IASA-TC 05, edited by Dietrich Schüller and Albrecht Häfner, is so far the latest publication of the IASA Technical Committee in its series: Standards, Recommended Practices and Strategies,. Its forerunners, IASA-TC 03 and 04 explain that long-term preservation of audio documents can only be achieved by “eternal” digital content migration. However, carrier preservation has still its important place in audiovisual archiving, as by far not all audiovisual documents have as yet been transferred to digital repositories. Also, IASA-TC 03 strongly recommends that originals be kept for potential later use.
IASA-TC 05 explains, how handling and storage of audio and video carriers can be optimised to preserve original holdings until professional long-term preservation can be organised and financed.
The tutorial comes in two 90 minutes parts. The first on Monday 6th October covers the recording systems – mechanical, magnetic, and optical – and their most widely used carriers, their composition, and their chemical and physical stability (or vulnerability). The second session on Tuesday 7th will be devoted to recommendations for handling and storage across all carries. Specific emphasis will be on optimisation of storage under adverse climatic conditions and also under unfavourable financial conditions.