Preservation of Digital Audio

Authors

Annotated by Allie Penn (Music) and Laura Kennedy (Oral Histories)

Description of Project

This bibliography explores the ways in which audio files are curated and preserved. Specifically, the bibliography examines the how differences between curating oral history collections and collections of music audio files. As there are similarities within the two types of collections, the bibliography also investigates those overlapping topics, such as creating universal standards, digitization methods, and copyright issues. The processes undertaken by practitioners of both types of collections are reviewed, and the challenges of each collection type are highlighted. Ultimately, the bibliography shows that regardless of the differences between the two types of collections, both should be preserved using industry best practices.

Music

Brylawski, S. (N.d.). Preservation of digitally recorded sound. Council on Library and Information Resources. Retrieved from https://www.clir.org/pubs/reports/pub106/sound/

Brylawski focuses on the evolution of digitally recorded sound and the formats that held the recording(s). He looks at the different formats and how they have become digital, stating that basically all that is needed now is a computer compared to the various formats involved years ago. The changes of format each brought their own issues which require specialized attention. Brylawski continues to discuss how internet access has caused a myriad of copyright issues. As a solution, he suggests a thorough investigation of an institution’s holdings. Determining whether or not it is an oral history recording, whether the institution owns the recording versus a music recording created by a company, will allow your institution to have a greater ability to determine the copyright issues attached. Last, Brylawski argues there needs to be a standardization when preserving audio. Not only with the metadata attached to the record, but also in the size and format of the audio recording file. It is crucial to not have the recording be too low in quality that it would be unusable.

Canazza, S. (2012). The digital curation of ethnic music audio archives: from preservation to restoration – preserving a multicultural society. International Journal of Digital Libraries, 12 (2), 121-135. DOI 10.1007/s00799-012-0088-x

Canazza’s paper focuses on “ethnic music,” looking at indigenous groups and how they preserve their culture through music. Many ethnic music collections include not only the recordings but documents important to the recordings, such as background information or music scores. Both records are often the only record left of a rich oral history shared through generations. Some of these records are forgotten in a larger public collection, while others might be hidden away in a private collection. Regardless, these collections often do not receive the attention they deserve. Canazza seeks to draw attention to them through his paper. Canazza additionally focuses on difficult preservation projects where the recordings are often poorly made and do not follow any standards. He discusses various solutions you can use, including the search of different types of authenticity, such as playback, to help preserve the recordings. Additionally, he discusses the at-risk formats and the best ways to combat deteriorating audio. Last, Canazza focuses on what he calls “author-intended authenticity” meaning what the author desired to be the sound. He questions what should be preserved when determining the preservation of music. Is it better to preserve the best recording possible, or the recording as the creator intended it to be? There is no answer to this question as the debate continues. Canazza concludes by noting the importance of preserving not only the digital recording, but all information available, i.e. the attached metadata and other documentation regarding the recording.

Fantozzi, C., Bressan, F., Pretto, N. & Canazza, S. (2017). Tape music archives: from preservation to access. International Journal of Digital Libraries, 18 (3), 233-249. DOI 10.1007/s00799-017-0208-8

This article looks at the short-term life span of various tape formats. Of the formats, magnetic tapes are the most demanding. Fantozzi and other authors provide numerous examples and scenarios to illustrate how a physical storage device can deteriorate, or other problems that could occur. Not only does this article look at formats and needs of recordings, but what should be the focus of digital preservation, such as specific file format, data storage format, etc. Further, the authors state that successful digital audio preservation should have standards and policies that are understandable and universal as a means to prevent any confusion from interfering with the preservation process. Standardized policies allow for institutions all over the world to follow the same guidelines and preserve their music files using the same methods. This allows those files to be easily transferable and readable by other institutions. It allows for greater sharing but also easier preservation. Another institution could easily preserve your record as well as their own because they follow the same standards. Further, the article addresses issues such as large amounts of data storage and metadata records in an effort to provide both the best possible preservation and the best possible access for this music. The metadata is crucial to the record as it gives you every detail you may need to know. When preserving a digital audio file you also need to preserve its attached metadata in order to have a complete record.

Haber, C. (2012). Optical scanning applied to recorded sound preservation and access [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from http://irene.cornell7.net/Harvard-April-2012-public.pdf

Haber focuses on the process of retrieving recordings off of various data storage formats. Haber looks at the aluminum discs and the different methods of retrieving sound from this specific format. Haber’s large point is that at times it can be tricky to match the original sound to the newly transferred digital recording. Building off Canazza’s author-intended sound, determining what to keep as the main sound of the digitization process is a complicated and often requires a judgment call from the curator.

