on-going digital management.
Along with the clear incentives that digitisation offers media owners and managers, there are substantial risks to carriers that undermine the safety of tape collections. For non-digital media, the coming years represent a make or break time, due mainly to the combination of the physical degradation of carriers and the rapid decline in the availability of many previously standard media players. Audiovisual media is fragile and all tape will ultimately perish. UNESCO recently reported that an estimated 200 million hours of audiovisual media is at risk of loss due to degradation of the carriers. Audiovisual formats require particular climate controlled environments for storage to optimise the life of the carrier, however, this is costly and ultimately tapes will still require migration to a new carrier or format to avoid content loss. Working out which of the carriers are most at risk and prioritising accordingly can mitigate further loss when a digitisation project gets underway.
IDENTIFYING YOUR REASONS
Until recently, the lack of an economically and logistically viable means of achieving large-scale digitisation projects has been a frustration for many organisations and has restricted them from taking
the plunge. The emergence of new media migration technologies and specialist digitisation organisations has, for the first time, offered a feasible solution to digitise large amounts of video, film and audio.
Governments, both in Australia and abroad, have been among the first to seize this new opportunity to migrate their substantial collections. Once such example is the recent appointment by the Department of Parliamentary Services of DAMsmart, Australia’s pre-eminent specialist digitisation provider, to migrate more than 50,000 hours of video and is one of the largest outsourced digitisation projects in the world.
While a new era in superior migration technologies and specialist digitisation services is dawning, organisations that have yet to take the leap into the digitisation of their collections must navigate through some important considerations and choose their service provider wisely, in order to avoid any costly mistakes. Investing some time analysing the current scope and status of a collection, as well as its future potential, will greatly assist any collection manager to take the first step to successfully protect and emancipate their content for the future.
For any organisation that has a large audiovisual collection and is considering moving some or all of it to a digital format, one first key step is to clearly think through and delineate the reasons why digitisation is right for that particular collection. There may be many reasons why an organisation might embark on a digitisation project; these reasons can all be broadly grouped into three key drivers– access, commercialisation and preservation.
While these are not mutually exclusive, it is important for the organisation to understand and prioritise them. For example digitising to commercialise your collection will result in file
requirements widely different to a preservation objective. Defining the drivers of a digitisation project underpins successful and cost-effective management of the media and can assist in maximising the value of the audiovisual assets for an organisation.
A COMPLEX PROCESS
Identifying and engaging with the various stakeholders in sizeable digitisation projects is a task that needs to be addressed early on. Achieving internal collaboration between various stakeholders, including IT, preservation, marketing, research departments and management, is an important step in defining the scope and requirements of the project.
Estimating the cultural and/or commercial value of a collection is a critical, yet challenging, undertaking. Two principal hurdles are the ability to view or listen to the content and finding resources to undertake the task. If the content is on dated or obscure formats it is often difficult to assess what the carrier holds as the native playback device is not available. The second is finding someone with the knowledge and qualification to assess the value and in turn finding the time to perform the analysis. In the past, this has left people in a bit of a quandary, however digitising the content prior to assessment can often make the task more efficient as files can be viewed from the computer making it easier for people to assess and at a quicker rate than native players.
Establishing who owns the copyright to all of the content in a large collection can be a difficult task, however, this should be checked and confirmed before any digitisation is commenced. Working out who owns each part of the content, for how long and what specific rights are attributed to that ownership can in some cases be a tangled web.
Copyright affects organisations differently. While broadcasters and sporting bodies face copyright issues with regards to viewing and selling audiovisual material, educational institutions are often left with redundant video resources that they have purchased, as copyright restricts them from migrating the content into a digital format. This highlights the issues associated with copyright legislation that was perhaps not developed with these challenges in mind.
Metadata plays a key role in the digitisation process and includes both technical and non-technical information. An agreed metadata standard should be adopted prior to commencing digitisation in
order to achieve organisational consistency of the digital files. Technical metadata is a detailed record of the digitisation process and information about the origin of the content that can be used in the future. Non-technical or descriptive metadata is a written description of what is happening in the content and underpins the ability to search against specific criteria. The greater the detail in the metadata the more valuable the digital file. This is particularly important when audiovisual content is sold to stock footage libraries; the content needs to be found through large searchable databases.
Wanting to future-proof the technology of a large collection as much as possible should be a high priority of any organisation looking to migrate its library. Ensuring that the digitisation project is not detrimental to the organisation in the future, by locking it in to a transient format, is imperative.
Organisations should weigh the costs and benefits of proprietary versus non-proprietary digital file formats. While proprietary formats are generally more expensive, they may offer more unique or comprehensive functionality. However, this should be considered in light of the prospective longevity of the vendor and/or the technology required to play and use these formats. It may be wise to choose more general, non-proprietary format as they are less expensive and do not tie the organisation to a particular vendor or technology in perpetuity.
