IASA-BAAC 2026 Conference

Name: Digitize and Discard: Preserving Audiovisual Memory Beyond the Carrier
Start: 2026-10-21T13:00:00+0300
End: 2026-10-21T14:00:00+0300

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Digitize and Discard: Preserving Audiovisual Memory Beyond the Carrier

Wednesday October 21, 2026 1:00pm - 2:00pm EEST

Atrium 5th floor: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

Archives and libraries face growing preservation challenges from aging audiovisual collections due to carrier degradation and playback equipment obsolescence. As the media becomes more difficult to access its archival value decreases, leading to questions about its ongoing storage. One proposed solution has been to digitize and discard the original media, preserving the recordings as digital masters with derivative files for public access. The suggestion to reformat audiovisual materials raises questions for cultural heritage professionals, and each stakeholder group may have its own concerns. Yet as media capture and digital preservation technology improve, to maintain our program’s sustainability we have begun exploring how this audio and video migration might proceed at scale.

The comprehensive processing of AV media through appraisal, digitization, imaging, re-appraisal, authority-controlled metadata capture, and multi-layered curatorial and archivist review can preserve the informational and contextual integrity of audiovisual records even after physical carriers are discarded.

In this way, the archive retains the intellectual and historical identity of the recordings while clearing space and resources for the acquisition and preservation of material reflecting contemporary events and voices.

In a global context shaped by conflict, displacement, and climate instability, this approach offers a practical model for safeguarding audiovisual memory—not by preserving every object indefinitely, but by ensuring that memory, meaning, and authenticity endure beyond the carrier.

Speakers

Michael Gates

Audiovisual Digitization Lab Manager, Brigham Young University

Michael Gates is the Audiovisual lab manager at the BYU Library in Provo, Utah. He is responsible for the digitization of legacy audio and video media in the library. While at BYU he spent 2 years as a Digital Preservation Specialist for the Library validating, ingesting and monitoring... Read More →

Wednesday October 21, 2026 1:00pm - 2:00pm EEST
Atrium 5th floor: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania

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IASA-BAAC 2026 Conference

Michael Gates

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Michael Gates

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