In 2015, the Institute of Museum and Library Services awarded a generous grant to WGBH on behalf of the American Archive of Public Broadcasting (AAPB) to develop the AAPB National Digital Stewardship Residency (NDSR). Through this project, we have placed seven graduates of master’s degree programs in digital stewardship residencies at public media organizations around the country.This post was written by resident Eddy Colloton, who has just concluded his residency project with the completion of a digital preservation plan for Louisiana Public Broadcasting, his host institution:
I have completed my NDSR AAPB residency at Louisiana Public Broadcasting (LPB)! While most of my cohort will continue chugging along for another few months, I sadly have to finish up a bit early. But, I’m leaving for an exciting opportunity in the conservation department at the Denver Art Museum. I’m feeling good about the time I have spent here at LPB, and the work that we have accomplished. I may even chime in on the ol’ AAPB NDSR blog again down the line, once I’ve had time to lean into some post-residency navel gazing.
Please find my primary deliverable to LPB, the LPB Digital Preservation Plan, below. The objective of this document was to document the station’s current digital preservation procedures, and to make recommendations for improvement. The plan discusses the benefits of creating MediaInfo and MediaConch reports, as well as fixity checks, and how to apply those tools in a production environment. The plan also describes the benefits of using uncompressed and lossless codecs for the preservation of analog video, the methodology and strategy behind planning for LTO tape generation migrations, the importance of collecting production documentation in audiovisual archiving, and much more. While the policies and procedures described in the plan are specific to LPB, I think that there’s certainly information to be gleaned from the plan whether you are working in a public broadcasting archive or not.
I want to offer my thanks to everyone at LPB for being so welcoming to a stranger from the north, and for helping me with so many aspects of my project. I want to offer a special thanks to my host mentor, Leslie Bourgeois, who in spite of having a very difficult year due to the historic flooding that occurred Baton Rouge in August of 2016, has been supportive and encouraging of my work here at LPB. I would also be remiss if I didn’t thank Rebecca Fraimow, the NDSR program coordinator, for constantly being there for me and the rest of the cohort over the last 7 months. And of course a very special thanks to my NDSR cohort for letting me ask them questions, vent to them about my struggles, and allowing me to share a barrage of my dumb jokes. I wish you all the best. AAPB NDSR 4 lyfe!
Download the Louisiana Public Broadcasting Digital Preservation Plan
blog.americanarchive.org 