{"id":3196,"date":"2021-10-27T12:01:27","date_gmt":"2021-10-27T10:01:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.ifla.org\/lpa\/?p=3196"},"modified":"2021-10-27T17:36:21","modified_gmt":"2021-10-27T15:36:21","slug":"libraries-provide-a-window-to-the-world-un-world-day-for-audiovisual-heritage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ifla.org\/lpa\/2021\/10\/27\/libraries-provide-a-window-to-the-world-un-world-day-for-audiovisual-heritage\/","title":{"rendered":"Libraries Provide a Window to the World: UN World Day for Audiovisual Heritage"},"content":{"rendered":"

The UN World Day for Audiovisual Heritage<\/a> (27 October) raises awareness of the urgent need to take action towards acknowledging the importance of audiovisual material and preserving it for future generations.<\/p>\n

These materials record and transmit stories, sharing the cultures, creativity, and memory of people from the past and today, from all around the world. Ensuring that this material remains accessible, and that people can benefit from it, is one way that libraries contribute to promoting multiculturalism.<\/p>\n

As the IFLA\/UNESCO Multicultural Library Manifesto sets out, the missions of multicultural library services include safeguarding linguistic and cultural heritage and giving support to expression, creation and dissemination in all relevant languages, and supporting the preservation of oral tradition and intangible cultural heritage [read the full Manifesto here<\/a>].<\/p>\n

These values are central to the theme for this year\u2019s World Day for Audiovisual Heritage celebrations \u2013 \u201ca Window to the World\u201d.<\/p>\n

The UN values audiovisual heritage as an \u201caffirmation of our collective memory and a valuable source of knowledge\u201d. The contribution of libraries helps people engage with the cultural, social and linguistic diversity of their communities and beyond, to celebrate it, and through this, to promote a culture of peace.<\/p>\n

IFLA PAC Centres Preserving Audiovisual Heritage<\/h3>\n

IFLA\u2019s Preservation and Conservation (PAC) Centre hosted at Qatar National Library has been engaging in a project to safeguard the Arab world\u2019s audiovisual heritage.<\/p>\n

Hear from St\u00e9phane Ipert (Director) and Maxim Nasra of the PAC Centre at Qatar National Library for an update on what the library is doing to preserve audiovisual heritage.<\/p>\n

Q:<\/strong> What are the challenges associated with preserving audiovisual material?<\/em><\/p>\n

A:<\/strong> Audiovisual archival documents, given their explicit recognition as an essential component of memory and cultural heritage, pose new problems for archive professionals. This is linked on the one hand to the difficulty of understanding the characteristics of this type of documents, which are new to archivists, and which also poses challenges at the level of methods of processing and preserving them. On the other hand, the weakness and fragility of these documents is a issue for their sustainability.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, audio and video audio recordings are not permanent. Due to their unstable components, internal and external factors can accelerate its deterioration and shorten its life. And reading equipment is rare, especially in the Arab markets. By taking some precautionary measures, we can extend its lifespan and thus preserve its invaluable contents.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em>Q:<\/strong> What is the PAC Centre doing for AV Documentary Heritage?<\/em><\/p>\n

A:\u00a0<\/strong>Due to the lack of standards and guidelines in the Arabic language, we contacted The International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives (IASA) to see if they would be interested to have their preservation standards translated\u00a0 into Arabic (the run to approximately 600 pages). The Qatar National Library, as an IFLA PAC Regional Center, signed an agreement with the International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives (IASA) for the translation, production and distribution into Arabic of the following IASA technical publications:<\/p>\n