Hart, M. (2001). Preserving our musical heritage: a musician’s outreach to audio engineers. Journal of the Audio Engineering Society, 49. Retrieved from http://www.aes.org/journal/suppmat/hart_2001_7.pdf

Hart focuses on the various formats that audio recordings can come in. He discusses both the history of audio recordings and the evolution of storage devices. Each format comes with its own preservation and digitization challenges that need to be addressed. Hart elaborates on what are the concerns of certain media formats. Hart discusses the importance of music preservation regardless of copyright. There is a lot of grey area as to whether or not institutions can make materials available online. Hart believes that rather than focus on access immediately, preservation should be the larger concern allowing for the copyright fight to continue while the music is already saved.

Lee, B. (2000). Issues surrounding the preservation of digital music documents. Archarvia, 50, Retrieved from https://archivaria.ca/index/archivaria/issue/view/427/showToc

Lee’s essay looks at the creation of the audio recording and its attached issues. As recordings became digital so did the music creation process. This created new challenges such as storage issues, but also issues when it came to various file formats. After issues in sharing and collaboration arose, there was a larger push for file uniformity which was then implemented. In addition to file format consistency, the preservation of metadata was also emphasized. Metadata contains all the necessary information and needed to be saved just as much as the recording. Further, Lee goes on to define his own ideas of authenticity and adequacy of records, and how important these characteristics are when it comes to preservation of the music.

Maple, A. and Henderson, T. (2000). Prelude to a digital music library at the Pennsylvania state university: networking audio for academic library users. Library Resources and Technical Services, 44, 190-195. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5860/lrts.44n4.190

Maple and Henderson focus on their efforts to combat digitization of music requests for faculty at the Penn State University Libraries. The authors are a part of the music library. They were put to the test of trying to find an easier solution for professors who seek to use music recordings as part of their courses. Originally, professors would check out the recordings from the library. However, as formats and the technology available in classrooms evolved, there was a request for greater digitization of music for professors allowing more freedom for the professors. However, large scale digitization would require extensive digital storage space that the library simply did not have the funding for. The solution was selective digitization of class materials. It would allow greater access for the professors and limit the amount of space that the library would need for the digital recordings.

McCarthy, F. (2008). Digital preservation – making the song remain the same. Records Management Journal, 18, 107-114. DOI 10.1108/09565690810882968

McCarthy focuses on the evolution of musical recordings. He explains how priority shifted from quality to portability and the impact that this has had on preservation efforts. He discusses the various preservation method possibilities, such as digitization or emulation. He looks at the large amounts of data storage that will be required for the various preservation methods. Further, with the advent of digital recording processes, how do we make sure the quality will remain the same? The article focuses on various methods to be used, dealing with large data, and the suggestion of better skilled professionals entering the field to work with audio. With greater amounts of information being digital, this will require greater skills when it comes to preservation. McCarthy argues between emulation and migration as the two potential solutions for music preservation. Both present a number of difficulties and would require a trained professional and additional resources. Ultimately, McCarthy suggests your institution determine what resources are available when choosing between the two processes.

McDonald, P. (2005). Oldies, music rights, and the digital age. Educause Review, (5) 10-11. Retrieved from https://er.educause.edu/articles/2005/1/oldies-music-rights-and-the-digital-age

McDonald focuses on the impact of copyright within the growing push for digitization within libraries and other institutions. As more and more institutions seek to put records online, they come in contact with copyright regulations that may be governing their digital record. The digitization of music as a preservation method is a popular one. The fact is that many formats are deteriorating either because of poor storage and treatment, or simply because they were not built to last. The music industry wishes to have their copyright interests protected, but seems to care less about the preservation of the music they created. McDonald suggests the music industry become more like the film industry who saw the importance of the preservation of their work. McDonald encourages the creation of a system for both preservationists and recording companies that protects the audio recording and its longevity, as well as respects the copyright of the recording owners. McDonald's essay discusses the confusing world of copyright, offering easy understandable information for institutions just getting started. Further, his suggestion of creating a large system to be used by both music corporate entities and cultural institutions deserves additional attention.

Savage, A. (2016). The national jukebox: exploring turn-of-the-century music. Music Educators Journal, 102, 11-12. https://doi.org/10.1177/0027432116648104

The National Jukebox Project is part of a large-scale effort by the Library of Congress to protect the United States’ music heritage. The project contains over 10,000 78-rpm disc sides issued by the Victor Talking Machine. The collection contains thousands of other musical recordings. The article discusses the various digital recording methods that were used in the past and the methods that are used at present. The article looks at digitization and preservation of various formats, but also the requirements of a project this large. The project is large scale and requires the discussion of numerous processes before an efficient one can be selected to digitize this large and diverse collection.

