Experts Madeleine Horvat and Thomas Monteil from the French National Audiovisual Institute (INA) recently spent five days at the Mauritius Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) archives. Their mission, supported by Expertise France, aimed to analyze the current state of the archives and provide recommendations for improvement. The oldest archive found at the MBC dates back to 1967, and the experts believe that there may be more hidden treasures waiting to be discovered.
The MBC archives contain 59 years of valuable content, including films, videos, and audio recordings. However, the experts noted that some of these archives are in a fragile state and require proper conservation and storage. Thomas Monteil, a project manager at INA, mentioned that some of the films are affected by the "vinegar syndrome," a chemical degradation that can be challenging to contain. On a positive note, many of the videos are stored in controlled-environment storage facilities.
The INA experts observed that the MBC has a good understanding of its collection, but there may be hidden documents that are difficult to access. They also noted that the archive's priority is often overshadowed by the MBC's main goal of broadcasting. Madeleine Horvat, a multimedia documentalist at INA, explained that their team was tasked with analyzing the workflow, technical aspects, and stakeholders involved in the archival process.
The mission included an analysis of the technical aspects of the archives, including the challenges of digitizing and preserving digital content. The experts found that while some digitization efforts were initiated in 2011, the program is no longer active. Thomas Monteil emphasized the importance of securing digital data and implementing strategies to prevent data loss.
The INA experts also identified the need for a simple and efficient system to transfer information from the program grid to the archives. This information is crucial for describing and cataloging the archives. Madeleine Horvat noted that there are existing inventories of older funds, but a thorough review is needed to link physical archives, digitized files, and inventories.
The experts concluded that archiving is an ongoing process, and it is difficult to predict what content will be valuable in the future. They emphasized the importance of not only preserving the archives but also making them accessible for reuse. The mission ended with a presentation of the findings and initial recommendations for the MBC to consider.
Key points
- The INA experts' mission aimed to enhance the preservation and accessibility of MBC's audiovisual archives.
- The oldest archive found at the MBC dates back to 1967, and experts believe there may be more hidden treasures waiting to be discovered.
- The experts recommended implementing strategies to secure digital data and improve the cataloging and accessibility of the archives.
