IT and Archives: Russian and French experts discuss digitization of audiovisual archives at the workshop in Moscow

The International workshop “Digitization of archives of TV and radio programs, broadcasts, audio records, and other audiovisual works (except for films), which are in federal ownership, and archives of All-Russian public TV channels and radio channels” is running November 30th – December 1st 2011 in Moscow. The event is attended by experts of the National Audiovisual Institute of France (Institut national de l'audiovisuel - INA).

Leading experts of INA, who are going to deliver speeches, will turn to their long experience to touch upon issues related to arrangement of the process of preservation, digitization and acquisition of audiovisual content archive, legal aspects in the area of using archival materials, and ensuring public access to audiovisual materials.

The Deputy Minister of Communications and Mass Media of Russia Alexander Zharov recalled the stats of IDC analytical company, which show that in late 2010 the information added annually to the digital universe totaled 988 exabytes (about 1 billion gigabyte). In 2006 the amount of digital information created, captured and replicated was 161 exabytes. This is about 3 million times the information in all the books ever written. “It is obvious that the problem of effective data structuring is one of the central ones in the modern time”, Deputy Minister believes.

A particular attention was paid to an issue which is relevant both to collections and archives of Russia and France, and those of the whole world. This is the use of modern content distribution environments, first and foremost, Internet, for an effective circulation of information products available in the archives. Alexander Zharov reminded that in this respect Gosteleradiofond (Russian State Archive of Television and Radio Programs) worked efficiently, there were rather popular portals like cccp.tv. Yet the expertise possessed by INA in development of streamlined and regularly undated portal was an interesting subject to be discussed.