ACRL News Issue (B) of College & Research Libraries C&RL News ■ March 1998/ 199 P r e s e r v a t i o n N e w s Jane Hedberg LC m ounts TV/Video study on Web T he Library o f Congress has m ounted the first four volum es o f the five-volum e T ele­ vision/Video Study on its National Film Pres­ e rv ation B o ard W eb site. This e x ten siv e study, w hich consists o f a report, transcripts o f public hearings and written statem ents, d o cu m en ts h o w te le v is io n ’s au d iovisu al record o f the tw entieth century is at risk and how m uch has already b e e n lost. This loss is due, primarily, to two causes: televi­ sion stations did not system atically record and archive all their programs and vid eo­ tape is not a perm anent storage medium. T he report’s recom m endations include, d o­ nation o f a portion o f the proceed s from FCC broadcast-spectrum auctions to video archives, creation o f a private-sector orga­ nization to raise funds for video preserva­ tion, and establishm ent o f a cen ter to study video preservation and m aintain equipm ent capable o f copying o bsolete formats. A 358K ASCII version o f the report (volum e 1), along with the public hearing transcripts (volum es 2-4), can b e found on the LC Web site at http://lcweb.loc.gov/film under the heading New Projects. T he report may also b e pur­ chased from the G overnm ent Printing Of­ fice. For m ore inform ation c o n ta ct Steve Leggett at LC; phone: (2 0 2 ) 707-5912; fax: (2 0 2 ) 707-2371; e-mail: sleg @ lo c.g ov . CLIR sponsors d ig ita l archives in v estig atio n T h e Council on Library and Inform ation Re­ sou rces (CLIR) has asked J e f f Rothenberg o f the RAND Corporation to undertake a six- month study o f digital archiving. Working with an advisory group from the Digital Li­ brary Federation (formerly the National Digi­ tal Library Federation) and the Association o f Research Libraries’ Preservation Commit­ tee, he will survey current digital preserva­ tion efforts, consider technological strategies to solve the problem o f softw are d ep en ­ d en ce and select the m ost prom ising solu­ tions. He will also exam ine the organiza­ tional, administrative and econ om ic con se­ q u en ces o f potential solutions. This study is the initial phase o f a larger CLIR project in digital preservation. Mr. Rothenberg is the author o f “Ensuring the Longevity o f Digital D ocum en ts,” w hich was published in the Janu ary 1995 issue o f Scientific American‚ Vol. 272, no. 1: pp. 4 2 -4 7 . SOLINET loans av m aterials Preservation Services o f the Southeastern Li­ brary Network (SOLINET) has a collection o f audiovisual materials about preservation, w hich are suitable for staff or reader ed u ca­ tion and are available for loan. A list o f the programs can b e found on SOLINET’s Web site at http://www.solinet.net/presvtn/avls/ avintro.htm. Borrow ing institutions do not n eed to b e located in the southeastern part o f the United States to use this service. For m o r e i n f o r m a t i o n , c o n t a c t C h r i s t in e W isem an at SOLINET, 1438 W. P eachtree Street NW, Suite 200, Atlanta, GA 30309- 2955; phone: (8 0 0 ) 999-8558; fax: (4 0 4 ) 892- 7879; e-mail: cw isem an@ solin et.net. CLIR changes publications program T h e Council on Library and Inform ation Re­ sou rces ann ou nced that it has altered the publication program o f the Com m ission on Preservation and A ccess. T he m onthly com ­ m ission new sletter w as cea sed D ecem b er 1997 and was replaced Janu ary 1998 with a bim onthly CLIR newsletter. In spring 1998, CLIR will inaugurate a quarterly preservation newsletter intended primarily for readers out­ side the United States. The Research Briefs series, which reports on the status o f CLIR projects, and the special reports, for which the commission was so well-known, will con­ tinue largely as before. Special reports sched­ uled for 1998 include an overview o f preser­ vation reformatting and a position paper on the advantages and disadvantages o f digitiz­ ing library materials. The full text o f many CLIR and Commission publications can b e found on their Web sites at http://www.clir.org. ■ Jane Hedberg prepares this column for the College Libraries Committee, Commission on Preservation and Access. Submissions may be made to Jane Hedberg, Wellesley College; jhedberg@wellesley.edu; fax: (781) 283-2103 http://lcweb.loc.gov/film mailto:sleg@loc.gov http://www.solinet.net/presvtn/avls/ mailto:cwiseman@solinet.net http://www.clir.org mailto:jhedberg@wellesley.edu 200 /C&RL News ■ March 1998