AVPS Project With Cunningham Dance Foundation And NYU Featured In New York Times Article
1 January 2008
AudioVisual Preservation Solutions is designing and installing a system for the recording and editing of “Mondays with Merce”, a project aimed at capturing the technique of living dance legend Merce Cunningham. AVPS plays a multi-faceted role in this Mellon Foundation grant funded project involving the Cunningham Dance Foundation and New York University.
The capturing system includes a single operator with remote control over 4 High Definition video cameras, 2 of which are on robotic arms. AVPS is additionally developing highly innovative preservation oriented workflows for the Cunningham Dance Foundation that will deliver preservation worthy deliverables to the NYU digital library team.
NYU is serving as the digital preservation repository and host of the content, as well as acting as team members in the development of applications, workflows and processes.
This highly technical and complex system will be installed by AVPS at the beautiful Cunningham Dance Foundation Studio which is part of the historic Westbeth Complex in the West Village neighborhood of Manhattan.
The New York Times article linked to below features the “Mondays with Merce” project.
www.nytimes.com/2008/01/20/arts/dance/20bloo.html
Dance: An Old Mentor’s New Medium
Sunday New York Times, January 20, 2008 By JULIE BLOOM
The link below will bring you to The “Mondays with Merce” website, where you can obtain additional information. This site will also feature a series of webcasts which will be available for free download beginning in late 2008. Each episode will include segments from Merce Cunningham’s Company Class, and rehearsals with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. The programs will also include interviews with Merce Cunningham and his associates.
www.merce.org/studioandclasses_mm.html
AVP Holiday Card – 2007
31 December 2007
Artwork by Stephanie Housley from Coral & Tusk
The disk illustrated on the front of this card pays homage to the aesthetic quality of labels seen on commercially released 78RPM disks – also known as shellacs. No other recording medium before or since has exhibited such beautifully crafted decorative labels, making them a significant experiential aspect of working with the medium. UNESCO estimates that there are ten million 78RPM disks worldwide. Fortunately these disks are one of the most resilient formats ever to exist. Their primary physical threat is breakage due to mishandling or disaster. As the main audio medium for mass distribution of content in the first half of the 20th century, content found on these disks is amazingly diverse and relevant to defining the time period in which they thrived. Efforts toward preservation of the content found on these disks continue on as evidenced by the release of a 78RPM calibration disk from the Audio Engineering Society this year!
All Images on this page are copyright protected and may not be reproduced or used without permission from AudioVisual Preservation Solutions.
AVPS Releases Their 2007 Holiday Card
1 December 2007
AudioVisual Preservation Solutions released its second annual original greeting card for the 2007 holiday season. The 2007 card features an illustrated disk with an original AVPS label that pays homage to the production of the wide array of classic decorative 78RPM labels that exist in audio libraries all over the world.
The 2006 holiday card features the VR-1000 Quad videotape machine in honor of the 50th anniversary of videotape.
The cards are inspired by the field that we work in. The original art work is created by Stephanie Housley, a New York based artist/designer.
We are pleased to send these greetings to our clients and all of the other members of our community who are dedicated to the preservation of our audiovisual heritage. We are especially delighted to note that we often see the cards posted in the archives we work in long after the holiday season has ended.
To see the 2006 and 2007 holiday cards click here:
https://www.avpreserve.com/uncategorized/avps-holiday-cards/
AVPS Is Recognized By The Association For Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) In Their Annual Report
1 November 2007
AudioVisual Preservation Solutions (AVPS) was pleased to receive acknowledgment from the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) in their annual report for contributions made to the organization.
Chris Lacinak was recognized for representing AMIA at the National Recording Preservation Board Hearings. Chris was also acknowledged for his work with Moving Image Collections (MIC), where he worked alongside Hannah Frost of Stanford University chairing the MIC Preservation Portal Working Group and presented on the MIC Metadata Schema at the 2006 AMIA Conference in Anchorage, Alaska.
MIC is sponsored by the Library of Congress and the Association of Moving Image Archivists (AMIA), and funded in large part by the National Science Foundation (NSF) through the first development phase (2002-2005). MIC is part of the National Science Digital Library.
