The twentieth century willed historians a whole new kind of legacy: audiovisual documents. From the last century onward, a substantial share of history will be “visible” for future historians not only through oral tradition, written texts or illustrations, but as an audiovisual record of major events and the everyday life of many of the world’s peoples.
The conservation and accessibility of this audiovisual legacy, custodied by broadcasting companies, film archives, libraries, museums and other institutions, has generated new technical, technological, cultural and organizational challenges that can only be met by professionals with specific expertise.
Most of the audiovisual output (video, films, television broadcasts and so on) produced during each medium’s infancy has been irreparably lost and, according to UNESCO, many of today’s audiovisual collections are at risk of vanishing in the next 20 years. The technical obsolescence and physical deterioration to which the media involved are subject require suitable policies and efficient services to ensure the long-term conservation of this valuable material.
But conservation is not an end unto itself. Material is conserved to be accessible to the public, historians and managers. The popularity of Internet as an information distribution medium, along with the development of new digitization technologies able to guarantee both longevity and the cost-effective use of AV collections have prompted many companies and institutions to address the issue of conserving their audiovisual legacy.
Automated or semi-automated management of these resources calls for training to acquire a command of audiovisual language, the ability to describe images for retrieval, extract metadata, restore documents, handle audiovisual copyrights and, naturally, implement the technologies and social and economic models applicable to these resources.
This Master’s degree aims to contribute to training staff able to successfully engage in the conservation and use of audiovisual archives.
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