Wright, R. (2004). Preservation of audio, video, and film. VINE: The Journal of Information and Knowledge Management Systems, 34, 71-76. DOI 10.1108/03055720410550869

Wright discusses the importance of digitization for both preservation and access. These efforts are creating large digital collections that require maintenance. The article looks at the pros and cons when it comes to on-demand digitization compared to large-scale factory digitization. A consistent problem between both methods is the deterioration of storage materials while waiting to be digitized. Unfortunately, when products were created they had a predetermined shelf life, even if they were preserved following the best policies. Wright discusses the shelf life of various storage formats and how to best combat the ever-growing amount of deterioration occurring. Wright’s conclusion is that ultimately the best preservation method will depend on the amount of resources your institution is capable and willing to devote to preservation.

Oral Histories

Boyd, D. (2013). OHMS: Enhancing access to oral history for free. Oral History Review, 40(1), 95-106. doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/ohr/oht031

Boyd discusses the specifics of using the Oral History Metadata Synchronizer to enhance the oral history collection at the Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History at the University of Kentucky. This article is useful because it discusses the steps taken to make a collection accessible using an open-source software platform. As access is an important function a repository must perform as part of preservation management, this article is helpful because it explains how using the OHMS system helps the user pinpoint the exact information they search for. To further his argument that the OHMS system is beneficial, Boyd describes the laborious process of curating oral history collections using an analog method. What he describes is a cumbersome and time-consuming process that would often result in the wrong data being recorded. The process of curating the collections digitally using OHMS is more efficient and less likely to produce incorrect data. The article is further useful in that it looks at the downfalls of using the Oral History Metadata Synchronizer tool as well as the advantages.

Bruemmer, B. H. (1991). Access to oral history: A national agenda. The American Archivist, 54(4), 494-501. doi: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40293601

This article was originally presented at the Society of American Archivists meeting in 1991. While some of the information contained within the article is obviously out of date, the premise is still important. This article is helpful in this research project because it illustrates where the field was in 1991 and act as an example, when compared with other articles from later dates, of how the field changed over time to become better at curating oral history collections. It will also help understand the initial steps that were suggested, such as more focus on curation and more active responses from archivists. The article also lays out the steps for a “National Agenda for Improved Access to Oral History,” including establishing a USMARC Format for Archival and Manuscripts Control (AMC). Bruemmer feels this can apply to oral histories because their descriptions coincide with most bibliographic databases. Bruemmer is recommending that curators move away from the printed guides normally used for cataloging oral histories and towards a digital model. Seeing what the initial steps towards better access and use of new technology is an important in understanding how digital curation of oral histories has evolved.

Cocciolo, A. (2015). Digitizing oral history: Can you hear the difference? OCLC Systems & Services: International digital library perspectives, 31(3), 125-133.doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/OCLC-03-2014-0019

The difference between audio formats is discussed in this article. In particular, the author questions whether listeners can discern a difference between oral histories digitized to archival standards and those that have been digitized to CD-quality. This article focuses mainly on the digitization process of oral histories, as well as issues regarding file size and storage issues. Cocciolo also mentions the costs involved in upgrading equipment to meet the preservation standards established in IASA-TC04: Guidelines on the Production and Preservation of Digital Audio Objects. As part of the preservation process the oral history files need to be transferred from analog to digital formats and the equipment required for that process can be out of reach for some institutions. Cocciolo also discusses how his subjects (college-age students) prefer sound recordings that have been subjected to compression (MP3 encoders, in particular) and, therefore, have lost some quality from the original recording. He uses this example to demonstrate why oral history files may not need to meet the strict preservation standards established by IASA.

Cohen, S. (2013). Shifting questions: New paradigms for oral history in a digital world. Oral History Review, 40(1), 154-167. doi:http://www.jstor.org/stable/40293601

With the landscape of oral histories changing from analog to digital, practitioners need to change the way they approach the subject. Specifically, the author discusses the importance of hearing oral histories as opposed to merely reading a transcript and how the process of hearing can convey more information than the written word. This article demonstrates how the issue of transcription is almost solely in the oral history realm and does not affect music audio files, meaning the curation of digital oral history files requires curators to deal with two types of files. Practitioners also encounter several burdens in providing access to digital oral histories, from preservation issues to deciding on whether to incorporate traditional metadata or to create a new metadata system that better describes oral history collections.

Grimsley, R. L., & Wynne, S. C. (2009). Creating access to oral histories in academic libraries. College & Undergraduate Libraries, 16(4), 278-299. doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/ohr/oht036

Access, use, and reuse represent sequential actions under the curation lifecycle model. Recognizing these important steps in preservation, the authors focus on the concept of access and how institutions have sometimes been neglectful of their oral history collections. This article uses academic libraries as its example, but the ideas could be transferred to other institutions. In discussing the issue of access, the authors outline a specific plan for digitizing oral history files and making both the audio files and transcripts available to patrons. While Grimsley and Wynne talk mostly about access, they also understand that it is an important part of the preservation process and quote the Oral History Association’s guideline in describing how curators of oral histories need to keep up with the changing technologies related to preservation and dissemination. They further point out that collaboration is important between curators and oral historians to ensure oral histories are preserved in a manner that makes them usable in the future, including catalogers using the right metadata to describe collections. This article explains how important access is to oral histories and the fact that if institutions do not make the oral histories available to patrons as part of the preservation process they will become obsolete and unreadable.

