ARSC Guide to Audio Preservation
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ARSC Guide to Audio Preservation Sam Brylawski, Maya Lerman, Robin Pike, Kathlin Smith, editors from last round: National Recording Preservation Board OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ASSOCIATION FOR RECORDED SOUND COLLECTIONS Council on Library and Information Resources revised: National Recording Preservation Board OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS National Recording Registry OF THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS ISBN 978-1-932326-50-5 CLIR Publication No. 164 Copublished by: Association for Recorded Council on Library and The Library of Congress Sound Collections Information Resources 101 Independence Avenue, SE c/o Nathan Georgitis, Knight Library 1707 L Street NW, Suite 650 Washington, DC 20540 1299 University of Oregon Washington, DC 20036 Website at http://www.loc.gov Eugene, OR 97403 Website at http://www.clir.org Website at http://arsc-audio.org Commissioned for and sponsored by the National Recording Preservation Board of the Library of Congress. Publication inquiries should be directed to Kathlin Smith at the Council on Library and Information Resources (CLIR). Additional copies are available for $30 each. Orders may be placed through CLIR’s website at http://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub164. The paper in this publication meets the minimum requirements of the American National Standard 8 for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials ANSI Z39.48-1984. The ARSC Guide to Audio Preservation is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Photos with credits are excluded from license. Cover design: Kim Smith Library of Congress Control Number: 2015940108 iii CONTENTS Foreword . vi Message from ARSC ..............................................................viii Acknowledgments .................................................................x About this Guide ..................................................................xi CHAPTER 1: Preserving Audio, Curtis Peoples and Marsha Maguire ..................1 1.1 Recorded Sound at Risk...................................................2 1.2 Preservation Efforts to Date ...............................................4 1.3 The Role of Your Institution ...............................................8 1.4 Organization of the Guide ................................................9 1.5 Conclusion .............................................................12 References ..................................................................12 CHAPTER 2: Audio Formats: Characteristics and Deterioration, Harrison Behl....14 2.1 Cylinder Formats .......................................................15 2.2 Grooved Disc Formats ..................................................17 2.3 Magnetic Formats ......................................................22 2.4 Optical Disc Formats....................................................28 2.5 Unusual Formats .......................................................31 2.6 Digital Audio File Formats...............................................32 2.7 Conclusion .............................................................34 References ..................................................................35 CHAPTER 3: Appraisals and Priorities, Maya Lerman .............................37 3.1 Developing a Selection/Collection Development Policy..................38 3.2 Deciding Whether to Acquire a Collection ...............................39 3.3 Making the Preservation Reformatting Decision .........................42 3.4 Tools to Help Make Evaluations .........................................44 3.5 Other Considerations Affecting Preservation Priorities ...................45 3.6 Evaluation for Taxes ....................................................48 3.7 Conclusion .............................................................50 References ..................................................................50 CHAPTER 4: Care and Maintenance, Carla Arton .................................52 4.1 Handling ...............................................................52 4.2 Assessing Condition ....................................................54 4.3 Cleaning ...............................................................58 4.4 Housing................................................................62 4.5 Storage ................................................................65 iv 4.6 Arrangement...........................................................68 4.7 Climate Control . 69 4.8 Transportation . .70 4.9 Playback ...............................................................71 4.10 Conclusion .............................................................74 References ..................................................................75 CHAPTER 5: Description of Audio Recordings, Marsha Maguire ..................77 5.1 Metadata and Tools for Collection Management .........................79 5.2 Exposing Metadata for Public Discovery.................................86 5.3 Choosing Among Metadata Standards ..................................87 5.4 Library Metadata: Standards and Tools ..................................89 5.5 Archival Description: Standards and Tools ...............................94 5.6 Dublin Core Initiative Metadata: Standards and Tools ...................103 5.7 Conclusion ............................................................104 References . ................................................................105 CHAPTER 6: Preservation Reformatting, William Chase .........................110 6.1 Conversion to Digital Files .............................................111 6.2 Metadata for Reformatting.............................................112 6.3 Digitization: In-House and Vendor Outsourcing.........................119 6.4 Funding for Preservation Initiatives ....................................124 References .................................................................125 CHAPTER 7: What to Do After Digitization, Chris Lacinak........................127 7.1 Digital Preservation and Access: Process and Practice ...................128 7.2 Storage Infrastructure .................................................140 7.3 Conclusion ............................................................148 References .................................................................149 CHAPTER 8: Audio Preservation: The Legal Context, Brandon Butler ............152 8.1 Copyright . .152 8.2 Special Issues..........................................................160 8.3 Control and Responsibility for Downstream Use of Works ...............164 8.4 Donor Agreements ....................................................165 References .................................................................166 CHAPTER 9: Disaster Prevention, Preparedness, and Response, Kara Van Malssen . 168. 9.1 Disaster Prevention and Mitigation.....................................169 9.2 Disaster Planning......................................................174 9.3 First Response Steps...................................................178 9.4 Case Study . 183 9.5 Conclusion ............................................................192 References . ................................................................192 v APPENDIX A: Fair Use and Sound Recordings: Lessons from Community Practice, Brandon Butler and Peter Jaszi ................................................194 APPENDIX B: Glossary ..........................................................223 Contributors and Editors .......................................................231 Index ...........................................................................234 vi FOREWORD Today’s librarians, archivists, and collectors face a minefield of preservation chal- lenges, none more daunting than the goal of saving our richly diverse recorded sound heritage. Many factors contribute to the massive scope of the problem: lack of funding, constant change from new tools and evolving technology, and insuf- ficient training of custodians often more prepared for print material conservation. Most tellingly, our enjoyment of these recordings has regrettably far exceeded our commitment to preserve them. What all these dissimilar recordings together represent is an audio DNA of our cul- ture: how we experience entertainment; how our national mores have continually evolved; how creativity and passion expressed through the arts have helped push us to new heights and social progress; and, finally, how they have united us as a nation even with a population as diverse as the sounds that emanate from formats large and small. America’s cultural heritage has been expressed through many creative outlets, and the Library of Congress has active ongoing preservation programs in almost all of them, including recorded sound. The Library’s abiding interest in recordings starts with the nearly three million sound items found in its collections, given safe harbor for all time through the extensive conservation projects undertaken at its Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation, and made available to the American public via access initiatives such as the National Jukebox. These are supplemented at the Library by the cutting-edge research on audio materials done at our Preservation, Research and Testing Division, as well as the many grants and partnerships coor- dinated through the National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program. Through passage of the National Recording Preservation Act of 2000, Congress recognized the importance of preserving our nation’s