The IFI Irish Film Archive has published a new Digital Preservation & Access Strategy that outlines its response to the challenges and opportunities of archiving vast quantities of moving image material in a digital environment.
Over the last five years moving image production and distribution has changed from being almost entirely analogue to being predominantly digital; as the guardian of the national moving image collection the IFI Irish Film Archive is faced with the challenge of collecting, cataloguing, preserving and giving access to these digital collections for the benefit of current and future generations.
Kasandra O’Connell, Head of the IFI Irish Film Archive said: “This crucial document is the result of several years of intensive research by the Archive team and outlines a long-term plan and a set of guiding principles, flexibility, scalability and sustainability, which will assist us in preserving and providing access to Ireland’s digital moving image material. We have already made significant progress on our digital path, throughout 2014 the IFI Irish Film Archive installed core digital infrastructure, which includes a fibre-optic network, high volume digital storage and an upgrade of the Archive’s digital restoration capabilities. This has radically improved our ability to care for and provide access to our expanding digital collections.”
Raelene Casey, Digital Collections and Access Manager , and Anja Mahler, Digital Collections Management Officer, will be presenting a paper, “Future Proof: The Transition to Digital at the IFI”, at the first Annual Conference on Digital Preservation for the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities (DPASSH 2015) which runs at Croke Park Conference Centre on 25th & 26th June. This paper outlines the process and methodology involved in developing the Archive’s digital strategy and policies to ensure the long term preservation and management of high resolution digital film and broadcast assets and associated metadata.
To download the Digital Preservation & Access Strategy from the IFI website click here. To find out more about the IFI Irish Film Archive visit www.ifi.ie/archive.