For more information on Moving Image Collections please visit their website below:
mic.loc.gov
Yale Digital Preservation System Requirements
12 October 2007
AVPreserve worked with Yale University Libraries to assist them in the selection of a campus-wide digital preservation system. The project identified and described functions, use cases and diagrams for ingest, metadata and data management, migration, emulation, reporting, access, security and administration.
Audio Recording Of AVPS Oral Testimony At NRPB Hearing Available Online
1 August 2007
As previously noted, Chris Lacinak of AudioVisual Preservation Solutions represented the Association for Moving Image Archivists (AMIA) and the Audio Engineering Society (AES) at the National Recording Preservation Board (NRPB) Hearings in December of 2006. He provided oral testimony as well as written submission to the NRPB.
The oral testimony is now available to hear online at the Library of Congress website:
www.loc.gov/rr/record/nrpb/nrpb-comments.html#NY
Chris Lacinak Elected To The Post Of Education Coordinator Of New York Archivist RoundTable (NYART)
30 July 2007
The New York Archivist Round Table (NYART) elected Chris Lacinak of AudioVisual Preservation Solutions (AVPS) to the position of Education Coordinator. Chris is proud to carry on the great work of his predecessor Mary Hedge in serving NYART, a professional association of archivists in the New York Metropolitan area.
He aims to provide a rich set of programs and workshops relevant to the needs of the association. These workshops will include topics addressing moving image and sound preservation, emerging metadata and cataloging tools, and media asset management systems.
To find out more about NYART click below
www.nycarchivists.org
AVPS Receives A Letter Of Thanks From The Archivist Of The United States
25 July 2007
Chris Lacinak, founder of AVPS, was honored to receive a letter from Dr. Allen Weinstein, Archivist of the United States, thanking him for his contribution to the 21st Annual National Archives Preservation Conference held April 30th through May 1st, 2007. The title of the conference was “Managing the Intangible: Creating, Storing and Retrieving Digital Surrogates of Historical Materials.”
AVPS is proud to support the National Archives in their effort to offer continued leadership to the field and in ensuring ready access to essential evidence documenting the rights of citizens, the actions of federal officials, and the overall national experience.
We would also like to thank Dr. Weinstein for his opening remarks at the conference in which he exhibited a deep understanding and passion for the issues we face on a daily basis in the preservation of our heritage.
To see the letter to Chris Lacinak from Dr. Allen Weinstein click below:
www.avpreserve.com/wp-content/news/Weinstein_NARA_AVPS_letter.pdf
Chris Lacinak Joins The Technical Committees Of IASA And ARSC
2 July 2007
Chris Lacinak, founder of AudioVisual Preservation Solutions (AVPS), has been accepted into the technical committees of the International Association of Sound and Audiovisual Archives (IASA) and Association of Recorded Sound Collections (ARSC).
As chair of the Audio Engineering Society (AES) Technical Committee on Archiving Restoration and Digital Libraries (TCARDL), Chris now contributes as a member to all of the relevant organizations which develop best practices and standards for sound archiving and preservation.
The IASA technical committee has produced extremely important and definitive publications for sound preservation over past years. Chris looks forward to contributing to current efforts, and will begin with the revision of TC-04: Guidelines on the Production and Preservation of Digital Objects, which places a heavy emphasis on metadata for sound preservation.
The ARSC technical committee has served the field for many years. There is currently a very important project in process to produce the ultimate archival storage container for cylinders at a cost effective price, which is led by Bill Klinger. Chris looks forward to working with Bill and the other knowledgeable and respected members of the ARSC technical committee.
AVPS Sponsors The 2007 Joint Technical Symposium (JTS)
2 June 2007
AVPS shows continued commitment to advancing audiovisual preservation standards and methods by taking on a sponsorship role for the 2007 Joint Technical Symposium.
The JTS is a very important symposium to the field of audiovisual preservation. The symposium provides an international stage for the community to assess its technical progress, and presents current projects for peer review and discussion.
AVPS views this symposium as having a definitive stake in the evolution of moving image and sound archives. It contributes to the vibrancy of the preservation community of forward thinking and well-informed committed professionals.
We are pleased to support the sustained efforts of all the attendees in continuing to make this symposium the success that it is.
For more information on JTS 2007 click the link below:
www.jts2007.org/program.htm
