The document discusses the legacy that archivists leave behind in archives. It provides context about the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) which has 19 radio stations and its radio archive work to preserve broadcast audio. The archive has 14 archivists in the headquarters and one archivist per radio station in 8 regions. The document then discusses the legacy archivists can leave behind through choices like the programs and collections they choose to keep, their metadata practices, and how well they organize and catalog materials. Both good and bad practices are discussed.
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FIAT IFTA Conference 2022 - Karen du Toit presentation - Legacy of the archivist.pptx
1. Archivists Legacy
by Karen du Toit
Sectional Lead SABC Radio Archive and Restoration Section
4 October 2022
4. SABC Radio Archives
Preserve the audio archives for the South
African Broadcasting Corporation, the national
public broadcaster in South Africa
19 radio stations
The SABC Radio Archive preserve the audio archives for the
South African Broadcasting Corporation, the national public
broadcaster in South Africa.
SABC has 19 radio stations
5. SABC RADIO ARCHIVES
JHB HQ: 14 Archivists with each their own specialty
8 regions 1 archivist per radio station
12. Legacy left behind by the
Archivist
Chosen programmes
Backlog shelve
Separate collections
Metadata
Personal filter
Gaps
Handling of audio carriers
(rubber bands?)
14. Legacy left behind by the
Archivist
Unfiled/Unnumbered
Improper cataloguing
Spelling!!!
Improper filing/saving
Research not done
Bad work
Bad archivist
15. Legacy left behind by the Archivist
Legacy thoughts around the archivist changes, when
dealing with their legacy left behind.
Good or Bad!
16. Legacy left behind by the Archivist
Margaret C. Norton:
[her] most important contributions to
the archival profession, she gave a
sense of respect and professionalism
that others had been trying to give but
had not had her wide reach. She was
crucial in establishing the legitimacy
of the archival profession
18. Thank you
SABC Radio Archives
Facebook: SABC Radio Archives
Twitter: SABC Radio Archives
Instagram: SABC Radio Archives
Karen du Toit: dutoitk@sabc.co.za
+27117142718
Photos: Malebone Makena (Intern)/Karen du Toit
#3: Karen du Toit Sectional Lead Radio Archives and Restoration. 32 years. Different sections: Television News Archives, Newspaper Clippings and Radio Archives. Coming from Library and Information Science background, with a deep love for the Afrikaans language.
#5: SABC has 19 radio stations, and legacy material, of which the audio needs to be preserved for future generations. South Africa has 11 official languages, all of which are addressed by an indigenous radio station each. Note, Springbok Radio, is number 20, which stopped broadcasting in 1985, but is still streaming legacy material in 8-hour repeating streams.
#6: We have 14 archivists at Head Office: Ndebele (Ikwekwezi), Sport, English, Requests, Restoration, Channel Africa, News and Actuality, Music, Springbok Radio, Afrikaans (Radio Sonder Grense). We are nearly a full house, after many years of posts being frozen. 8 regions, with 1 archivist per radio station for example: Eastern Cape SABC has an archivist for TruFM, and an archivist for Umhlobo Wenene.
#7: We have a large collection of analogue audio carriers, which still needs to be digitised, but since 2012 we have been preserving the audio digitally on servers. We are digitising the content when we are working with requests, while we await the EDL project. A mini-disc digitisation project is also planned for 2023, as these carriers are going obsolete, the fastest. The radio collection in the SABC Radio Archives spans over more than one hundred years.
#8: We have a large collection of analogue audio carriers, which still needs to be digitised, but since 2012 we have been preserving the audio digitally on servers. We are digitising the content when we are working with requests, while we await the EDL project. A mini-disc digitisation project is also planned for 2023, as these carriers are going obsolete, the fastest. The radio collection in the SABC Radio Archives spans over more than one hundred years.
#9: .A future Enterprise Digital Library (EDL) is in the pipeline which will encompass a MAM system for all the archives in the SABC.
#10: In mitigation for the forthcoming EDL, we have been saving our catalogued audio clips to servers. It is linked to our cataloging system via unique numbers. We also have 24/7 Sonifex Netlog servers, of which we do 24/7 DVD back-ups. We also do scheduling of important programmes identified by the archivist in collaboration with the radio station. It is also saved on a permanent server and backed up on LTO tape drives.
#11: Main Control Room with Arcstore1 and Arcstore2 server machines, with are also being backed up to LTO tape drives
#12: 2020 brought its own challenges in the SABC Archives. Only a few of us came to the office to do requests in the beginning Then it was every second day It led to thoughts around the legacy we as each archivist leave behind in an archive. It is perhaps a tongue-in-cheek look at the challenges encountered while searching for material, but it is also a reminder to all of us, myself included, to think about the legacy you as archivist leave behind. Why did you, or did you not preserve the material?
#13: The programmes you choose to catalogue, the programmes you leave on the backlog shelf, the metadata you use, your own personal filter when cataloguing, and the gaps you leave when you are busy with a project. Why did you use those rubber bands, or the cello tape? Why did you start your own personal collection, separate from the rest?
Choice of programmes
What do you keep/catalogue, and what is not selected, and kept on the shelve
Gaps in collection. You dont know a couple of years from now why certain stories were not catalogued. personal reasons (leave/sick for a period) / Working on other projects
#14: Example of rubber band use in the archives. It should be a big no-no!
It makes everything sticky. You cant get it off the shelves, and needs a tool to dislodge it. It also crumbles, and fall everywhere.
#15: Bad work now = bad work in the future.
When you leave behind a legacy of bad work, it will stay bad work, and it will still be bad work. Translated: This was a bad archivist in future!
Table of unfiled or even worse unnumbered audio formats
Improper cataloguing
Spelling is so important. Wrong spelling, and the audio is never found.
Improper meta-data allocation
Improper filing
When cataloguing a clip in full, but 3 stories
Archive interviews with broadcasters invaluable to future anniversary programmes
#16: The legacy/thoughts around the archivist changes, when confronted with issues created by them
I have been angry with myself for some archival mishaps and have been angry at archivists who have left 10 or 20 years earlier.
#17: As archivists we would all like to get the following mention as Margaret C. Norton, an archivist instrumental in the archival profession in the 1940s and 50s: [her] most important contributions to the archival profession, she gave a sense of respect and professionalism that others had been trying to give but had not had her wide reach. She was crucial in establishing the legitimacy of the archival profession in its formative years in the United States.
#18: Questions and discussion by group ?
More examples
#19: Thank you for the opportunity.
SABC Radio Archives are on socials.
Contact me anytime.