Saving Recorded History: A Needs Assessment Survey of Native Audiovisual Collections
In the Spring of 2020, ATALM surveyed its membership to determine the needs of tribally held audiovisual collections.
Of the
42 respondents:
- Majority were from Museums (21%), Cultural Centers (19%), and Libraries (15%).
- Also significant response from Non-tribal organizations holding Native AV collections (12%).
- 31% reported holding less than 100 AV assets, 34% reported holding more than 1,000 AV assets.
Various formats in collections, with the majority holding analog magnetic tape based collections (82% video tape, 73% audiocassette) and just over half (51%) have analog film collections) and 76% have digital collections.
- 79% respondents said their AV collections are still growing.
- 58% report that they have playback equipment.
- 69% report that they are currently in the process of preserving their collections and 28% report that they are not, but plan to.
Preservation actions currently in use are reported as:
- 56% Controlled environmental conditions
- 78% Controlled access
- 19% Repair
- 69% Digitization
- 3% Photochemical preservation
Oh the respondents, 9% report having a preservation plan in use, 9% report having a preservation plan that needs updating, and 9% being in the process of developing a preservation plan for their AV collection.
21% report having a current assessment of their AV collection.
6% report having a current emergency/ disaster plan for their collection.
Urgent needs reported by respondents:
- 50% Financial resources
- 47% Staffing support
- 48% Training
- 45% Equipment
- 45% Archival supplies
Highest priorities identified for training, by respondents:
- 40% Hands on preservation and conservation techniques
- 47% Processing AV collections
- 48% Fundraising for preservation
- 48% Copyright and permissions issues
- 43% Preventative care for AV collections
- 40% Digital preservation
- 39% In-house digitization
