Bennie Jacobs, the Head of Media Libraries at the South African Broadcasting Corporation, believes that there exists a massive gap in the appreciation of the role of archives and their importance, especially concerning audio-visual archives.
In an interview with Broadcast Media Africa ahead of the forthcoming Online Forum on Auditing And Preparing Broadcast Archives For Digital Preservation In Africa, Bennie Jacobs highlighted that digital preservation is currently heading towards the forefront in corporations. He further stated an increase in the drive to preserve materials for ensuring universal access to content for future generations.
Below is an excerpt of the conversation Bennie had with the BMA on the forthcoming Forum where he is a featured speaker and panellist:
BMA: How has the audio-visual archiving and preservation sector changed in the past three years? What do you predict will happen in the next 5 to 10 years?
Bennie: Digitisation of archives has been at the forefront for the past three years. Every company has been working hard to preserve material on the best archival formats and ensure universal access to Content. Future the exploitation of archival content will become crucial, and a drive to digitise will intensify so we have all caught up.
BMA: What is the biggest challenge in the audio-visual archiving and preservation sector at the moment?
Bennie: Budgets! Companies are more inclined to push archives back when there are budgetary constraints. There is still a considerable lack of misunderstanding of the role of archives and their importance, especially in audio-visual archives.
BMA: What do you think is the best outcome for the Online Forum on Auditing And Preparing Broadcast Archives For Digital Preservation In Africawould be?
Bennie: An understanding of acquisitions, the cataloguing thereof, finding the best preservation methods and tools and lastly, the worldwide accessibility of these archive content.
The free-to-attend Online Forum on Auditing And Preparing Broadcast Archives For Digital Preservation In Africa will take place on Tuesday 25th May 2021 at 10h00 GMT.