Lambert, D., & Frisch, M. (2013). Digital curation through information cartography: A commentary on oral history in the digital age from a content management point of view. Oral History Review, 40(1), 135-153. doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/ohr/oht035

This article covers the authors’ approach to creating a curation scheme using a content management approach. An issue they explore is that oral historians use equipment and software that was not created specifically for them, thus resulting in less than optimal results. In creating their model the authors were forced to deal with complex data and layers of metadata which resulted in the creation of their own “faceted classification” to meet their needs. They use these multidimensional controlled vocabularies to create various infomatic charts and maps to illustrate the decision making process of curating oral history collections. This article demonstrates one group’s approach to curating an oral history collection. It offers insight into different ideas of organizing a digital collection of oral histories. While the article focuses on a do-it-yourself approach, it also covers the importance of collaboration with IT departments to help achieve its goals.

Larson, M. (2013). Steering clear of the rocks: A look at the current state of oral history ethics in the digital age. Oral History Review, 40(1), 36-49. doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/ohr/oht028

One of the issues practitioners need to consider when providing access to digital oral history collections is ethics, including whether they have the legal right to share the file. This article focuses on issues such as obtaining consent and release forms and deeds of trust from those being interviewed to eliminate any question of ethics. While issues of ethics can differ greatly from copyright issues associated with music files, Larson looks at only one side of the discussion. Larson also examines how different oral histories are to music audio because they are generally produced by average people and now famous musicians. Since oral histories are not bound by copyright law, the lack of consent or release forms can call into question whether repositories have the right to give others access. Without a clear path to use and access, there is little reason to preserve the collection

MacKay, N., & Ebooks Corporation. (2016). Curating oral histories: From interview to archive (Second ed.). Walnut Creek, California: Left Coast Press, Inc. doi: https://www.routledge.com/Curating-Oral-Histories-Second-Edition-From-Interview-to-Archive-2nd/MacKay/p/book/9781611328561

This book discusses all of the steps necessary to fully create and curate oral history files. It provides much needed background information on the subject oral histories, but it also provides extremely useful information that has been recently updated. The book discusses techniques and challenges that occur in today’s technology-driven age. It also provides a number of resources including a cataloging template, resources, and various forms that might be needed by an institution curating an oral history collection. Two chapters in particular cover preservation and curation of oral history collections. In the chapter on preservation MacKay discusses how quickly technology has changed over the past ten years. She also discusses how preservation of oral histories has many facets, including strategies for preserving the storage media, the content, and the intended meaning within a context. MacKay also discusses curation as having two goals – curating for preservation and curating for the user. Curating for preservation obviously looks at the steps needed to develop a preservation plan for a collection. Curating for the user looks at how practitioners can make collections available to users over a period of time. By looking so closely at this subject, MacKay recognizes that a key factor of any preservation and curation plan is user accessibility.

Sheftel, A., & Zembrzycki, S. (2017). Slowing down to listen in the digital age: How new technology is changing oral history practice. Oral History Review, 44(1), 94. doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/ohr/ohx016

The authors address a number of issues in this article, including several relating to the changing technology and how that impacts oral history collections. Sheftel and Zembrzycki discuss how practitioners use new technology to process, analyze and database oral history recordings as part of the preservation process. Another issue they mention is the idea that an online oral history audio file could be easily manipulated and changed, thus changing the author’s original intent. This speaks directly to the notion that one aspect of preservation is to verify the original has not been altered. While the authors do not fully embrace the advances in technology can bring to oral history collections, they also recognize it is now an important component for collecting and preserving oral histories. They do, however, recommend slowness as well to ensure the preservation is done the right way.

Walker, I., & Halvey, M. (2017). On designing an oral history search system. Journal of Documentation, 73(6), 1281-1298. doi: http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/full/10.1108/JD-10-2016-0121

Walker and Halvey conducted a survey of several different institutions to determine what each would like to see in an oral history search system. The results are very interesting and illustrate possible components for such a search system. Like many others writing on the subject of oral history collections. Walker and Halvey acknowledge that access in a key component of preservation. They also touch on other familiar topics such as ethics and new technologies. The article also looks various aspects of an oral history project, such as transcription, automatic transcription, and standard practices, all of which are important when thinking about how to implement a preservation plan to incorporate each step of the process. The conclusions obtained from the survey are also very interesting as they show the concerns of actual practitioners.