Welcome to the world of Media Preservation
Media Preservation at the University Library, along with the rest of Preservation Services, exists to provide long-term access to the physical and intellectual contents of the Library’s collections through conservation, preservation, and digitization. Sound recordings, motion picture film, and video tape formats are found throughout the holdings of the University Library and the University Archives. These valuable research materials are often at high risk of loss due to inherent instability of the recording media and obsolescence of the playback technologies.
The goal of the Media Preservation Program is to locate and assess the condition of these materials in order to prioritize them for preservation action. Once the priorities have been established, action can be taken to improve storage environments, clean and re-house original recordings, and digitize recordings for improved access and long-term protection of the originals.
Working together with collection curators throughout the Library, Media Preservation will develop policies to protect and prolong the useful lives of audiovisual items from the oldest technologies to the newest.