Another key consideration before leaping into a large digitisation project is the management plan for the new digital library; systems, software, storage and skilled staff are all important issues to think through. While the management of access can be achieved through a digital asset management (DAM) system or a media asset management (MAM) system, buying such a system may not be a financially viable option depending on the size of the organisation. DAM or MAM software-as-a-service (SaaS) can be an alternative solution to minimise up-front investments. This is where the digital management software is effectively rented from the digitisation service provider for a monthly or annual fee. Not all digitisation agencies can provide this, so it is worth checking with them before purchasing expensive software licenses. Another consideration is the storage requirements of a digital library. While digital storage is becoming ever cheaper, it should be recognised that digitising one hour of high definition video can generate up to 600 gigabyte of data. Some calculation needs to be undertaken to estimate the storage requirement for the newly digitised collection. The skills required to logistically manage physical and digital libraries are not necessarily the same; thought should be given to training requirements for existing staff and/or sourcing staff with the new skill requirements well before the
digital files are created.
Finally, organisations must weigh up whether to outsource the digitisation project or whether to undertake it using internal resources. Many reasons will influence the decision, such as the skills that exist in-house and the sensitivity of the material being digitised. Of course, even within an appropriately skilled organisation, the financial implications and impact on internal resources may mean that
outsourcing is still the most viable option. If the digitisation is to be outsourced, the organisation must plan for how its collection will be accessed if needed during the digitisation process. While, if the project is to be undertaken in-house, planning for the availability of specialists with the requisite skills for the various
stages is key.
A POSITIVE BALANCE
While the cost of migrating a large library may seem daunting, there can be some positive gains when a cost-benefit analysis is undertaken.
Over and above any financial gains associated with selling the newly accessible digital footage are a number of likely savings brought about by the relative efficiencies of a digital library. Organisations with large collections can expect significant cost savings on storage, as the storage requirements of physical media are far greater than new digital storage. There should also be both internal and external access efficiencies that will create with digitised media, which should greatly reduce staff time and other associated resources. Additionally, the imminent rollout of the national broadband network (NBN) will also provide greater community access to digital audiovisual material – further increasing demand for content.
In light of the significant risks to media and the benefits of digitising audiovisual material, it is really only a matter of time before organisations need to take the step to digitise their assets. Difficulties in
navigating the sometimes tricky issues of planning and achieving sizeable digitisation project can be greatly aided when working in partnership with a professional specialist digitisation agency. Finding an agency that ticks all the boxes is the key!
WHAT TO LOOK FOR IN A PROVIDER
A digitisation project of any size requires specialist skill and specialist technology. The following criteria will help you assess your potential provider:
- Large and scalable capacity
The agency should have scalable infrastructure that is designed to manage large volumes of media with multiple migration streams running simultaneously. They should be able to manage a multitude of formats and carriers, as well as logistically manage large volumes of physical carriers in a secure and managed climate. Efficient technical workflows should be demonstrable, which take advantage of both automated and semi-automated tape handling for video.
- Highly-skilled professional team
A digitising agency should offer wide-ranging specialist knowledge and capabilities – this should not be considered an ‘add-on’ service. Specialists should have in-depth knowledge of both carriers and digital file management. They should, for example, be able to source obscure playback machines for unusual formats, have the skills to optimise the media through cleaning and preservation techniques, and have the technical knowledge to be able to talk to and understand the specific technical requirements of the organisation aiding/consulting the organisation on the best management processes for the digital archive into the future.
- Offer longevity of digital outputs
The type of file formats that are output need to match the ongoing requirements of the organisation, so being aware of the proprietary or non-proprietary status of the digital output files is highly recommended in order to avoid being unwittingly tied to particular vendors or technologies. This is a particularly important issue for public preservation agencies.
- Project Management
Digitising agencies should be able to articulate and demonstrate the level of project management they offer their clients. Proper scoping and planning ensure that the digitising process will achieve all objectives of the client in a timely and efficient manner. Agencies must have strong quality control and reporting mechanisms. These are tangible ways to demonstrate to the client that the specified processes are adhered to. It is also ideal if the agency offers access to support people 24/7 throughout the process. Providing clients with supporting documentation that outlines the responsibilities and outputs of both parties ensures transparency of the process and accountability of the agency.
- Experience
A clearly demonstrated track record will highlight the successful history of a digitisation agency. Case studies and recommendations from previous projects will validate the capabilities of the agency to manage large digitisation projects.
Adam Hodgkinson is the business manager of digitisation/preservation specialists DAMsmart!; he can be contacted at adam@damsmart.com.au or (02) 9907 1896
