IASA 2018 Annual Conference

Magnetic tape recording, already developed in the mid-1930s, spread all over the world after WW II. Audio recording first, then video, relyied on this technology, until in the later 1990s the predominance of this recording and storage medium began to erode: recording, postproduction and storage became part of the computer world. To date, all magnetic tape formats, audio and video, analogue and digital, are dead. As magnetic tape was on its retreat, production of new equipment, spare parts and professional services ceased. There is agreement that in the course of the forthcoming decade magnetic tape collections that have not been transferred to digital repositories will be lost because of the lack of replay equipment in operable condition. While generally greater and well-funded archives have already safeguarded their holdings, or have planned to do so in due course, an important part of the audiovisual legacy is still outside archival custody, typically recorded and held by research and cultural institutions without preservation plans and adequate budgets. With the Magnetic Tape Alert Project, IASA and UNESCO intend to join forces in raising awareness of the imminent threat. By assessing the quantitative dimension of the situation, a realistic basis shall be provided for an action plan to safeguard this highly endangered legacy of cultural and linguistic diversity recorded over the past 60 years.