Master the art of archiving – and muscle your data into place for order, access and ease – with digital archivist and preservation consultant David Rice. “Media Management in a Digital Universe” is an afternoon designed to help you master the art of archiving and muscle your data into place for order, access and ease. Dave Rice consults on a wide range of preservation topics while focusing on open source applications, digital formats, asset and metadata. There are four broad areas he will be covering in his workshop: Cataloging and Metadata; Don’t Be Scammed by DAMS; The Archivist’s Guide to Video Digitization; The Archivist’s Guide to Audio Digitization.

Cataloging & Metadata

Tired of ambiguous buzzwords?  Lost in a maze of machine-readable machinations? Disambiguate the out-of-control vocabulary of cataloging and metadata for audiovisual materials.  There are many cataloging options out there.  Learn what you need to consider for choosing the best path for you and your collection.  Topics include: What kind of software is right for me?  What kind of schema is right for me?  How much metadata is enough?  What is metadata?  How can I capitalize on my metadata to help manage my collection?  Cataloging is an art, not a law.  Don’t let it define you!

Don’t Be Scammed by DAMS

Archives (perhaps even yours!) are full of examples where the promises of new technology fell short of their realities.  As we move further into the age of digital preservation, Digital Asset Management Systems hold great promise and importance, but not always great follow through.  DAMS are large investments and are generally developed for production – not archives – or for documents and still images – not audio and moving images.  Learn how to research DAMS – what to look for, what questions to ask, how to develop functional requirements before talking to software vendors – that will help you make the right decision.

The Archivist’s Guide to Video Digitization

The realities of reformatting and migration require that archivists now at least understand how video digitization works and how to talk about it, if not how to do it themselves.  From equipment to processes to the alphanumeric soup of standards, there is a whole new mindset and language to learn.  Whether you’re sending your video to vendors or building a digitization station of your own, the better you understand digitization the better your preservation needs will be met.  Learn how to select equipment, digitization workflows, quality assurance, recommended outputs, asset management, preservation standards, and everything else you need to .mov your collection into the future.

The Archivist’s Guide to Audio Digitization

The realities of reformatting and migration require that archivists now at least understand how audio digitization works and how to talk about it, if not how to do it themselves.  From equipment to processes to the alphanumeric soup of standards, there is a whole new mindset and language to learn.  Whether you’re sending your audio to vendors or building a digitization station of your own, the better you understand digitization the better your preservation needs will be met.  Learn how to select equipment, digitization workflows, quality assurance, recommended outputs, asset management, preservation standards, and everything else you need to .wav goodbye to confusion.

“Digital formats and materials are inherently fragile and any strategy that can help you access and preserve them for future use is essential.  Media management is a basic necessity for anyone working in a digital environment,” says Jeanne M. Keefe, who took last season’s digital archiving workshop.  Keefe is Media & Digital Assets Librarian for the Architecture Library at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

Date of workshop changed from March 7th to March 14, 2010.

We are committed to lowering the barriers to access for events at The Sanctuary for Independent Media. For people who are hard of hearing or deaf, blind or low-vision, or whose physical limitations can interfere with a satisfying experience, let us know two weeks in advance so we can make appropriate arrangements.