1 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS in collaboration with LAWRENCE BERKELEY NATIONAL LABORATORY + + + + + AUDIO MEDIA PRESERVATION THROUGH IMAGING CONFERENCE + + + + + THURSDAY JULY 16, 2015 + + + + + The Conference met in the Mumford Room, Library of Congress, 101 Independence Avenue, S.E., Washington, D.C., at 9:30 a.m. ORGANIZING COMMITTEE PETER ALYEA, Library of Congress EUGENE DEANNA, Library of Congress CARL HABER, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory ADRIJA HENLEY, Library of Congress STEPHEN LEGGETT, Library of Congress SPEAKERS MARK SWEENEY, Associate Librarian, Library Services OTTAR JOHNSEN, Haute ecole d'ingenieurs et d'architectes de Fribourg STEFANO SERGIO CAVAGLIERI, Swiss National Sound Archives JOHN MCBRIDE, University of Southampton STIG L. MOLNERYD, National Library of Sweden JOSHUA STERNFELD, The National Endowment for the Humanities NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 2 JESSE JOHNSTON, The National Endowment for the Humanities BILL VEILLETTE, Northeast Document Conservation Center MASON VANDER LUGT, Northeast Document Conservation Center JAMES NYE, University of Chicago Library SUNDAR GANESAN, Roja Muthiah Research Library SURESH BABU GOVINDARAJU CHANDRAN, Roja Muthiah Research Library CARLENE STEPHENS, National Museum of American History SHARI STOUT, National Museum of American History FENELLA FRANCE, Library of Congress BILL KLINGER, Klinger Engineering Services NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 3 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page Welcome and Introduction by Peter Alyea ........................... 5 Introduction to the Conference by Eugene DeAnna ........................ 10 Overview of Minimally Invasive and Automated Approaches to Recorded Sound Preservation and Access by Carl Haber ........................... 22 VisualAudio: The Design, Issues, and Characteristics by Ottar Johnsen ........................ 58 Practical VisualAudio by Stefano Cavaglieri ................... 79 Discussions and Questions .................... 97 The Non-Contact Surface Scanning Recordings for the Preservation of Audio Content by John McBride ........................ 112 Making Optical Transmissions from Records Faster than Real Time at Possible Sound Quality by Stig Molneryd ....................... 136 IRENE: High Resolution Direct Imaging and Analysis of Data from Mechanical Sound Carriers by Carl Haber .......................... 150 Discussions and Questions ................... 180 NEH and Audiovisual Preservation and Access by Joshua Sternfeld and Jesse Johnston . 211 IRENE: From Laboratory to Marketplace by Bill Veillette ...................... 237 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 4 Imaging as Assessment by Mason Vander Lugt ................... 247 Discussions and Questions ................... 271 NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 5 1 P-R-O-C-E-E-D-I-N-G-S 2 (9:41 a.m.) 3 MR. ALYEA: So, welcome. This is the 4 first meeting of this particular group of people. 5 This is a very new technology. We're really excited 6 that all of you have been able to come and we hope 7 that we continue this dialog even past this 8 conference. So we have some opening remarks from 9 Mark Sweeney. 10 MR. SWEENEY: Thank you, Peter, and good 11 morning to all. I'm Mark Sweeney, the Associate 12 Librarian for Library Services, and on behalf of 13 the Librarian of Congress, Dr. James Billington, 14 it's my pleasure to welcome you today to the Library 15 and to this three-day conference on Audio Media 16 Preservation Through Imaging Technology. 17 As Peter says, this is just an excellent 18 opportunity for us to share our knowledge and 19 experience and sort of chart a path for the future. 20 And we're having wonderful weather today here in 21 Washington and for those that had an opportunity 22 to go out to Culpeper, I think you saw something NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 6 1 really special yesterday. 2 So audio recording has existed for over 3 150 years. The development from an phonautograph, 4 to tin foil, to the myriad of today's, you know, 5 modern high-fidelity digital recordings, you know, 6 it's all amazing and astounding. 7 And over a comparatively short period 8 of time, about 15 years, many of those in attendance 9 here have developed, introduced, refined, the 10 imaging technology to capture audio from physical 11 audio carriers for the purpose of preserving 12 information from these valuable artifacts. 