The section discussed Senate Bill 217, a bill introduced by Senator Daniel Moynihan that would clarify federal tax code to make clear that restrictions placed on access by a donor at the time of a gift of papers would in no way limit a tax deduction to which the donor would otherwise be entitled. The section unanimously endorsed Senate Bill 217 and encouraged SAA Council to place the Society's support behind this proposed legislation. He will focus on the appraisal of audiovisual Materials, specifically moving image and recorded sound formats. Central to the issue of AV appraisal is the machine-de pendent nature of AV materials. You need playback equipment to fully appreciate their content.
Context is also a problem.
AV items do not always present them selves to archivists as obvious components of archival series. Their archival locus needs to be recovered. AV materials are complex documents-they are created usually as a group effort and are composed of layerings of information. And they are fragile-prone to being easily dam aged through improper handling and natural deterioration. So the preservation issue is inherent in the appraisal of AV materials.