The MDPI is Indiana University’s response to the crisis of media degradation and format obsolescence that threatens its significant collections of sound and audio-visual recordings. Based on the number of recordings digitized to date – over 50,000 pieces of media digitized out of a projected 300,000 in the first phase digital preservation – it would appear that the partnership between IU and Sony/Memnon Archiving Services is meeting that challenge.
To the extent that the MDPI was instituted to preserve recordings in decaying media formats that are obsolete and in danger of becoming completely inaccessible, the MDPI has clearly created a successful model for digital preservation. But has the MPDI also conquered obsolescence? “The answer is no,” according to Laurie Antolovic, the MDPI’s Executive Director. “We are in much better shape,” she happily reports with a sense of accomplishment and relief. “However,” she quickly adds, “the digital files will still need to be preserved, stored, and transferred to other types of media to keep them current.” In other words, the MDPI has changed the rules of the game of preservation, with clear advantages over analog formats, but the work of preservation will be ongoing.
The advantages of what the MDPI is accomplishing are clear: digitized media from analog formats are easier to replicate and store in multiple places for preservation and safety, with the capability to quickly generate different kinds of copies – from masters to lower resolution formats – for easier access in multiple venues not tied to the physical copy. But challenges still remain. The MDPI is generating huge amounts of data on a daily basis. Antolovic points to the logistical issue by asking, “Once you generate the bits, where do they go?” The MDPI will have to address both the physical media for those files, as well as their formats.
The development of file formats is still evolving. The industry is arriving at standard file formats, but there are many and it depends on what industry you are talking about. In the case of digital video for preservation purposes, for example, the archival community has yet to arrive at a consensus. The MDPI is using FFV1 for long-term preservation of moving images. FFV1 was first released in 2003 and is currently in its third version (FFV1.3). It has become a preferred video compression format for archival collections like IU’s that have a lot of institutional archival recordings, including oral histories, as well as ethnographic recordings.
The storage needs of the MDPI are being met by the massive file storage system of the IU Data Center. This significant resource, along with IU’s high speed networks, make the IU Technology Park a compelling place for digitization.
Indeed, the workflows and expertise for digital preservation being developed at the MPDI Innovation Center, combined with IU’s technology infrastructure, are starting to attract the attention of several other universities, archives, libraries, and commercial entities, such as recording and broadcast media companies, who have large collections of old, at-risk analog recordings.
There are very few digitization facilities in the world on the scale found at the MDPI Innovation Center. Groups from the Mellon Foundation, the University of North Carolina, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, and the Finnish Broadcasting Corporation have visited the MPDI or will be coming to Bloomington soon. The MPDI has received inquiries from Harvard, the New York Public Library, and a commercial broadcaster in Asia to learn more about Memnon’s services.
In order to meet this potential demand, Laurie Antolovic has renegotiated the contract between the IU and Sony/Memnon, with the goal of enabling Memnon to accept work from other institutions and organizations, in order to build a base for a media digitization industry at the IU Technology Park.
While the economic potential of the MDPI has been recognized by the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, the State of Indiana’s economic development agency, fostering the commercial potential of the MPDI will also enhance its educational benefits. As Antolovic reports, “Memnon is already providing training for IU students.” Undergraduate and graduate students from the Department of Information and Library Science are actively involved in the pre-digitization phases of the project. After they have cataloged and prepared materials, recording engineering graduates from the Jacobs School are employed by Memnon to work on digitization.
In five years, Antolovic envisions the MPDI as a center for research in mass digitization and preservation technology. Included in this plan are educational programs that would credential students who want technical training and practical experience for careers in recording and film preservation, with scholarships funded by Memnon.
Meeting the challenges of preserving IU’s past and its historic collections is proving to be a means for building future resources, facilities, and programs at the MDPI Innovation Center and the IU Technology Park.