Conferencing in Austin

Yay! I just found out I can afford to go to the ARSC conference!

WOW, SORRY--ACRONYM SOUP: ARSC = Association of Recorded Sound Collections

There are a lot of good, and relevant (to both sound recordings and metadata) sessions this year. Especially these:

Preconference Workshop, Wednesday March 30:

The Assessment, Preservation, and Access of Audio
Collections in the Digital Age: an Archival Case Study

Presenters and Their Topics:

Mike Casey, Coordinator of Recording Services, Archives of Traditional Music, Indiana University:

Risk assessment for audio collections
Ranking tool to develop priorities for preservation

The following speakers from the University of Missouri–Kansas City on the digital audio project “Voices of World War II: Experiences from the Front and at Home - KMBC Radio”:

Rob Ray, Special Collections Librarian, Miller Nichols Library, Dept. of Special Collections:

Creation of digital library projects
Wendy Sistrunk, Music Catalog Librarian, Miller Nichols Library

Metadata for digital audio preservation
Relationship to the OPAC
Chuck Haddix, Director, Marr Sound Archives, Miller Nichols Library

Transfer of original analog audio to digital files
Public access

Friday April 1

8:15-10:30 a.m. Recording Technology: Past and Future

In the Trenches: Surveying the Groove
GEORGE BROCK-NANNESTAD (Gentoft, Denmark); BILL KLINGER (Chardon, Ohio)

Correction of Wow and Flutter Artifacts: Theoretical Implications for Analog Signal Degradation
ROBERT HEIBER, Chace Audio, Burbank, California

New Magnetic Tape Restoration Process to Eliminate the Sticky Shed Problem from Magnetic Tapes
CHARLES A. RICHARDSON, Annapolis, Maryland

Saturday April 2

10:45 a.m.-12:00 p.m. Technical Measures and Comparisons

Preservation Metrics for Audio Collections
MICHAEL OLSON, Stanford University, Stanford, California

A Comparison of Software Based Digital Audio Restoration Methods
MARK SARISKY, University of Texas, Austin

Technical Trials

More Than We Can Chew? Audio Preservation Digitization and Small Profit Institutions
ANDY KOLOVOS, Vermont Folklife Center, Middlebury, Vermont

WRVA Radio, the “Voice of Virginia”
JAY GAIDMORE, The Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia
Also written by James Sam, Ryan Davis, and Anji Cornette, The Cutting
Corporation, Bethesda, Maryland

2:00-4:00 p.m. After the Converter: Moving Forward with Enduring Preservation of

Audio in the Digital Domain – ARSC Technical Committee

An Overview of Worldwide Developments in Digital Preservation of Audio
MIKE CASEY, Indiana University. Bloomington, Indiana

Digital Preservation Plans at the Library of Congress
PETER ALYEA, Library of Congress

Technical Metadata and Storage Issues for Small Archives
JOHN SPENCER, Bridge Media Solutions, Nashville, Tennessee

When Audio Becomes Data: The Management and Storage of Digital Audio Files
JON DUNN, Indiana University, Bloomington, Indiana

That's just some of the fun! Now I have to find flights, hotel rooms, etc.