Creating and Archiving Born Digital Video

The born digital video exploration is being led by the Library of Congress. The documents that comprise Creating and Archiving Born Digital Video provide practical technical information for both file creators and file archivists to help them make informed decisions when creating or archiving born digital video files and to understand the long term consequences of those decisions. The information is intended to serve memory institutions, especially in the U.S. federal sector. We also hope that this report will serve the broader cultural heritage community, who may produce and/or receive and ingest materials that range from high-end professional productions to more modest (but culturally important) grass-roots footage.

Eight case histories document aspects of the current state of practice in six federal agencies working with born digital video. These case histories not only document deliverables and specifications but also tell the story of each project, and provide background information about the institution and the collection, as well as lessons learned. As the case histories developed, a set of high level recommended practices emerged from the collective project experiences. These recommended practices are intended to support informed decision-making and guide file creators and archivists as they seek out processes, file characteristics, and other practices that will yield files with the greatest preservation potential. 

• Part 1. Introduction (PDF). December 2, 2014.
  • Explanatory document.
• Part 2. Eight Federal Case Histories (PDF).  December 2, 2014.
  • This report presents eight case histories documenting the current state of practice in six federal agencies working with born digital video.
• Part 3. High Level Recommended Practices (PDF).  December 2, 2014.
  • This document outlines a set of high level recommended practices for creating and archiving born digital video.
• Part 4. Resource Guide (PDF).  December 2, 2014.
  • This document includes links to resources including those referred to in the case histories and recommended practices.

As this report was being compiled, the Library of Congress received a useful and relevant report from George Blood Audio/Video: Preserving Write-Once DVDs: Producing Disk Images, Extracting Content, and Addressing Flaws and Errors.  The report was one product of a contract with Blood in which the company converted a set of write-once DVDs for the Library.  The report describes the issues encountered and provides some detail about Blood's methods for carrying out the work, thus providing an excellent complement to the DVD section of the FADGI subgroup report, drafted by the Smithsonian Institution Archives.

Comments are always welcome.

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Working Groups

Still Image Working Group
This group is involved in a cooperative effort to develop common digitization guidelines for still image materials.

Audio-Visual Working Group
This group works collaboratively on common and sustainable technical guidelines, methods, and practices for digitized and born digital sound recordings and moving images.