Snapshot of a Field in Motion

Audiovisual preservation is a field that is always in motion, whether by way of adapting to the new technologies of the field (or adjacent to the field), implementing systems designed by experienced and amateur preservationists alike, or even by way of the necessity to migrate formats. While archivists and institutions may face policy hurdles or resource realities that hinder steps forward or prevent flexibility, the audiovisual preservation field is compelled to evolve—whether it wants to or not—by evolutions in technology, whether the technology applies to the formats being preserved, the tools created for preservation actions, or even the means by which archivists and preservationists are able to communicate. With this persistent flux in mind, this report offers a snapshot of the field in 2020, looking at four key topics impacting the present and future of audiovisual preservation. These topics include: Providing and Preserving Captions for Digitized and Born­Digital Audio­ visual Content; Testing and Implementing RAWcooked on DPX Film Scans; Identifying and Managing Born­Digital Video Collections; and Knowledge Sharing as a Preservation Tool.