Digital Commons Network^™

Finding Av Needles In Manuscript Haystacks: Conducting An Audiovisual Assessment/Audit In Manuscript Archives, Benjamin Harry

Journal of Western Archives

Many twentieth-century audiovisual formats are becoming obsolete or are physically degrading, warranting the need to digitally reformat this content. The first step is to expeditiously document where and what types of audiovisual materials are hidden within archival manuscript collections. This article describes the efforts of the L. Tom Perry Special Collections (LTPSC) at Brigham Young University to quickly audit manuscript collections to determine the location and format details of audiovisual materials, a crucial first step to inform decisions about personnel requirements, equipment purchases, and grant seeking to facilitate the systematic digitization of audiovisual content.