13 The collaboration that has surrounded 14 the development of these specialized imaging tools 15 has been open and a collegial one, and there have 16 been substantial contributions from the Lawrence 17 Berkeley National Laboratory, the University of 18 Applied Science in Fribourg, Switzerland, the 19 University of California, Berkeley, Northeast 20 Document Conservation Center, First Sounds, the 21 National Museum of American History, the Thomas 22 Edison National Historical Site, Roja Muthiah NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 7 1 Research Library in Chennai, India, the University 2 of Chicago, and of course as well, the Library of 3 Congress here today. 4 The research has received major funding 5 from a number of sources, the Institute for Museum 6 and Library Services, the National Endowment for 7 the Humanities, the Library of Congress, as well 8 as support from the University of California, the 9 Department of Energy, the Smithsonian Institution, 10 the Schenectady Museum of Innovation and Science, 11 the National Archives and Records Administration, 12 Harvard University, the Council on Library and 13 Information Resources, the Mellon Foundation, 14 Guggenheim Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, 15 so we have many supporters that have been helping 16 us along the way. 17 As is true with any technological 18 development, there are successes and challenges. 19 Utilization imaging technology on audio media has 20 already given us access to recordings that were 21 broken into pieces and too fragile of a state to 22 be touched physically, and in early experimental NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 8 1 formats for which, you know, we have no playback 2 equipment. 3 So only a relatively short time ago, 4 these recordings were considered lost to history, 5 but now they're accessible again. But there are 6 also issues that have yet to be solved. I would put 7 high on this list, maturation of this technology 8 to meet our specific needs at scale. 9 This gathering of collection holders 10 and instrument builders can help define the 11 priorities for new tools to meet our needs. By 12 balancing the most pressing needs of collections 13 with the capabilities of the technology today, while 14 also planning for the future, those gathered here 15 can help shape the development and the roadmap for 16 these imaging media systems of tomorrow. 17 There are so many sound recordings in 18 need of preservation, setting the proper priorities 19 for development is the first imperative. We 20 believe this technology has diverse uses as a 21 non-invasive format migration tool for media in a 22 wide range of physical conditions. It also serves NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 9 1 as an assessment and measurement tool to set 2 standards for media playback. These are core 3 requirements for preservation. 4 A future roadmap will allow others in 5 the field to consider how this technology fits into 6 their preservation strategies and to plan 7 accordingly. As the technology gains capabilities 8 and preservation specialists accumulate real-world 9 experience with these tools, the position and 10 acceptance of the technology will broaden; should 11 broaden. 12 By working cooperatively, this group of 13 mavericks has made considerable progress over the 14 relatively short period of time, maturing the 15 application of new technology for a very specific 16 purpose. As future challenges are met and 17 solutions are proposed, the collegial nature of this 18 group should see it through the most difficult 19 future issues. 20 Since preservation serves not only 21 living scholars and patrons, but also future 22 generations, the generosity of this group shows that NEAL R. GROSS COURT REPORTERS AND TRANSCRIBERS 1323 RHODE ISLAND AVE., N.W. (202) 234-4433 WASHINGTON, D.C. 20005-3701 www.nealrgross.com 10 1 its deep knowledge to solve long-standing problems 2 inherent with this valuable historical record is 3 recognized, so I thank you for your dedication. 4 I'd like to conclude by also thanking 5 the members of our conference organizing team. 6 That would be Peter Alyea, Gene DeAnna, Carl Haber, 7 Adrija Henley, Steven Leggett, and Angela Newburn. 8 Thank you for your hard work. Please enjoy the 9 conference and I look forward to sitting in and 10 learning more. Thank you. 11 MR. DEANNA: Good morning, everyone. 12 I'm Gene DeAnna. I'm head of the recorded sound 13 section here at the Library, and I want to welcome 14 all of you that I didn't welcome yesterday at the 15 tour of the Packard Campus. This is a great, 16 exciting meeting. It's wonderful to see you all 17 here today. 18 We had a really, I think, interesting 19 tour, we had great discussions yesterday, or 20 beginning discussions, at lunch, in the hallways 21 between our stops at the Packard Campus, and before 22 we get too far along, I want to make sure to invite NEAL R.