Open Media @ UGA
Callie Holmes
Digital Archivist, Walter J. Brown Media Archives
October 26, 2018

Overview◂ Introduction to BMA◂ AV Digitization at the Brown Media Archives◂ Strategies for Implementing Change◂ Future of Open Source at BMA

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About BMA Collections◂ University of Georgia◂ Collections divided into 3 categories:◂ Newsfilm (6 Georgia stations)◂ Peabody Awards Collection◂ "Other" (home movies, UGA athletics,
interview collections, folklore, townfilms, etc.)◂ 250,000+ physical items (mostly video),
over a petabyte of digital content3

UGA Special Collections Library◂ Moved into newbuilding in 2012
◂ One of three
departments in SCL◂ 30,000 sq ft, highdensity storage vault

4What's missing from this list?

(from a description of SCL building written aroundthe time the building was opened in 2012)

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vs.
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1.
History of AV
Digitization at
Brown Media Archives

3 Eras◂ The James Era (2007-2012)◂ Digitization begins, "industry" trends◂ The Alex Era (2012-2016)◂ Move towards open source◂ And Now (2016-present)8Pre-historic (1995-2007)◂ Not much digitization for first ~10 years

9The James Era (2007-2012)◂ Mid-2000s: two grants kick-started AVdigitization◂ Civil Rights Digital Library (film)◂ Local TV in Peabody Awards Collection(¾-inch U-matic)◂ SAMMA machines: produced MXFwrapped J2K files

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The James Era (2007-2012) [cont.]◂ Only person "doing" digitization / digitalpreservation at BMA◂ Kept the in-house digitization going after grants◂ Video production background = v. aware of"industry trends"◂ Lot of MOV wrapped files◂ DV, shifted to ProRes◂ Mac computers (uncommon)◂ Final Cut Pro
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The Alex Era (2012-2016)◂ Shift to more open source solutions begins◂ Demand for collections increases◂ Still only one full time staff member◂ 2015: First "Digital Archivist" hired◂ "Professional" vs. "Paraprofessional" inacademic libraries in US◂ Scaling up infrastructure, automatingprocesses◂ ffmpeg, mediainfo◂ automated scripting (bash and Python)for transcoding, checksums

12The Alex Era (2012-2016) [cont.]◂ Purchased a film scanner◂ DPX files galore◂ Storage needs increase◂ Introduction of CollectiveAccess to manage
analog and digital media◂ "open source" baggage

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A Fast Moving TrainIncreasingDemand &Output

Digital/LTO
backlog

SpottyDocumentation

About a dozen LTO3
tapes, about 1000 LTO5
tapes (currently using
LTO7)

Undocumented (orminimally documented)
workflows, policies, andprocedures.

Folders with Files

AccessIs X digitized? Do wehave an HD version ofthat? Was this supposed
to have audio?

At least 5 totally different
ways of providing accessto digital content to endusers

Other Duties as
Assigned...

Requests for ourcollections haveincreased exponentiallysince 2012. Produce
about 2 TB / week

CollectiveAccess, supporting
teaching mission ofuniversity, coordinating with
Peabody Office, Universitycommittees, etc. etc.

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Two Conflicting Realities
Truth #1

Truth #2

We need better
workflows, better tools,
better infrastructure: amore manageablesystem.

It is hard to find the time
to make these changes
when feelingoverwhelmed by theexisting flow of work.

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Strategies for[Attempting to Maybe Try and Figure Out
How To Go About]

Implementing
ChangeStrategy #1: Find a community◂ Digital Curation Working Group: charged with
developing policies for ARCHive digitalpreservation system◂ Evolved into lib-learn-tech group at UGALibraries◂ "Community of Practice"◂ XSLT, bash scripting, Python◂ Getting UGA Libs IT/Systems involved◂ Unifying workflows across departments
17Strategy #2: Internal Outsourcing◂ Asking coworkers who aren't necessarily evenin your department to help you with things◂ Difficult to let go of sweet lil' nugget problems◂ Examples:◂ XSL style sheets, Python-izing AIP-prepscripts, renaming PDFs, batch ffmpeg
conversions

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Strategy #3: Challenge = Opportunity◂ DPX files (does anyone like these?)◂ Difficulties getting files on/off of LTO◂ False positive with virus-scanningsoftware◂ Malformed bags
◂ J2K files from SAMMA◂ All the more reason to shift to MKV/FFV1"It is broken. We should definitely fix it."19

Strategy #4: Seize the Moment◂ NHPRC grant to preserve 4000 hours ofpublic broadcasting content from PeabodyAwards Collection to become part of AAPB
(American Archive of Public Broadcasting)◂ Benefits of Bureaucracy◂ Putting the grant out for open bidding =opportunity to redo technicalspecifications for deliverables

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Strategy #5: Lean on Yall
◂ Ruthlessly steal other people's workflows/specs◂ AMIA Open Source◂ ffmpeg: Thank you ffmprovisr!
Everyone in this room who writes blog posts, puts theirworkflow online, pushes scripts to github, responds tomy Twitter Qs: Thank you!

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1.
Moments yet to
be Seized
Open Source plans for thefutureBecome the Tipping Point◂ FFV1 / MKV for for film scans: RAWcooked◂ Using MKV chapter feature for newsfilm?
◂ MediaConch◂ Figure out how to give $ support to open
source projects

23Callie Holmes
Walter J. Brown Media Archives
University of Georgia@cally__hoceholmes@uga.edu

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